# Encrypted instant messaging? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encrypted-instant-messaging/387452 "2007-01-10T20:51:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carterba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@carterba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carterba)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encrypted-instant-messaging/387452/1 "2007-01-10T20:51:07Z")
I’m probably just being paranoid, but some people have said some things to me that make me think they may have been eavesdropping on my IMing. So I’m wondering: are Yahoo/AIM/MSN instant messages encrypted before they’re sent, or are they transmitted in plain text? If plain text, how hard would it be for a network administrator to read someone’s IMs? And is there any IM software that supports encryption? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encrypted-instant-messaging/387452/2 "2007-01-10T21:01:54Z")
It’s unencrypted and _very_ easy to eavesdrop on. There’s a prog to encrypt (both sides must have it), but I can’t recall the name. I do recall that it’s a French company that makes it, so hopefully someone will know what I’m trying to think of. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encrypted-instant-messaging/387452/3 "2007-01-10T21:04:53Z")
Here we go: [http://www.secway.fr/](http://www.secway.fr/) The “SimpLite” versions are free IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![JCorre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3da27b/32.png) [@JCorre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JCorre)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encrypted-instant-messaging/387452/4 "2007-01-10T22:09:30Z")
Or you can just use Skype to IM since its encrypted. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encrypted-instant-messaging/387452/5 "2007-01-10T22:25:09Z")
If they’ve got a keylogger on your machine, encrypted IMs won’t make a bit of difference. ---
**Author:** ![carterba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@carterba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carterba)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encrypted-instant-messaging/387452/6 "2007-01-10T23:47:27Z")
No keylogger—I’m using my personal laptop on other people’s wireless networks. > [@Revtim](#): > > It’s unencrypted and _very_ easy to eavesdrop on. Can you elaborate on how it would be done? I have a network in my apartment (3 computers on a NAT box/router), but I don’t know how I would go about eavesdropping on my own IMs. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encrypted-instant-messaging/387452/7 "2007-01-11T00:36:02Z")
I don’t know about _very_ easy – you need to be on the same network segment as one of the parties (easy if you’re right there), or have access to a network between them (far less likely.) Then it’s just a matter of using a freely available packet sniffer to watch the network traffic. Of course, as **ultrafilter** mentions, a keylogger makes the whole point moot. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encrypted-instant-messaging/387452/8 "2007-01-11T01:03:02Z")
[QUOTE=carterba] Can you elaborate on how it would be done? I have a network in my apartment (3 computers on a NAT box/router), but I don’t know how I would go about eavesdropping on my own IMs. [/QUOTE] As **friedo** mentions, you’d have to be on the same network segment. Then, all you’d need is packet sniffer (also mentioned by **friedo** ) like ethereal, which is freely downloadable. I’ve never used it for IM sniffing, but I’ve used if for other things and it’s pretty easy to use for someone with network experience (like your network administrator). There’s likely already filters included for the big IM systems. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encrypted-instant-messaging/387452/9 "2007-01-11T01:56:05Z")
[Trillian](http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/) is a IM client interface that works with AIM, Yahoo, ICQ, IRC and MSN and includes an encryption option. The price is right, too. ---
**Author:** ![carterba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@carterba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carterba)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encrypted-instant-messaging/387452/10 "2007-01-11T15:57:16Z")
Thanks, everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encrypted-instant-messaging/387452/11 "2007-02-04T23:16:46Z")
Sorry if this is too old to bump, but I only recently discovered Gaim encryption. Gaim is prog that connects to pretty much every network, and I’ve been using it for years already. [http://gaim.sourceforge.net/](http://gaim.sourceforge.net/) Here’s the encryption plugin: [http://gaim-encryption.sourceforge.net/](http://gaim-encryption.sourceforge.net/) All free and open-source. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/encrypted-instant-messaging/387452/12 "2007-02-05T08:22:17Z")
A lot of cell phones have instant messaging built in these days (in addition to regular SMS text messaging, that is). Are there any encryption-capable programs that would work on a cell phone?