Research Article
BibTex RIS Cite

Survey of Instant Messaging Applications Encryption Methods

Year 2015, Volume: 2 Issue: 4, 112 - 117, 19.06.2015

Abstract

Anlık mesajlaşma uygulamaları, kolay kullanımları ve popülaritelerinden dolayı geleneksel Kısa Mesajlaşma Servisi (SMS) ve Çoklu Medya Mesajlaşma Servisi (MMS)'in yerini aldı. Anlık mesajlaşma uygulama kullanıcıları, bu uygulamalar aracılığıyla metin, ses mesajları, fotoğraf, video, kişi bilgisi gibi çeşitli türlerdeki ekleri arkadaşlarıyla gerçek zamanlı olarak paylaşabilmektedir. Anlık mesajlaşma uygulamaları Kısa Mesaj Servisi Teknik Gerçeklemesi (GSM) yerine sadece günümüzde en çok kullanılan iletişim aracı olan internete ihtiyaç duyduğundan dolayı ücretsizdir. Buradaki kritik nokta, siber saldırganlarına ve bilgisayar korsanlarına karşı herhangi açık nokta bırakmamak için bu mesajların güvenliğinin sağlanmasıdır. PricewaterhouseCoopers tarafından yapılan son rapora göre, 2014 yılında tespit edilen uluslararası siber saldırılar sayısı 42.8 milyona çıkarak %48'e yükselmiştir. Postini güvenlik şirketi tarafından yayınlanan başka bir rapor ise anlık mesajlaşmayı hedefleyen tehditlerin %90'ının oldukça yıkıcı soluncanlar olduğunu belirtmektedir. Bu çalışmada, anlık mesajlaşma uygulamalarının şifreleme yöntemleri karşılaştırmalı olarak sunulmuştur. Anlık mesajlaşma uygulamaları üç farklı platform göz önüne alınarak incelenmiştir: (1) Masaüstü istemcileri, (2) web istemcileri ve (3) mobil telefon istemcileri. Anlık mesajlaşma uygulamaları, birçok araştırmada en çok üzerinde durulan kritik kriterler olan (1) internet üzerinden metin dönüşümü, (2) şifreleme sonrası metin dönüşümü ve (3) Güvenli Giriş Katmanı (SSL) kullanıldıktan sonra yapılan metin dönüşümüne göre karşılaştırılmıştır. Son olarak yazarlar, güvenli bir mesajlaşma uygulamasında bulunması gereken kritik gereksinimleri vurgulamıştır.

References

  • Anglano, C., 2014. Forensic analysis of WhatsApp Messenger on Android smartphones. Digit. Investig. 11, 201–213. doi:10.1016/j.diin.2014.04.003.
  • Barghuthi, N.B. Al, Said, H., 2013. Social Networks IM Forensics: Encryption Analysis. J. Commun. 8.
  • Bodriagov, O., Buchegger, S., 2011. Encryption for peer-to-peer social networks, in: Proceedings - 2011 IEEE International Conference on Privacy, Security, Risk and Trust and IEEE International Conference on Social Computing, PASSAT/SocialCom 2011. pp. 1302–1309. doi:10.1109/PASSAT/SocialCom.2011.158.
  • Bonneau, J., Morrison, A., n.d. Finite-State Security Analysis of OTR Version 2. Analysis 2–6. DB Browser for SQLite [WWW Document], n.d. URL http://sqlitebrowser.org (accessed 27.01.15).
  • Global Information Security Survey: 2015 Results by Industry [WWW Document], 2015. PricewaterhouseCoopers. URL http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/consulting-services/information-security-survey/index.jhtml (accessed 27.01.15).
  • Goldberg, I., 2006. Off-the-Record Messaging.
  • Gupta, V., Gupta, S., Chang, S., Stebila, D., 2002. Performance analysis of elliptic curve cryptography for SSL, in: WiSE ’02: Proceedings of the 1st ACM Workshop on Wireless Security. pp. 87–94. doi:10.1145/570681.570691.
  • Harvell, B., 2013. iConnected: Use AirPlay, iCloud, Apps, and More to Bring Your Apple Devices Together, 1st ed. Wiley.
  • Infographic Top 10 Most Popular Instant Messaging Apps In The World [WWW Document], 2014. URL http://www.infographicscreator.com/2014/08/30/infographic-top-10-most-popular-instant-messaging-apps-in-the-world/ (accessed 27.01.15).
  • Instant messaging targeted for malicious worm attack [WWW Document], 2006. . ComputerWeekly. URL http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Instant-messaging-targeted-for-malicious-worm-attack (accessed 27.01.15).
  • Kendall, K., 2007. Practical Malware Analysis, Black Hat Conference, USA. doi:10.1016/S1353-4858(12)70109-5.
  • Mahajan, A., Dahiya, M., Sanghvi, H., 2013. Forensic Analysis of Instant Messenger Applications on Android Devices. Int. J. Comput. Appl. 68, 38–44. doi:10.5120/11602-6965.
  • McKinley, H.L., 2003. SSL and TLS: A Beginners Guide, Information Security.
  • Off-the-Record Messsaging [WWW Document], 2014. . Wikipedia. URL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging (accessed 27.01.15).
  • Owens, M., 2003. Embedding an SQL database with SQLite. Linux J. 2003, 2.
  • Sanchez, J., 2014. Malicious Threats, Vulnerabilities and Defenses in WhatsApp and Mobile Instant Messaging Platforms.
  • Schneider, G., Evans, J., Pinard, K.T., 2009. The Internet - Illustrated, 6th ed. Cengage Learning.
  • Schneider, G.P., Evans, J., 2012. New Perspectives on the Internet: Comprehensive, 9th ed. Cengage Learning.
  • Secway [WWW Document], n.d. URL https://www.secway.fr (accessed 27.01.15).
  • The good-to-know’s of SSL and SSL Certificates [WWW Document], 2009. doteasy. URL http://blog.doteasy.com/2009/06/15/the-good-to-knows-of-ssl-and-ssl-certificates/ (accessed 27.01.15).
  • Yusof, M.K., Abidin, A.F.A., 2011. A secure private instant messenger, in: 17th Asia-Pacific Conference on Communications, APCC 2011. pp. 821–825. doi:10.1109/APCC.2011.6152921.

Survey of Instant Messaging Applications Encryption Methods

Year 2015, Volume: 2 Issue: 4, 112 - 117, 19.06.2015

Abstract

Instant messaging applications has already taken the place of traditional Short Messaging Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) due to their popularity and usage easement they provide. Users of instant messaging applications are able to send both text and audio messages, different types of attachments such as photos, videos, contact information to their contacts in real time. Because of instant messaging applications use internet instead of Short Message Service Technical Realization (GSM), they are free to use and they only require internet connection which is the most common way of communication today. The critical point here is providing privacy of these messages in order to prevent any vulnerable points for hackers and cyber criminals. According to the latest research by PricewaterhouseCoopers, percentage of global cyber attacks is increased to 48% with 42.8 million detected incidents. Another report that is published by security company Postini indicates that 90% of instant messaging targeted threats are highly destructive worms. In this study, instant messaging applications encryption methods are comparatively presented. Instant messaging applications are investigated considering three different target platforms: (1) Desktop clients, (2) web clients, and (3) mobile phone clients. Instant messaging applications are compared through the critical criteria that most research studies emphasize: (1) Text conversation over internet, (2) text conversation after encryption, and (3) text conversation after enabling Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Finally, authors highlight key requirements of a secure instant messaging application should provide.

References

  • Anglano, C., 2014. Forensic analysis of WhatsApp Messenger on Android smartphones. Digit. Investig. 11, 201–213. doi:10.1016/j.diin.2014.04.003.
  • Barghuthi, N.B. Al, Said, H., 2013. Social Networks IM Forensics: Encryption Analysis. J. Commun. 8.
  • Bodriagov, O., Buchegger, S., 2011. Encryption for peer-to-peer social networks, in: Proceedings - 2011 IEEE International Conference on Privacy, Security, Risk and Trust and IEEE International Conference on Social Computing, PASSAT/SocialCom 2011. pp. 1302–1309. doi:10.1109/PASSAT/SocialCom.2011.158.
  • Bonneau, J., Morrison, A., n.d. Finite-State Security Analysis of OTR Version 2. Analysis 2–6. DB Browser for SQLite [WWW Document], n.d. URL http://sqlitebrowser.org (accessed 27.01.15).
  • Global Information Security Survey: 2015 Results by Industry [WWW Document], 2015. PricewaterhouseCoopers. URL http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/consulting-services/information-security-survey/index.jhtml (accessed 27.01.15).
  • Goldberg, I., 2006. Off-the-Record Messaging.
  • Gupta, V., Gupta, S., Chang, S., Stebila, D., 2002. Performance analysis of elliptic curve cryptography for SSL, in: WiSE ’02: Proceedings of the 1st ACM Workshop on Wireless Security. pp. 87–94. doi:10.1145/570681.570691.
  • Harvell, B., 2013. iConnected: Use AirPlay, iCloud, Apps, and More to Bring Your Apple Devices Together, 1st ed. Wiley.
  • Infographic Top 10 Most Popular Instant Messaging Apps In The World [WWW Document], 2014. URL http://www.infographicscreator.com/2014/08/30/infographic-top-10-most-popular-instant-messaging-apps-in-the-world/ (accessed 27.01.15).
  • Instant messaging targeted for malicious worm attack [WWW Document], 2006. . ComputerWeekly. URL http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Instant-messaging-targeted-for-malicious-worm-attack (accessed 27.01.15).
  • Kendall, K., 2007. Practical Malware Analysis, Black Hat Conference, USA. doi:10.1016/S1353-4858(12)70109-5.
  • Mahajan, A., Dahiya, M., Sanghvi, H., 2013. Forensic Analysis of Instant Messenger Applications on Android Devices. Int. J. Comput. Appl. 68, 38–44. doi:10.5120/11602-6965.
  • McKinley, H.L., 2003. SSL and TLS: A Beginners Guide, Information Security.
  • Off-the-Record Messsaging [WWW Document], 2014. . Wikipedia. URL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging (accessed 27.01.15).
  • Owens, M., 2003. Embedding an SQL database with SQLite. Linux J. 2003, 2.
  • Sanchez, J., 2014. Malicious Threats, Vulnerabilities and Defenses in WhatsApp and Mobile Instant Messaging Platforms.
  • Schneider, G., Evans, J., Pinard, K.T., 2009. The Internet - Illustrated, 6th ed. Cengage Learning.
  • Schneider, G.P., Evans, J., 2012. New Perspectives on the Internet: Comprehensive, 9th ed. Cengage Learning.
  • Secway [WWW Document], n.d. URL https://www.secway.fr (accessed 27.01.15).
  • The good-to-know’s of SSL and SSL Certificates [WWW Document], 2009. doteasy. URL http://blog.doteasy.com/2009/06/15/the-good-to-knows-of-ssl-and-ssl-certificates/ (accessed 27.01.15).
  • Yusof, M.K., Abidin, A.F.A., 2011. A secure private instant messenger, in: 17th Asia-Pacific Conference on Communications, APCC 2011. pp. 821–825. doi:10.1109/APCC.2011.6152921.
There are 21 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Engineering
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Abdullah Talha Kabakuş

Resul Kara

Publication Date June 19, 2015
Published in Issue Year 2015 Volume: 2 Issue: 4

Cite

APA Kabakuş, A. T., & Kara, R. (2015). Survey of Instant Messaging Applications Encryption Methods. Avrupa Bilim Ve Teknoloji Dergisi, 2(4), 112-117.