BitTorrent developing server-less, more secure messaging system

What do you get when you cross BitTorrent's peer-based networking and a chat client? A secure server-less chat system, of course.

 

BitTorrent's Catherine Meek said this is exactly what their labs are working on – a messaging system that is immune to data breaches.

 

"(W)e’re working on something that could solve for conversation security. BitTorrent Chat applies distributed technology to the idea of IM. Our goal is to ensure that your messages stay yours: private, secure, and free," Meek said in a blog post. 

 

She noted that, this year alone, data breaches have affected more than six million people. However, she said the BitTorrent Chat project is still in pre-Alpha stage.

 

Meek invited testers to check out the system and provide "feedback, ideas, and testing." A separate report on Mashable said BitTorrent's software is based on distributed technology.

 

"(M)essages are never stored on a server, meaning they're safe from data breaches. Messages are encrypted, and BitTorrent plans to keep the client free and without limits as to how many messages you can send," it said. 

 

For now, Mashable noted BitTorrent has not specified what desktop platforms its chat client will be available on.

 

But it cited a separate report by CNET indicating the company is planning a mobile version.

 

On the other hand, Mashable said BitTorrent is not alone in working on a secure messaging client.

 

It said The Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde announced last July the Heml.is crowdfunded mobile messaging app project that uses end-to-end encryption. — KDM, GMA News