Surespot was a free

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

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 ...

application for Android and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

with a focus on

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

and

security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...

. It was shut down on July 31, 2022.

Features

The application supported the sending of text, pictures, audio messages (in the past only after an in-app purchase), and

Emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from typed convers ...

icons. It also supported the deletion of messages from the receiving device. It allowed user blocking. There was no support for group messages and sending files other than photos. Surespot provided offline backup via iTunes (PC or Mac) on the iOS version, or to local device storage on the Android version. For secure communication, Surespot used

end-to-end encryption End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a system of communication where only the communicating users can read the messages. In principle, it prevents potential eavesdroppers – including telecom providers, Internet providers, malicious actors, and eve ...

by default. 256-bit

AES-GCM In cryptography, Galois/Counter Mode (GCM) is a mode of operation for symmetric-key cryptographic block ciphers which is widely adopted for its performance. GCM throughput rates for state-of-the-art, high-speed communication channels can be achi ...

encryption was used, with keys created with 512-bit ECDH. App users could use multiple identities, for instance for private or business use. Surespot was donationware.

Reception

As of November 4, 2014, Surespot had a score of 5 out of 7 points on the

Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ...

secure messaging scorecard. It had received points for having communications encrypted in transit, having communications encrypted with keys the provider doesn't have access to (

), making it possible for users to independently verify their correspondent's identities, having its code open to independent review (

), and for having its security design well-documented. It was missing points because past communications were not secured if the encryption keys were stolen (no

forward secrecy In cryptography, forward secrecy (FS), also known as perfect forward secrecy (PFS), is a feature of specific key agreement protocols that gives assurances that session keys will not be compromised even if long-term secrets used in the session key e ...

) and because there had not been a recent independent security audit.

Controversy

In May 2015,

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' i ...

published an investigation in which they alleged that "at least 115 ISIS-linked people" appeared to have used Surespot between November 2014 and May 2015. In June 2015, a Surespot user wrote a blog post about how the Surespot developers had stopped responding to his repeated questions regarding "governmental demands for information", leading to the user alleging that the Surespot developers were "under a gag order". Surespot was specifically mentioned in a plea agreement in which a 17-year-old US citizen was charged with providing material support to ISIS. at ¶ 11, p. 4

References

External links

* {{Official website , https://www.surespot.me
Surespot
on

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Instant messaging clients Android (operating system) software IOS software Cross-platform software Communication software

Features

Reception

Controversy

See also

References

External links