Ricochet or Ricochet IM is a
free software
Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, ...
,
multi-platform
In computing, cross-platform software (also called multi-platform software, platform-agnostic software, or platform-independent software) is computer software that is designed to work in several computing platforms. Some cross-platform software r ...
,
instant messaging
Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and trigge ...
software project originally developed by John Brooks
and later adopted as the official instant messaging client project of the Invisible.im group.
A goal of the Invisible.im group is to help people maintain privacy by developing a "
metadata free" instant messaging client.
History
Originally called Torsion IM, Ricochet was renamed in June 2014.
Ricochet is a modern alternative to
TorChat
TorChat was a peer-to-peer anonymous instant messenger that used Tor onion services as its underlying network. It provided cryptographically secure text messaging and file transfers. The characteristics of Tor's onion services ensure that all ...
,
which hasn't been updated in several years, and to
Tor Messenger, which is discontinued.
On September 17, 2014, it was announced that the Invisible.im group would be working with Brooks on further development of Ricochet in a ''
Wired
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...
'' article by
Kim Zetter.
Zetter also wrote that Ricochet's future plans included a protocol redesign and file-transfer capabilities.
The protocol redesign was implemented in April 2015.
In February 2016, Ricochet's developers made public a
security audit
An information security audit is an audit on the level of information security in an organization. It is an independent review and examination of system records, activities and related documents. These audits are intended to improve the level of in ...
that had been sponsored by the
Open Technology Fund
The Open Technology Fund (OTF) is an American nonprofit corporation that aims to support global Internet freedom technologies. Its mission is to "support open technologies and communities that increase free expression, circumvent censorship, and ...
and carried out by the
NCC Group in November 2015.
The results of the audit were "reasonably positive". The audit identified "multiple areas of improvement" and one vulnerability that could be used to deanonymize users.
According to Brooks, the vulnerability has been fixed in the latest release.
Technology
Ricochet is a decentralized instant messenger, meaning there is no server to connect to and share metadata with.
Further, using
Tor, Ricochet starts a
Tor hidden service locally on a person's computer and can communicate only with other Ricochet users who are also running their own Ricochet-created Tor hidden services. This way, Ricochet communication never leaves the Tor network. A user
screen name (example: ) is auto-generated upon first starting Ricochet; the first half of the screen name is the word "ricochet", with the second half being the address of the Tor hidden service. Before two Ricochet users can talk, at least one of them must privately or publicly share their unique screen name in some way.
Privacy benefits
* Ricochet does not reveal user IP addresses or physical locations because it uses Tor.
* Message content is cryptographically authenticated and private.
* There is no need to register anywhere in order to use Ricochet, particularly with a fixed server.
* Contact list information is stored locally, and it would be very difficult for passive surveillance techniques to determine whom the user is chatting with.
* Ricochet does not save chat history. When the user closes a conversation, the chat log is not recoverable.
* The use of Tor hidden services prevents network traffic from ever leaving the Tor network, thereby preserving anonymity and complicating passive network surveillance.
* Ricochet is a
portable application
A portable application (portable app), sometimes also called standalone, is a program designed to read and write its configuration settings into an accessible folder in the computer, usually in the folder where the portable application can be ...
, users do not need to install any software to use Ricochet. Ricochet connects to the Tor network automatically.
See also
*
Comparison of instant messaging clients
The landscape for instant messaging involves cross-platform instant messaging clients that can handle one or multiple protocols. Clients that use the same protocol can typically federate and talk to one another. The following table compares gener ...
*
Ring (software)
*
Tox (protocol)
References
External links
*
*https://www.ricochetrefresh.net
{{Tor project
Free instant messaging clients
Free security software
Software using the BSD license
Tor (anonymity network)