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The software is still in beta, but it does work well. If you’re looking for the means to chat securely on certain networks, Tor Messenger is an outstanding tool. If, on the other hand, they are using Tor Messenger, the OTR conversation will go off without a hitch. Without that plugin, they will not be able to join the private conversation.
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If you attempt to launch an OTR conversation with someone on Google Hangouts or Twitter, and they aren’t using Tor Messenger, they will be prompted to download and install this Off-The-Record plugin. If you want to start a private conversation, click on the lock button in the upper right corner of the conversation ( Figure C) and Tor will attempt to start an Off-The-Record (OTR) conversation with your contact. By default, conversations are not private. Once authenticated, a tab will open in Tor Messenger, where you can find a contact and start a conversation. To create an app password, head over to the App Password page and generate a new password for Tor Messenger. If you make use of two-factor authentication (which you should) you must authenticate with an app password. There is one caveat to using Tor Messenger with Google Hangouts. In the resulting window ( Figure B), select the type of account you want to add, and then when prompted walk through the process of connecting Tor Messenger to that account. When you first open up Tor messenger, you need to add an account. Once it has connected, you are ready to add an account.
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In many instances, you can simply click Connect and Tor Messenger will automatically connect to the Tor network. You can either connect directly to the Tor network (by clicking Connect), or if you need to configure a bridge or local proxy, click Configure ( Figure A). When you start up Tor Messenger, you’ll be asked how to connect to the Tor network. I’ll be demonstrating setting up an account for Tor Messenger on Elementary OS. dmg file and then, in the resulting window, copy the Tor Messenger application from the disk image to your local disk before running it. If you download the file for macOS, you need to double click the downloaded. exe file and walking through the standard installation wizard.
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If you download the Windows file, you actually do install the application by double-clicking the downloaded. That command will simply run Tor Messenger–no installation necessary. For example, if you download Tor Messenger for Linux (from the Tor Messenger download page), you simply extract the downloaded file, change into the newly created directory and, from a terminal window, issue the command. I place installation in quotes because any installation will depend upon your platform. Let’s “install” Tor Messenger and add an account. Out of the box, Tor Messenger enables Off-the-Record (OTR) Messaging automatically and offers a user-friendly GUI with multiple languages. This could come in handy when you’re chatting about sensitive information. Tor Messenger is incredibly easy to use and offers up a level of security and anonymity the standard messaging clients cannot. It seems Facebook Messenger has been removed from the list of supported account types. Tor Messenger is an anonymous cross-platform messaging app based on the open source Instantbird that allows you to chat via the anonymous Tor network on Jabber (XMPP), IRC, Google Talk, Twitter, Yahoo, and more. Jack Wallen shows you how to make use of this tool. If you need to add a layer of anonymity and security to the likes of Google Hangouts and Twitter, Tor Messenger has you covered. How to add a layer of privacy to your conversations using Tor Messenger
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