That is, Keybase generates a magic message to post on your Facebook, Twitter or website.Īnd, using the magic of cryptography, you can be confident the owner of that Facebook account or website is the same person as on Keybase. Keybase proposes a novel way to establish your identity: it leverages existing social media platforms. It’s actually much easier to have secret conversation with a random stranger on the Internet (secret as in, no one else can ever read it for the next 100+ years), than it is to be confident of who they are. Maybe its from some bad guy who wants to hold your computer to ransom, or steal all your contacts, or just hijack your computer to sell as part of a botnet. How can you be sure your friend / colleague’s email is really from them? Someone you’ve never met before sends an email to you - how can you be sure they are who they say they are? Identityįiguring out who someone is on the Internet is really, really hard. That is, only people you send messages to can read those messages (and no one else), and you know messages from other people really came from them (and not someone pretending to be them). So, you can be confident that your stuff on Keybase is secure. Indeed, you can even check your own messages are from you (so the bad guys can’t forge messages in your name, and even Keybase can’t modify them without your knowledge). This isn’t a tangible feature you can point at in Keybase, because it pervades absolutely everything it does.Įverything is encrypted, such that bad guys and governments and advertisers can’t read it.Įverything is signed, such that everyone who can read your messages knows it really came from you. Here’s what Keybase actually does for you. Keybase has quite similar goals to PGP, but has the benefit of 20 years of experience, and really are trying to put crypto in the hands of everyone. That is, it’s like PGP in that you can encrypt and sign messages, but Keybase simplifies it and adds to it. I like to think of Keybase as managed PGP. Or a Team Dropbox where the server can’t leak your files or be hacked. Imagine a Slack for the whole world, except end-to-end encrypted across all your devices. Keybase is a new and free security app for mobile phones and computers.įor the geeks among us: it’s open source and powered by public-key cryptography. Their website’s elevator pitch goes like so: If you’re interested in some more details about Keybase, read on. If you don’t really care what Keybase is, but just want to start using it (because I’m telling you to install it), then click here to skip down. If you’re a random Internet person, you can use this guide to get a feel for Keybase (as it stands in April 2018). Particularly to send messages and organise events within our personal network(s).įacebook, while convenient, really doesn’t need to know about our birthdays, holidays, photos, gatherings, etc. If you’re in my family / friend network, I’m asking you to give Keybase a go. With the many dramas Facebook suffered in 2018, a few of my technically minded friends and family have been hunting for a replacement. “Secure” as in even Keybase can’t read your stuff, and even if some bad guy managed to change your stuff, you could tell. Its big point of difference to other social apps is it is secure. Keybase is an app & platform which lets you communicate with friends, family, colleagues, etc (ie: send messages, pictures and files).
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