OMEMO support in Tails
_Originally created by @Kurtis on [#11541 (Redmine)](https://public-redmine-archive.tails.boum.org/code/issues/11541)_
The OMEMO encryption /oˈmiːmoʊ/ (OMEMO Multi-End Message and Object
Encryption) gives you all the advantages you would expect from a
modern-day encryption protocol like Future and Forward Secrecy and
deniability while allowing you to keep the benefits of message
synchronization and offline delivery.
OMEMO not only gives you a better encryption features than OpenPGP and
OTR but is also much easier to setup. OMEMO is the encryption you can
actually use in your daily life. Turn it on once and forget you ever
did.
OMEMO uses the Signal Protocal ratchet to establish secure sessions
between every combination of devices for you and your contact. Those
sessions are then being used to communicate secure keys to all devices.
OMEMO will generate a new key for every message. That key is used to
encrypt your message with AES-GCM. The long-lived Signal Protocal
sessions in the background deal with the challenges of message
reordering, message loss and accidental duplication.
Being built upon PEP (Personal Eventing Protocol) to announce the
pre-keys used by Signal Protocal to establish new sessions, OMEMO
requires little to no change to the existing XMPP server infrastructure.
<https://conversations.im/omemo/>
Tails could work upstream to help Pidgin impliment OMEMO by assisting
with this ticket: <https://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/16801>
Alternatively, Tails could include Gajim
<https://packages.debian.org/jessie/net/gajim> and Kalkin’s Gajim OMEMO
plugin.
OTR is the current default chat encryption option on Tails. OTR is 10
years old and was never designed for modern day instant messaging.
Update from FT/UX meeting, 2020-12-03: we could have a transition period during which we ship both Pidgin
and a new client, so that communities have time to switch from OTR
to OMEMO. Then the new client does not need to support OTR.
### Related issues
- **Related to** tails/tails#7868
- **Related to** tails/tails#8573
- **Related to** tails/tails#14568
- **Related to** tails/tails#14567
- **Related to** tails/tails#17508
### References
- https://dustri.org/b/time-to-sunset-otr.html
issue