#003 - End-to-end Encrypted Chat Without Getting Snooped On with Max Krohn of Keybase

Max shares the story of how he went from founding OkCupid to creating Keybase, a Slack-like app that allows average internet users to have end-to-end encrypted conversations and file sharing.

Show Notes

Keybase is a Slack-like app that supports chat and file sharing, but it is fully end-to-end encrypted. You might be familiar with other well known apps that support end-to-end encryption, like WhatsApp and Signal, but Keybase has a fundamentally different security architecture. Max explains why this is so important and helps us understand the cryptography that makes the service work.

Before starting Keybase, Max was the co-founder of OkCupid. He shares the story about how he went from running a dating app to focusing on making public key cryptography approachable for the average internet user. Towards the end of our conversation, we discuss how Keybase approaches user research, how Keybase makes enough money to keep the lights on, and how they plan to grow the service in the future.

Social media & website

• Website: keybase.io
• Twitter: @keybaseio, @maxtaco
• Keybase: @max
  • After installing Keybase, you can request to join the team keybasefriends.

Resources mentioned in episode

• Keybase Blog
  • The post Keybase's New Key Model explains how you cryptographically link all of your devices so that you can use Keybase on all of your devices at the same time.
  • The post Introducing Keybase Teams explains the user experience and underlying cryptography that powers the Keybase teams functionality.
  • In Keybase is not softer than TOFU, Keybase explains what Trust on First Use means and how Keybase approaches this problem differently than any other app providing end-to-end encrypted communication.
• The Keybase documentation contains technical explanations of how Keybase is designed and architected.
• The Verge: Google, WhatsApp, and Apple slam GCHQ proposal to snoop on encrypted chats

You can find Conor, the host, on Twitter @conorgil.

 

Canonical URL: https://allthingsauth.com/podcast/003-max-krohn-of-keybase

What is The All Things Auth Podcast?

Every 2 weeks, Conor Gilsenan hosts a conversation with creators, researchers, founders, and advocates who are working to improve the usability of security and privacy technologies.

Guests share what they are currently working on, how they got to where they are today, who they are trying to help, and what keeps them motivated to overcome challenges along the way.

The goal is for the rest of us to learn from their experiences and go on to promote usable security and privacy within our own projects and organizations.