Chat Securely With Tor Messenger Beta

What happens on Tor Messenger stays on Tor Messenger.

The underground Web network just released a beta version of its cross-platform chat program, which lets you chat securely on familiar messaging services.

Based on the Mozilla instant messaging client Instantbird, Tor Messenger supports popular programs like Jabber, Google Talk, Facebook Chat, Twitter, and Yahoo. It allows for off-the-record (OTR) messaging, and sports an easy-to-use UI in multiple languages.

"Tor Messenger builds on the networks you are familiar with, so that you can continue communicating in a way your contacts are willing and able to do," a blog post said.

And while most instant messaging services are based on a client-server model that logs metadata, Tor Messenger hides your route to the server.

Users can download the Linux (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows, and OS X versions to start running the beta program. Meanwhile, the Tor team will continue fixing bugs and pushing out updates "as appropriate.

Future releases may include reproducible builds for Windows and OS X, sandboxing, automatic updates, improved Tor support, OTR over Twitter DMs, and encrypted file transfers.

Users are encouraged to provide feedback, make requests, and file bugs.

A free network of tunnels for routing Web requests and page downloads, Tor is supposed to make it impossible for the sites you access to figure out who you are. Once an acronym for "The Onion Network," Tor aims to provide multiple layers of security.

Facebook last year launched a version of its website for Tor that allows those on the network to access a more stable version of the social site.

Tor is often used to avoid detection on the Web—whether for nefarious purposes or to hide from the prying eyes of a repressive regime. The service made headlines last summer when the Russians put a bounty on the network, worth about $100,000 to anyone who can hack it.

Andrew Lewman, executive director of The Tor Project, later revealedthat he suspected employees at the NSA and GCHQ were secretly informing Tor about vulnerabilities within its system, in an effort to prevent colleagues from using it to spy.