instant messaging
Posted by ccarlon on Oct 14, 2011
Gibberbot data sheet 1011 Views
Organization that developed the Tool:
Problem or Need:
Gibberbot is designed for people who need to chat securely. If you and the person you are communicating with are both able to use it, secure chat can be used as a replacement for email and text messaging.
Gibberbot should work on any Android phone. It’s probably best for users who are reasonably comfortable chatting and handling their phone, and it’s only currently available in English.
Brief Description:
Gibberbot is an instant messaging app for Android phones, developed by The Guardian Project. Gibberbot implements off-the-record messaging (OTR). Off-the-record messaging is a way to conduct an instant messaging conversation with the following attributes
- Encryption. An eavesdropper cannot read your messages
- Authentication. You can verify the identity of the person you’re chatting to - or at least of the account they are using.
- Deniability. It is not possible for a third party to prove that a particular user sent or received a particular message.
- Perfect forward secrecy. It is not possible for an attacker to decrypt a previous conversation, even if he/she obtains the encryption keys used to encrypt it.
Gibberbot can also use Orbot to route your chats over the Tor network. This prevents an observer from following the source and destination of your messages (effectively, from knowing you are chatting) and provides a way to circumvent web censorship that may involve chat servers being blocked.
Off-the-record messaging only works when both parties in the conversation are using it. This means both parties need to use Gibberbot, another mobile app, or chat software that supports it. Currently Gibberbot is the only option we know of for mobile phones. Off-the-record plugins are available for several PC chat programs, including Pidgin (Windows and Linux), Adium (Mac), Trillian (Windows) and Miranda (Windows).
Tool Category:
App resides and runs on a mobile phone
App resides and runs on a server
Key Features :
- When used with Orbot, Gibberbot combines the security, privacy and anonymity provisions of off-the-record messaging with the additional anonymous browsing and circumvention protection of the Tor network.
- Gibberbot is currently the only implementation of off-the-record messaging for mobile phones that we are aware of.
- The code for Gibberbot is open source and freely available for download - there are no costs involved except your airtime while chatting.
- The project encourages user feedback through a mailing list, feedback form on their website, twitter account and IRC channel.
Is the Tool's Code Available?:
Is an API available to interface with your tool?:
Posted by MelissaLoudon on Oct 13, 2011
Secure Chat on Android: Gibberbot, a User Guide data sheet 2386 Views
Abstract:
Gibberbot is an instant messaging app for Android phones. Gibberbot implements off-the-record messaging (OTR), a way to conduct an instant messaging conversation with encryption, authentification, deniability, and forward secrecy.
Gibberbot is an instant messaging app for Android phones, developed by The Guardian Project. Gibberbot implements off-the-record messaging (OTR). Off-the-record messaging is a way to conduct an instant messaging conversation with the following attributes
- Encryption. An eavesdropper cannot read your messages
- Authentication. You can verify the identity of the person you’re chatting to - or at least of the account they are using.
- Deniability. It is not possible for a third party to prove that a particular user sent or received a particular message.
- Perfect forward secrecy. It is not possible for an attacker to decrypt a previous conversation, even if he/she obtains the encryption keys used to encrypt it.
Gibberbot can also use Orbot to route your chats over the Tor network. This prevents an observer from following the source and destination of your messages (effectively, from knowing you are chatting) and provides a way to circumvent web censorship that may involve chat servers being blocked.
Off-the-record messaging only works when both parties in the conversation are using it. This means both parties need to use Gibberbot, another mobile app, or chat software that supports it. Currently Gibberbot is the only option we know of for mobile phones. Off-the-record plugins are available for several PC chat programs, including Pidgin (Windows and Linux), Adium (Mac), Trillian (Windows) and Miranda (Windows).
Posted by AnneryanHeatwole on Jul 14, 2010
[Updated with images] In Grahamstown, South Africa, getting and sharing news is a mobile experience. Grocott’s Mail, a local paper, incorporates mobile phones into many aspects of its news service – from disseminating headlines via SMS, to encouraging readers to text in their opinions, to a Knight Challenge-winning citizen journalist training program.
| Grocott's Mail: A Local Newspaper Embraces Mobile Phones data sheet 4444 Views |
| Countries: |
South Africa
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Posted by chigona on Jul 13, 2010
MXit up in the Media: Media Discourse Analysis on Mobile Instant Messaging data sheet 1989 Views
Author:
Agnes Chigona and Wallace Chigona
Abstract:
Mobile instant messaging has the potential of providing youth not only with a social space where they can interact and bond but also with a learning environment. MXit is the most popular mobile instant messaging application in South Africa. Due to its nascency, little academic research has been done on the application.
The application has drawn considerable local media interest; however, most of the media coverage has been negative. Media discourse of the application is of academic interest, since media discourse is one of the many ways through which reality is constructed. This means there is a relationship between media discourse and public opinion. Distortions in the media may misinform and engender impaired decision making amongst policymakers as well as members of the public. Discourse analysis can reveal distortions in media communication and counter misinformation.
Using critical discourse analysis, we have analysed the media discourse on MXit by employing the Habermasian concept of the ideal speech situatio and its validity claims as a conceptual tool. The analysis shows that (i) the media discourse is fraught with distortions; (ii) the media have mainly used the voice of adults to legitimise the discourse and marginalise the voices of the youth.
