Hacktivismo Launches ScatterChat for Secure, Private Communication

WebKnowHow
Monday, July 24, 2006; 02:15 AM

Hacktivismo (http://www.hacktivismo.com), an international group of hackers, human rights workers, lawyers, and computer security experts announced the release of ScatterChat (http://www.scatterchat.com), a free, open source application designed to facilitate secure and private real-time communication over the Internet.

ScatterChat is unique in that it is intended for non-technical human rights activists and political dissidents operating behind oppressive national firewalls. It is an instant messaging client that provides end-to-end encryption over the Electronic Frontier Foundation-endorsed Tor network. Its security features include resiliency against partial compromise through perfect forward secrecy, immunity from replay attacks, and limited resistance to traffic analysis, all reinforced through a pro-actively secure design.

According to lead developer J. Salvatore Testa II, “The anonymity and encryption that ScatterChat provides ensures that both the identities and messages of activists remain a mystery, even to well-funded totalitarian governments.”

Hacktivismo has been combating information rights abuses for more than a decade. Its Goolag campaign brought great visibility to the issue of Internet censorship in China. Hacktivismo assumes as an ethical point of departure the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights.