Twister (software)

Twister is a decentralised, experimental peer-to-peer microblogging program. The system uses end-to-end encryption to safeguard communications.[6] It is based on both BitTorrent- and Bitcoin-like protocols[7] and has been likened to a distributed version of Twitter.[8][9]

Twister
Original author(s)Miguel Freitas
Developer(s)Open Source on Github, Miguel Freitas, Lucas Leal
Initial releaseDecember 30, 2013 (2013-12-30)
Repository
Operating systemFreeBSD,[1] Linux,[2] Mac OS X,[3] Microsoft Windows,[4] and Android[5]
Size1 MB
Available inEnglish, Russian
TypeSocial network service, microblogging
LicenseMIT and BSD licenses
Websitetwister.net.co

In 2020, the original author Miguel Freitas announced that he would no longer be leading Twister development for the "foreseeable future", however the Twister network has continued functioning, and suggested that others might wish to fork the project. It was also announced that the website might go offline as hosting was due to expire. The Twister core had been at version 0.9.40 since 2018.[10] The source code remains available on GitHub.[11]

Overview

Twister is a Twitter-like microblogging platform that utilizes the same blockchain technology as Bitcoin, and the file exchange method from BitTorrent, both based on P2P technologies.

The website seobloggingpro.com ranked Twister as the number 13 microblogging site,[12] while seosandwitch.com ranked Twister as the number 4 microblogging site.[13] (In the case of Twister, the ranking is not of the website itself, which exists primarily to facilitate downloads of the Twister platform.)

As of 2014, Twister was experimental software in alpha phase, implemented as a distributed file sharing system. User registration and authentication is provided by a Bitcoin-like network, so it is completely distributed and does not depend on any central authority. Distribution of posts uses a Kademlia distributed hash table (DHT) network and BitTorrent-like swarms, both provided by libtorrent.[14] Included versions of both Bitcoin and libtorrent are highly patched, and are intentionally not interoperable with the already existing networks.

Miguel Freitas, aiming to build a censor-resistant public posting platform,[15] began development on Twister in July 2013 to address the concerns of free speech and privacy. Building on the work of Bitcoin and Bittorrent, he built the core structure in October 2013. Lucas Leal was hired to create HTML and CSS for the user interface, with Miguel writing the required JavaScript code. 2,500 user accounts were registered in the first six days of operation.[16]

As a completely decentralised network, Twister cannot be incapacitated since there is no central point to attack. Twister uses end-to-end encryption to protect communications and is also designed to prevent other users from knowing a user's IP address and which messages the user has read. As a consequence of the decentralisation, a user will be unable to regain access to their "account" if they lose access to their secret key.[17]

History

The Brazilian computer engineer and programmer Miguel Freitas started developing the social network after learning about the massive surveillance programs of the USA's National Security Agency (NSA), as revealed by the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. He began to worry about the accessibility of that quantity of information under the control of a single entity under American jurisdiction.

According to Freitas, Twitter is the social network that has been the most prominent in promoting democracy the organisation of protests. Freitas built Twister based on privacy-preserving technology due to the risks involved in providing personal information on social networks in light of the mass surveillance conducted by the NSA.

Freitas and his developer, Leal, built the alpha version of the application for Android, Linux and OS X. Versions for Windows and iPhone are not planned.

While the project was in its alpha phase, Brian Armstrong, co-founder of Coinbase, believed that it was a great example of how the open protocol of Bitcoin could be used for diverse purposes.

Technology

Protocols

Twister is a distributed system, that works using a peer-to-peer architecture. Unlike other decentralised networks (like pump.io/Identi.ca, StatusNet/GNU social, Mastodon or Diaspora), it does not require the user to use their own server and does not require a user to trust a third-party server in order to use it.

Bitcoin

The distribution is achieved through the Bitcoin protocol, though not through the same network used by the cryptocurrency. The protocol handles the registration of users. In the same way that miners verify transactions on the network used by the Bitcoin cryptocurrency to combat double spending, the Twister network verifies the users' names and that the message posted by a specific user originated from that user.

BitTorrent

The messages are transmitted through the BitTorrent protocol. This allows for distribution of a great number of messages along the network in a fast and efficient way.

Because it is a peer-to-peer system, there is no central server from which information may be collected (see PRISM).

Platforms

Twister was developed under Linux and ported successfully to Android and OS X.

One of the long-term objectives of the program is to move the whole cryptographic code of the implementation to the user's browsers. This way users would be capable of accessing Twister through any client platform they wish and still maintain the security of their secret keys at all times.

Functionality

The first Twister prototype intended to reproduce the basic characteristics of microblogging platforms, including:

  • Searching users
  • Following and unfollowing users
  • Limiting the length of text based messages to 140 characters
  • Broadcasting and answering messages
  • Browsing through mentions, hashtags and private messages

Private messages require the addressee to follow the speaker, which is a common requirement in many of the existing platforms.

Security

Twister is a peer-to-peer microblogging platform without a central node mediating messages.

Twister uses 256-bit ECC encryption with the same secp256k1 parameters as Bitcoin, supposedly providing similar security to a 3072-bit RSA key.[17]

A significant bug bounty was offered, payable in bitcoin, for identifying design flaws.

The direct message application is based on example code published by Ladar Levison of Lavabit.

Censorship

People who run a node can delete a user's posts in the DHT, but not block the user's account.

Privacy

Messages are sent encrypted directly between users.

Anonymity

Peers' IP addresses are not recorded within the application, which avoids tracking of peers if the device is later compromised, but network interception can still identify data flows between devices.[18]

In order to be 100% anonymous, the user would have to use a browser that masks the IP address, such as Tor or similar.

References
  1. "FreshPorts -- net-p2p/twister". www.freshports.org/. 2014-06-22. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
  2. "Github Default build guide for Linux Twister". twister.net.co/. 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  3. "Github build guide for mac". twister.net.co/. 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  4. "Github build guide for mac". twister.net.co/. 2014-07-08. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  5. "FAQ Guide by Twister". twister.net.co/. 2013-10-24. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  6. Frediani, Carola (18 February 2014). "Making "NSA-Proof" Social Networking Mainstream". Tech President. Archived from the original on 23 August 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  7. Epstein, Michael (3 February 2013). "Cryptography Apps: How To Keep Your Personal Info Private". Notebook Review. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  8. Finley, Klint (27 January 2014). "Out in the Open: Teenage Hacker Transforms Web Into One Giant Bitcoin Network". Wired. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  9. Lunduke, Bryan (21 January 2014). "Previous Article Next Article Test-driving Twister: The NSA-proof Twitter clone". Network World. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  10. Miguel Freitas (25 June 2020). "News". Twister. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021.
  11. "miguelfreitas/twister-core - Code". Retrieved 12 July 2022 – via GitHub.
  12. "Top 20 Microblogging Sites - Best Microblogging Sites List in 2022 -". 25 October 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  13. Bhattacharya, Joydeep (12 September 2012). "Microblogging Sites List (Examples)". SEO Sandwitch. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  14. Hasslberger, Sepp (26 January 2014). "Coming soon: Twister – a distributed p2p microblogging platform". P2P Foundation Blog. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  15. Freitas, Miguel (7 January 2014). "Twister: The Fully Decentralized P2P Microblogging Platform". Slashdot. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  16. "Twister: The Fully Decentralized P2P Microblogging Platform". slashdot.org. 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  17. "FAQ | twister". Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  18. According to Freitas, this guarantees anonymity but does not mean that the IP address will not be detected by the ISP; rather, it means the content of the message will not be visible except to someone who can decrypt it.
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