  Cryptocat is a Free and Open Source Software (FL/OSS) browser extension that
makes use of web technologies in order to provide easy to use, accessible,
encrypted instant messaging to the general public. We aim to investigate how to
best leverage the accessibility and portability offered by web technologies in
order to allow encrypted instant messaging an opportunity to better permeate on
a social level. We have found that encrypted communications, while in many
cases technically well-implemented, suffer from a lack of usage due to their
being unappealing and inaccessible to the "average end-user". Our position is
that accessibility and ease of use must be treated as security properties. Even
if a cryptographic system is technically highly qualified, securing user
privacy is not achieved without addressing the problem of accessibility. Our
goal is to investigate the feasibility of implementing cryptographic systems in
highly accessible mediums, and to address the technical and social challenges
of making encrypted instant messaging accessible and portable.
