Telegram Secret Chat

If you want to know how Telegram Secret Chat works, what features it offers, and everything else regarding this great feature, you are in the right place. Here, we explore Telegram Secret Chat encryption technology in comparison to other secret messaging apps and their self destruct and disappearing message features. By the end of the article, you will know how to enable the Telegram Secret Chat option and protect your private information the right way.

Before we get there, let’s examine other Telegram options. If you are interested in how Telegram compares to other instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Signal, make sure you check these articles as well. Developed by Telegram Messenger Inc. and Telegram FZ LLC, this cloud-based, cross-platform, freeware instant messaging app was launched in 2013 so four years after WhatsApp, its biggest rival.

Telegram is known for providing all its registered users with video calling and text messaging options. With Telegram, registered users can also share files, send images and videos, as well as share their location. Like Viber, Line, Signal, and other messaging apps, Telegram is downloadable to all Android and iOS devices as well as macOS and Windows desktop devices. The Telegram Secret Chat option employs end-to-end encryption while the same technology is used when making Telegram video calls.

Telegram Secret Chat – How Many People Use This App?

Back in 2019, Telegram had over 300 million active users across the globe In April of 2020, it was announced that Telegram had reached 400 million active users while in 2021, its loyal user base includes 500 million people and this represents a great 25% increase. Telegram is in the top ten most popular instant messaging apps side by side with WhatsApp (2 billion users), Facebook Messenger (1.3 billion users), and WeChat (1.2 billion users).

The Telegram Secret Chat option is used by millions while on average, the app is used by fifty-two million individuals on a daily basis. Since its launch back in 2013, the service’s user base has been growing steadily at a great rate of over 40% every year. On the Google Play and the App Store, the service’s app was the most downloaded app in the first month of 2021 with over sixty-three million downloads. In the App Sore, it is the fourth most downloaded app while in Google Play, it is the most popular app of this kind.

It is very popular in Russia, Malaysia, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, and India while the app can be downloaded in over one hundred and fifty countries. Besides the Telegram Secret Chat feature, the app has a bunch of other great features. All Telegram users can make video and voice calls, send text and voice messages, share animated stickers, as well as share images, videos, and documents (up to 2 GB per file). With Telegram, sharing your location and contacts is also possible.

Get Started on Telegram

Developed by brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, Telegram can be downloaded and installed like other secret messaging apps. It is available for free at Google Play and the App Store. Once you get the app, you will be asked to provide your phone number and to add your picture and your name. Just like WhatsApp accounts, all Telegram accounts are tied to active phone numbers. In order to use the Telegram Secret Chat or any other option, you have to provide your phone number regardless of which device you use.

To verify your phone number and complete the registration, you will be sent a one-time password via SMS. You will enter this password to finish the registration. All messages shared using Telegram are cloud-based which means you can access them across all connected devices. The transmission of these messages is encrypted with the Telegram MTProto encryption technology while all Telegram Secret Chat messages are end-to-end encrypted.

According to the service’s privacy and security policy, all data you and others users share is heavily encrypted on the Telegram server and the associated encryption keys are stored across different data centers. The service supports two different encryption layers including server-client and client-client encryption. Cloud chats including both group and private chats are server-client encrypted while Telegram Secret Chat messages are more secured thanks to an extra client-client encryption layer.

If you use the Telegram Secret Chat feature, all data you share including files, media, and of course text messages are secured the same way. Telegram’s encryption is based on 2048-bit RSA encryption, 256-bit symmetric AES encryption as well as Diffie-Hellman secure key exchange. With an extra encryption layer in place, the Telegram Secret Chat feature is perfect for people who want to send end-to-end encrypted messages.

When messages are end-to-encrypted, only the sender and the recipient of those messages can decipher and access them. When using the Telegram Secret Chat option, your message cannot be forwarded and when you delete those messages on your device, they will be also deleted on the recipient’s device. With the Telegram Secret Chat feature, you can also send self -destruct files, videos, photos, and messages.

As suggested, self destruct messages, self destruct files, videos, and images can be only accessed one by the recipient. Once self destruct messages have been opened or read, they disappear from both devices, your and the recipient’s device. It is also worth mentioning that Telegram Secret Chat messages are not part of the service’s cloud so you can access these messages only on the device of origin. So, how do you start a Secret Chat in Telegram?

Start Telegram Secret Chat

Now, that we have covered all the basics, let’s see how to start a Telegram Secret Chat.

  • Open the Telegram app and click on the profile of the person you want to send an end-to-end encrypted message
  • Click on the More button and choose the Start Secret Chat option from the pop-up
  • To confirm your selection, press Start
  • If you use an Android device, click on the contact’s name you want to start a secret chat with
  • Click on the three-dot menu and choose the Start Secret Chat option
  • Confirm by clicking Start
  • If you want to send self-destruct messages, press on the stopwatch icon in the text box if you use an iOS device, or click on the stopwatch icon on the top toolbar if you use an Android device

WhatsApp Vs WeChat

In this WhatsApp vs WeChat comparison guide, we take a look at the two very popular instant messaging services that combined have over three billion users which is quite astonishing considering that there are many other instant messaging apps available out there. When looking into WhatsApp vs WeChat in terms of their active user statistics, WhatsApp with over two billion monthly active users most certainly wins even though WeChat is quite popular as well with over 1.24 billion active users as estimated in 2021.

More active users has Facebook (2.7 billion) while Facebook Messenger has over 2 billion users like WhatsApp. WeChat comes next followed by Instagram. Looking into these statistics shows that WhatsApp and WeChat are extremely popular and widely used across the globe. If you are interested in exploring how WhatsApp compares to other messaging apps such as Viber, Telegram, and Signal, make sure you check out our other articles.

WhatsApp Vs WeChat – How Many People Use These Apps?

WhatsApp has been around since 2009. This cross-platform, freeware, voice-over-IP messaging service originally catered to iOS users while today the WhatsApp messaging app can be downloaded to Android devices as well. Just like other messaging apps out there, WhatsApp is used for sending voice and text messages, making video and voice calls, sharing documents, files, and various other content. Besides the WhatsApp mobile app, the service’s client application is also accessible to desktop users.

Developed by Tencent Holdings Limited, WeChat emerged in January of 2011 so over ten years ago. The app supports seventeen languages and it works on Android and iOS portable devices. Back in 2018, WeChat became the largest standalone messaging app in the world with a staggering number of over 1 billion users. Just like WhatsApp, WeChat allows users to send text and voice messages, share videos, locations, and images, as well as benefit from video conferencing options.

WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook back in 2014 and this most certainly boosted the app’s popularity in the world. With over 2 billion active users, WhatsApp is the most used instant messaging app and it is estimated that over 100 billion messages are sent using the app every day. Over 390 million Indians use WhatsApp. WhatsApp is also extremely popular in Brazil, the United States, Indonesia, Russia, Mexico, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

User Demographics

The number of active WeChat users has been increasing steadily in the past several years. As estimated at the beginning of 2012, this instant messaging app had over 1.2 billion active users. WeChat is extremely popular in China, Bhutan, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, and the United State. When it comes to WhatsApp vs WeChat and their number of active users, WhatsApp once again wins. Over thirty-six percent of all WhatsApp users are between the ages of eighteen and forty-four.

Almost forty percent of all WeChat users are between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five. In China, twenty percent of all WeChat users are between the ages of twenty-five and thirty while another fourteen percent of users are between the ages of thirty-one and thirty-five. At the same time, the largest age demographic for WeChat is composed of younger people below the age of twenty-four.

While the statistics mentioned in the previous sections are quite impressive and they most certainly illustrate just how popular WhatsApp and WeChat are, we need to take a look at their features to decide which app wins the ultimate WhatsApp vs WeChat battle.

WhatsApp Vs WeChat – What About Their Features?

As mentioned in the previous section, both WhatsApp and WeChat provide video, text, and voice messaging options for free. The two instant messaging apps are quite similar. Further in this WhatsApp vs WeChat comparison guide, we examine their similarities and differences. WeChat has more features available with the app including a mobile wallet, social media, e-commerce, and of course, instant messaging options.

The standard WhatsApp app is more focused on real-time communication and fire sharing. Both WeChat and WhatsApp are compatible with a wide range of devices including Blackberry, Windows, iOS, Android, and macOS. In other words, both apps can be downloaded on mobile and desktop devices at no cost. To use WhatsApp, registered customers need to provide their phone numbers to get started while WeChat can be used even without a SIM card if you connect your WeChat account with your Facebook account.

In terms of user experience, both apps are very user-friendly, neatly rendered, and quite easy to use with simple main menus. This leads us to WhatsApp vs WeChat communication and social features. As mentioned at the beginning, both WeChat and WhatsApp allow registered users to send text and voice messages, share images, videos, and files. With both apps, you can share your location and send stickers. Group chatting is also supported by both services.

WhatsApp supports group chatting with up to two hundred and fifty-six individuals in one group while group chats in WeChat can include up to five hundred users. When it comes to WhatsApp vs WeChat and their security features, the two apps are quite similar once again. All messages you send using WhatsApp are private and secured as all messages send are end-to-end encrypted. WeChat employs AES encryption technology but messages you send using the service are not end-to-end encrypted.

Instead of using end-to-end encryption like the vast majority of other secret messaging apps out there, WeChat uses transport encryption which means send messages are encrypted between WeChat servers and the user. At the same time, WeChat offers a bunch of extra features that WhatsApp does not have such as built-in WeChat Pay e-wallet, Shake and Find Near Friends, Service and Subscription accounts, and Social Feed features.

WhatsApp vs WeChat – Comparison Conclusion

WhatsApp major features:

  • Messages end-to-end encrypted
  • Message seen notifications
  • Available on mobile and desktop devices
  • File sharing options
  • Disappearing text messages

WeChat major features:

  • Can be used without a SIM card
  • Sign in with Facebook options
  • Built-in browser
  • WeChat Pay e-wallet
  • Find Near Friends option

While WhatsApp is the most popular service of this kind, this WhatsApp vs WeChat battle cannot have a clear winner as both WhatsApp and WeChat have their unique features that make them great. If you are looking for an instant messaging app with a whole range of innovative, handy features, WeChat is perfect for you. If you are looking for a more secure messaging app that still has a decent range of features, then choose WhatsApp.

One Time Link Password

Here, we explore several awesome services and apps out there that allow you to create and share a one time link password to add an extra layer of protection when you sharing private, sensitive information. As suggested, a one time link password is a passcode that is only legit and valid for one click or one session. A one time link password (OTP) is more secure than static, traditional password-based logins as they employ different security measures including two-factor authentication.

In other words, when you share a one time password with the intended recipient, only the person that you have shared the link with can access it. One time link password algorithms generally rely on randomness alongside powerful has functions. Cryptographic functions alongside, randomness, and two-factor authentication tools make it impossible for cybercriminals and anyone else who is not the intended recipient to access the personal data that was shared with your one time link password.

Further, we take a look at several greatly reliable, easy-to-use services and apps that let you create and share a one time link password when you want to share some sensitive data but you do not want to use standard online communication options such as email and instant messaging apps.

Create a One Time Link Password with Password.link

Password.link is one of the most widely used, most popular services out there that lets you create a one time password to share credentials, login info, credit card info, or anything else sensitive and confidential. On the official website, it says Password-link lets you create client-side encrypted one time links and this is true since the service relies on technologically advanced AES encryption technologies to protect what is meant to be protected.

The company responsible for the service has been present on the scene since 2016 and it most certainly values your privacy. All encryption, as well as decryption, occurs in the browser and the encryption key is only stored in the link. Therefore, for someone to access and view your link shared with the service, he or she required the original link and the encryption key. As suggested, a one time link password you share using the service can only be opened once.

Once the intended recipient has opened your one time link password, your self destruct, encrypted message is deleted from the service’s database and it cannot be viewed again. Password.link does not store your private data other than what is necessary and this is the common practice among all reliable services of this kind. To create a one time link password with Password.link:

  • Head to the official website
  • Head to the text box on the homepage
  • Type your secret, self destruct message
  • Click on the Encrypt and Create Link button
  • Share your one time link
  • To access other Password.link features, you need to register for an account
  • If you are a registered user, you can get notified when your secret messages have been accessed, you can set an expiration time, and even more

1ty.me – “One Time” and Its Features

Another great service for creating a one time link password to protect your private information is 1ty.me. As revealed on the official website, the service for creating self destruct links was developed by the ApogeeInvent team to assist anyone who wants to protect what is meant to be protected. Sharing highly personal, sensitive information over email, instant messaging apps, and other online communication means is not as safe as you would think.

This is where the super easy to use 1ty.me service comes. Just like Password.link, the service lets you destroy secure, private notes after the intended recipient has viewed them. The service employs the best SSL encryption technologies. The service runs in HTTPS only which means personal data you share with a 1ty.me one time password is fully encrypted as it travels from the server to the intended recipient. All secure notes are also encrypted before they are stored on the server.

The URL of the encrypted notes is hashed so no URL is directly linked to a secure note. To add an extra security layer, the service only stored a portion of the encryption key in the URL while the URL is not stored on the 1ty.me server. Naturally, only the intended recipient with the required one time link password can decrypt such notes. As expected, the encrypted notes you share using the service are removed from the server once they are viewed by the intended recipient. To send a one time link password with 1ty.me:

  • Head to the official website
  • Type your message in the text box
  • Click on the Generate Link button
  • Send the URL generated to your recipient
  • You can also get notified when your note is viewed

Turn to transfer.pw

To safely share passwords, credentials, and other sensitive data, you can also turn to transfer.pw. This is another great, reliable, encrypted service for creating and sharing a one time password. The service was developed by Arno Hollosi. Just like those two previously mentioned services, transfer.pw truly values your privacy, so the service’s database only stored the ID of your secret messages. All messages stored in the database are fully encrypted by default.

Other information that is stored by the service’s web server includes your access and log entries. In other words, it stores the information on your IP address, time of access, HTTP status code, path of request, and responsive size, and error messages. Other information including your operating system, your web browser’s version, and name are no stored.

All error and access logs are deleted after thirty days. When it comes to its security measures, transfer.pw employs the best AES encryption technology so data is always encrypted as it leaves your device and reaches the server. In addition to AES, transfer.pw uses the Stanford JavaScript Crypto Library and randomly generated encryption keys so nobody except the intended recipient of your one time link password can access the content of your personal messages shared using the service.

Create One Time Download Link

Whenever you want to share some private, confidential such as passwords, the best option is to create one time download link. Once you create one time download link, you share it with the intended recipient and he or she can get the link once. Once the link has been downloaded by the intended user, it cannot be downloaded again by anyone else. The vast majority of services out there that let you create one time download link also let you set expiration dates.

Once your one time download links expire, they cannot be accessed again. Essentially, one time download links are self-destruct links or self-destruct URLs that let you keep your sensitive, confidential data out of your email, or instant messaging chat logs. This way, everything you share with one time download links remains safe and secure from third parties and other prying eyes.

As previously mentioned, there are many different file sharing services, apps, and sites that let you create one time download link any time whenever you want to add an extra layer of protection to your personal information and further, we explore some of these including Firemail, Wikisend, and FireNurse.

Create One Time Download Link with Great File Sharing Services

There are many great file sharing and file hosting services out there that allow their users to create one time download link and share it with anyone without worrying about their private, confidential data being at any risk. One of these is Firemail. When compared to other similar services out there, Firemail is the most generous considering it allows you to send files up to 30 GB and this is for the service’s free version.

With Firemail, you can easily create one time download link and share it with email recipients. You can also create one time download link and share it any other way including via instant messaging apps. Firemail works with all major email clients including Yahoo, Outlook, and Gmail. The Fairmail app can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store. When it comes to its security and privacy measures, Fairmail supports OpenPGP as well as S/MIME encryption and decryption protocols. There is a bunch of other awesome features included such as:

  • Two-way synchronization
  • Very low data usage
  • Warning notifications
  • Keyword management
  • PIN/Biometric authentication
  • Safe message view

With Wikisend, you can also create one time download link. The service is very easy to use thanks to its minimalistic design. For free, you can attach files including images, documents, or something else up to 100 MB. The service also allows you to set expiry dates between one and ninety days while you can choose to self destruct your files once they have been opened once. Wikisend also lets you protect your files with passwords for even greater security.

Crafted by RCPmedia, FileNurse is another great option for sharing files securely. It allows you to share files up to 300 MB in addition to allowing you to share shortened one time download links. Just like Wikisend, FileNurse also password protects your files and folders which is always a great touch. In addition to these services, you can create one time download link with Tmpfiles, MediaFire, NullUpload, File.Town, and UploadFiles among several other similar options.

Create One Time Download Link with MediaFire

MediaFire is a super reliable, easy to use, file synchronization, file hosting, and cloud storage service owned and operated by the MediaFire LLC company launched in 2006.  This online backup service offers client software for all devices including Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and BlackBerry 10. With millions of loyal users, MediaFire remains one of the most popular services of this kind and among many great features it offers, it also allows its users to create one time download link. To create one time download link with MediaFire:

  • Sign up for a MediaFire account at the official website
  • Or log into your account if you have one
  • Press on the Upload button, find the file you want to upload
  • Once the file has been uploaded, press the Share button
  • Choose More Sharing Options and pick 1 Time Download
  • Click on the Generate button to generate your link
  • Your one time download link can only be opened once

With MediaFire, you can also create links that expire after a predetermined period. The service allows you to set the validity of your links between one and thirty days. You can also get notified when your one time download link was accessed. Essentially, MediaFire lets you share self destruct images, self destruct videos and other encrypted files that cannot be accessed by anyone other than the intended recipient.

Explore One-Time Secret and Its Features

One-Time Secret is one of the most used services of this kind that lets you create one time download link. As mentioned on the official website, links that you create using the service also known as secret links can only be accessed once before they disappear forever. With One-Time Secret, you can also password-protect the private data you want to share but in this case, you have to register for a free account.

If you are not a registered One-Time Secret user, you can still create one time download link but without a passphrase for that extra security layer. If you prefer to keep your email address anonymous, you can register at One-Time Secret with a temporary email address as well. For anonymous users, the maximum size of shared messages is 100 KB and 1000 KB for free accounts.

It also should be noted that non-viewed disappearing messages are kept for seven days for non-registered and up to fourteen days for registered users with free accounts. After this time, messages or links created with One-Time Secrete are destroyed and cannot be retrieved. It also should be noted that the service does not allow to create one time link containing videos, files, or videos but only plain text. Therefore, you will have to turn to some other service to share files. The bottom line, One-Time Secret works perfectly when you want to make sure that your private information you share was seen only by the intended recipient and nobody else.

How to Send Password Securely Over HTTP?

Here, we explain in detail how to send password securely over HTTP. Before we get there, we go over some of the basics regarding HTTP such as how it works, what is its role, and how and why it is used. In the simplest terms, HTTP which stands for the Hypertext Transfer Protocol is the foundation of data World Wide Web data communication and data exchange. HTTP is a client-server, application protocol for all sorts of hypermedia, collaborative, and distributed data systems.

Since it is a client-server protocol, all HTTP requests must be initiated by the web browser or by the recipient. Servers and clients over HTTP communicate securely by exchanging messages and messages sent by web browsers or clients are known as requests while messages that are sent by serves are called responses. Essentially, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol allows us to communicate all sorts of data and information on the WWW.

How Does HTTP Work?

Tim Berners-Lee initiated the development of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol back in 1989. In November that same year, the very first communication between a server and an HTTP client over the internet was conducted. Before we explain how to send password securely over HTTP, it should be noted that the Hypertext Transfer Protocol remains one of the most used means of surfing the Internet even though it was introduced over thirty years ago.

Alongside HTML, HTTP was invented to pave the route for text-based, interactive web browsers. Since this is a request-response application protocol, it gives internet users ways to interact and communicate with numerous web resources by transferring hypertext messages between serves and clients. Hypertext documents also include hyperlinks that lead to other resources and these are easily accessed by internet users.

To perform tasks, the Hyperlink Transfer Protocol relies on certain request methods. Today, HTTP servers rely on the GET and HEAD methods even though they are many other methods available. Before you learn how to send password securely over HTTP, you should familiarize yourself with the major component of client-server protocols. In such systems that rely on HTTP, requests are always sent by the user-agent and in most cases, this is a web browser.

When a request has been sent, it reaches a serve and the server handles the request to provide a response or an answer. Between these two entities (client and server) there are other entities called proxies and the proxies act as caches and gateways as they perform requested operations. Between the server that provides answers and web browsers that send requests, there are modems and routers. However, these are well-hidden thanks to the World Wide Web’s layered design. What is on top of the network is the Hypertext Transfer Protocol application.

The Differences Between the HTTPS and HTTP

Over the years, the foundation of the World Wide Web has evolved. Today, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol is usually sent over a TLS (Transport Layer Security) and TCP encrypted connection while other transport protocols can be used as well. Since HTTP is extremely extensible, it is widely used for hypertext documents as well as videos, images. Then, there is HTTPS that stands for the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure and this is the major extension of HTTP.

Visually, these two are very similar but there are some major differences and knowing these differences is crucial in order to maintain efficient, secure sites that genuinely protect data. Unlike HTTP, HTTPS implements data encryption technologies. In this sense, HTTPS is more secure as HTTP Is the most basic layer protocol. Some other differences between the two:

  • HTTPS relies on TLS encryption while HTTP relies on the application layer protocol
  • HTTPS requires SSL certificates while HTTP does not require such certificates
  • TCP port 4433 used by HTTPS, while TCP port 80 used by HTTP
  • HTTPS required domain validation while this is not required by HTTP

How to Send Password Securely Over HTTP?

Considering HTTPS is more secure than HTTP, no wonder why many users of the internet wonder how to send password securely over HTTP. As mentioned in the previous section, HTTPS relies on the Transport Layer Security encryption technology and this does not have to be the case with HTTP. Besides, HTTPS works with SSL to transfer the data securely. So, how to send password securely over HTTP?

HTTPS is the major solution here and this is the reason why it was invented in the first place. Nonetheless, there are ways to send password or other confidential data over HTTP, and to get there, you first need to secure your password before you send it over HTTP. In other words, you need to encrypt it or hash it before the confidential data you want to send reaches the network.

How to Send Passwords Securely Over HTTP Using Encryption?

If you do not turn to encryption protocols, you cannot securely send passwords or any other data over HTTP and this is why the vast majority of websites out there rely on HTTPS instead. The main reason why HTTPS was invented was to enable secure, encrypted communication that HTTP cannot provide, not without TLS, SSL, or some other encryption protocols.

In order to learn how to send password securely over HTTP, you need to familiarize yourself with RSA encryption algorithms. Standing for Rivest-Shamir-Adleman, RSA is a widely used algorithm for encrypting and decrypting messages. Since it is an asymmetric protocol, it relies on two keys including private and public keys that enable secure, encrypted communication. To send password securely over HTTP, you should turn to RSA.

How to send password securely over HTTP using some other option? In addition to RSA, you can also use PGP or Pretty Good Privacy. PGP is another widely used encryption technology for sending and receiving passwords, emails, and other confidential, sensitive data. While it is most commonly used in email communication, with PGP you can encrypt your passwords, before you send them over HTTP. The bottom line, to send passwords securely over HTTP, you need to add extra layers of protection in the form of encryption.