InsaneJournal

Current mood:	geeky
Entry tags:	computers, privacy, security

Do you prefer private conversations, or posting your intimate secrets on public corkboards?
If you don't have a problem with posting your personal secrets for all the world to see, any IM client will do. They'll all happily send your messages over the net without any security whatsoever, and anyone with a packet sniffer can read them.

On the other hand, if you prefer privacy (like I do), I highly recommend OTR (Off-the-Record Messaging), which comes built into Adium, and is available as a plugin for Pidgin and Miranda, and available as a localhost proxy for any client that transmits AIM messages. OTR gives you the best security you can get for instant messages, and even if your key is compromised, your old messages are STILL secret.

MY IM client is set up to request OTR connections by default. I recommend you do the same.