The Onion Router (TOR) is used by many users worldwide to browse the Internet anonymously and to retrieve data that would otherwise be blocked in their location. TorChat is an instant messenger that utilizes TOR to offer anonymity and security to its users. The client is available for Windows and Linux with the Windows version running out of the box without initial configuration.
When you start TorChat for the first time you see a list of available chat partners. The list is empty except for the identity of the logged in user.
New contacts are added with a right-click and the selection of Add Contact from the context menu.
Setup is a bit more complicated considering that the unique ID of each user needs to be added. It is also important to add a display name for easier user identification. That’s different from many other Instant messengers where it is easier to add contacts by importing them.
Online users are indicated with a green icon in front of their username. A double-click on an icon opens a chat window to talk to the selected contact.
TorChat supports file transfers which can be started with a right-click on the chat window. It currently does not offer “gimmicks” lick chat smileys for instance.
But what are the advantages of using TorChat? The use of TOR ensures that nobody can monitor the Internet traffic to find out with whom you are chatting and sharing files and where they and you are located in the world. TorChat initiates a “fully encrypted peer-to-peer connection” between two Tor clients which means that the traffic is never leaving the TOR network. That’s different from how many people perceive TOR. For web surfing and TOR, it is necessary to leave the network at some time to connect to the destination. With TorChat, that’s not necessary.
TorChat is a portable application for Windows and Linux that can be downloaded directly from the project website at Google Code.
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Very interesting, thanks!
Awesome. I have been a tor user for some time, not heard of this before.
Ever since the USG has started trying to walk over everyone like a doormat recently
this could become very useful for the sake of everybodys privacy.
Thanks for the tip.
(ps i spotted it on the ArchLinux AUR repo, however its very out of date so i fixed up
a PKGBUILD of the latest version for you arch’ers: http://aur.pastebin.com/ytvJ6xqw )
Have fun.
First time I hear of this chat , but it seems like a must have these days . Thank you for writing about it
This is gonna be a very popular program among the pedophiles.
ideal to communicate with WikiLeak. Great tool for bypassing the government created firewalls like The GreatWall, Phosgen, etc…I am sure people inside china, myanmar, israel will use it.
dear friends I need to know where and how to find other users to join them.
XD: you a really excellent st*pid idi*t…