Off The Record

Many people overlook protecting their instant messaging clients when thinking about security. However, because of their informal nature, IMs may be something that should remain private.

Fortunately, there is software that can make such security fairly easy and unobtrusive. Off The Record, a security software suite, provides extensions that can be used to encrypt and authenticate instant messages with remote parties.

OTR plugins for Gaim 1.x and Pidgin 2.x can be installed both for Windows and Linux. For Mac users, you can use Adium, which has built-in support for OTR, or you can use a proxy on the local machine which will work with iChat and other clients.

If you have already obtained one of my instant messaging usernames, you may verify that you are speaking with me installing OTR, establishing a connection with me, and by verifying my OTR fingerprint:

0F07ED37 DBCF1E08 3FA6590D 9F79FA59 F1C61D56