Tor Messenger released in beta form

30 Oct 2015

Tor, the go-to organisation for security-conscious internet surfers, has released its first instant messaging software – simply called Tor Messenger – in beta form.

If you want to drastically reduce the amount of crumbs you leave behind as you peruse through the world wide web, Tor is often your best bet. So, when it launches an instant messaging platform, we take notice.

The non-profit Tor Project’s messenger has been in the works for a long time now, with its open-source background and execution based on Instantbird, an instant messaging client developed in the Mozilla community.

It supports loads of networks, including Jabber (XMPP), IRC, Google Talk, Facebook Chat, Twitter, Yahoo, and others. Messenger also enables off-the-record messaging automatically and “has an easy-to-use graphical user interface localised into 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,” said the organisation.

In a traditional sense, such communication leaves easy-to-find trails of identifiable user data pretty much everywhere, however with Tor Messenger “your route to the server will be hidden because you are communicating over Tor”.

Essentially you can download the software immediately and get sending some content anonymously, with Tor’s countless, labyrinthine servers anonymising everything and anything.

It’s is available for Windows, Mac, Linux and obviously suits the Tor browser quite well.

“Please note that this release is for users who would like to help us with testing the product but at the same time who also understand the risks involved in using beta software,” said the Tor Project. “Thanks and we hope you enjoy Tor Messenger!”

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com