Tor, a privacy tool-maker, plans to create a secure messaging service that encrypts all user communications by default. The service will be bundled with the default Tor package, which includes a variety of programs and services meant to preserve their users’ online anonymity. Those tools are often used by journalists, activists, and other individuals to communicate without fear of surveillance. They also allow their users to anonymously access the so-called dark Web, which plays host to sites like the now-defunct Silk Road marketplace.
Now that we know the NSA is even spying on instant messaging services, the denizens of the deep web need a new way to chat anonymously. Of course, Tor comes to the rescue. The same folks behind the Tor Browser Bundle that lets you surf the web anonymously are putting the finishing touches on an instant messaging service with similar features. The aptly named Tor Instant Message Bundle (TIMB) will simply funnel all of your chat data through the Tor network, which uses proxy servers to hide the identities of its users. The client itself will be built on top of Instantbird, an open source instant messaging service. They also considered using Pidgen and libpurple, the instant messaging library used by Adium, but decided against it for security and simplicity’s sake.
