#Cryptocat per ios 7 how to#
#Cryptocat per ios 7 download#

#Cryptocat per ios 7 how to#

If you are on Facebook, and want to be kept updated with news about security and privacy risks, and tips on how to protect yourself online, join the Graham Cluley Security News Facebook page.įound this article interesting? Follow Graham Cluley on Twitter or Mastodon to read more of the exclusive content we post.TLDR: If you used group chat in Cryptocat from October 17th, 2011 to June 15th, 2013 assume your messages were compromised.Īlso if you or the person you are talking to has a version from that time span, then assume your messages are being compromised.

#Cryptocat per ios 7 download#

If you want to give Cryptocat a try – you can download it from the Cryptocat website. So, you have just under a year to make the most of Cryptocat’s integration with your Facebook buddy list – which should be plenty of time to find more secure ways to communicate. In other words: goodbye Facebook Encrypted Chat. The social network has just announced that its Chat API/XMPP Services (relied upon by Cryptocat’s new feature) will be shut down by April 30th 2015. Talking of Facebook – as expected, they’re not going to sit idly by and allow some 23-year-old upstart like Nadim Kobeissi mess with their ability to collect information about their users. But hey, what do I know – maybe Facebook users will surprise me. I’m all for blowing a loud raspberry in Facebook’s face, but I’m a little dubious about how much something like this would be used by the average guy in the street.

Wouldn’t you take any sensitive conversations away from Facebook, and have them some place where *no* meta data is being collected about who you are talking to, and when? It’s also in question whether Cryptocat can sway the skeptics who may remember the service’s rocky history when it comes to security. If privacy is so important to you, isn’t Facebook the very last place you are likely to be hanging out? Is anyone who is serious about encrypting their online communications really going to be comfortable connecting with Facebook to have those conversations? The usability benefits of being able to quickly see which friends are online and ready for an encrypted chat remain overly substantial for those users. Encrypted Facebook Chat is made for users who are already giving Facebook their contact lists and metadata - there’s no harm in Cryptocat using this already-given metadata to allow these users to set up encrypted chats. More obviously, you may also leak the fact that you are using Cryptocat to to others, and the Cryptocat network’s BOSH relay will be responsible for transferring information to your client, including your Facebook Chat contact list.įor a majority of user-cases, this metadata storage is not a deal-breaker. While Cryptocat over Facebook Chat will encrypt your conversations, it’s important to note that Facebook will still be able to access metadata such as the times during which you exchanged messages, or which Facebook friends you had an encrypted conversation with. The amount of registered metadata is minimal compared to Encrypted Facebook Chat. In Cryptocat group chats, chatrooms, nicknames, and pretty much everything else is completely ephemeral. That’s not to say, however, that Facebook can’t find out anything about your conversation.Īlthough individual messages will just appear as “”, Facebook will still, for instance, be able to collect metadata about who on Facebook you had an encrypted message chat with, and when.Ĭryptocat believes that on balance that isn’t a problem for those who choose to message via its encrypted Facebook chat service: “Effectively, what Cryptocat is doing is benefitting from your Facebook Chat contact list as a readily available buddy list”Īnyone not running Cryptocat who intercepts the messages shouldn’t be able to read them.