[ClosedTalk]® Secure Voice Communication [ClosedTalk]® is a secure VoIP solution to enable internet calls to be made in total privacy by encrypting the voice communications made over the computer networks. It securely transports the voice data through strong encryption technology, advanced key exchange process, and user authentication through digital certificates (optional). A gatekeeper service is provided to locate communication partners on the private/public network. This secure VoIP solution is provided free for unlimited usage and distribution for both personal and professional use.
Feature Overview Why Use [ClosedTalk]®? Secure Registration & Activation Security and Privacy Installation Tips Commitment from CE-Infosys
Feature Overview
Robust security features are balanced with user-friendly functionalities, including:
| Using the built-in sound system of the computer, [ClosedTalk]® users communicate without the need for IP telephones. All you need are a sound card, speaker and microphone functions.
| Secure registration process requires user to provide their own email address to initiate a safe registration at the gatekeeper. The email address will not be stored in the database nor be made known to any third parties. Your privacy is protected as the Gatekeeper will erase your email address after sending the unique activation code to your email account. Using your own email address ensures that only you can activate your account and nobody else. The Gatekeeper calculates a signature (SHA-1 hash) from your email address which is stored in the database to identify you. From this signature, nobody can calculate backwards to the original email address. Please read information on 'Secure Registration & Activation' for protection of user's confidentiality.
| Caller contacts the other party using the email address. The email address of the person you want to talk to is hashed in your computer before it is sent to the gatekeeper. By using this signature, the Gatekeeper does not know to whom you want to talk. [ClosedTalk]® does not need the old-fashioned telephone numbers. The gatekeeper locates the other party on the private/public networks and provides the IP address of the destination to the caller. A direct IP connection is then established between the two parties.
| Text Chat facility supports instant messaging communications when callers are busy on the line. Chat enables users to type messages for the other party to see on his or her chat window panel
| Address Book feature helps user to maintain and update contact details.
| History Log provides records of connected calls and offline parties.
| Ringtone function is customisable to allow for user personalisation.
Top
Why Use [ClosedTalk]®?
As a key difference to other VoIP solutions, the development target of [ClosedTalk]® is to protect the privacy of the talking parties. [ClosedTalk]® should be used when you want to keep your identity and the contents of the talk secret. The advantages of using [ClosedTalk]® are many, including the following user benefits:
| [ClosedTalk]® calls are made using the internet connection which are not chargeable. It is a free VoIP solution for making free internet calls.
| [ClosedTalk]® is unlimited in usage and distribution which makes it a widely popular VoIP solution for small to large group of users.
| Strong encryption technology, advanced key exchange process, and user authentication through digital certificates (optional) are the high-end security features incorporated into [ClosedTalk]® to provide users with a commercial-quality, secure voice communication. Users do not pay for the security features, nor for the internet calls.
| There is no need for user's configuration of any system requirements. Simply download software, install and launch program. It is an easy-to-install and user-friendly VoIP solution suitable for home and business use.
| Users start making calls using a simple process - Click and Dial by entering the other party's email address or select from Address Book. It is particularly well suited for use by individuals or employees who may be unfamiliar with making internet calls for the first time.
| Companies with a larger user base can opt for a private gatekeeper service to cater for their communication needs. [ClosedTalk]® is highly scalable, customisable and easy to maintain as a business VoIP solution.
| CE-Infosys is committed to continuously develop and enhance user features in [ClosedTalk]® with user support provided. The free software is a full product with robust security features, therefore it is not a demo or limited-period trial version.
| User support is available through the free online forum, or alternatively, business users can opt for a maintenance contract to provide one-to-one phone, email or onsite assistance for larger deployments.
Top
Secure Registration & Activation
Secure Registration [ClosedTalk]® identifies users at a central connection server called the Gatekeeper anonymously. The Gatekeeper uses the signature (SHA-1 hash code) of the user's email address for this. During the Registration process, the Gatekeeper will generate an activation code and send it to your own email address. For this reason, you are required to provide a VALID and ACTIVE email address. The activation code is in a second-step resent from your computer to the Gatekeeper to complete the registration. This is called the Activation process. By this procedure, we guarantee that nobody else can fake your identity and later on receive your calls. The hashed value, called signature, cannot be calculated backward into the email address. Please read information on 'Security & Privacy' for security implementation of [ClosedTalk]® service. After receiving the unique activation code, it must be entered in your computer. This is done through the Activation process which you can complete once you have received your activation code in the email. Again, the unique activation code prevents hackers from using your identity and receiving your calls. Your activation code will be kept for 30 minutes in the Gatekeeper. After that time, the Gatekeeper will erase your activation code. Any activation after that time lapse will fail. CE-Infosys guarantees that during the short moment your email address is known at the Gatekeeper, it will not used for any other purpose. All the communications between the Gatekeeper and the your computer during this registration process is encrypted using an ECC Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocol and an AES 256 bit encryption. Secure Activation Email may take up to several minutes to arrive, and some email providers require up to 7 minutes to deliver each email. When you have received the activation code in your email, you are required to copy and paste this unique code to the corresponding field in the Service Activation page before clicking on the ACTIVATE button. This will complete the activation of [ClosedTalk]® service. Important Note The activation code must be entered within 25 minutes (5 minutes buffer) upon the registration. Otherwise, the Gatekeeper will erase the registration request. In this case, you must retry the registration. If you have entered an invalid email address, you will not be able to receive the email containing the activation code. If this happens, you must click on the RETRY REGISTRATION button. Top
Security and Privacy
A first Look at How [ClosedTalk]® Works [ClosedTalk]® is for secure communication, therefore a connection to traditional phone systems is not included and not planned. At the gateway to a traditional phone system, the encrypted data would have to be decrypted. At that point, the privacy would be lost. Telephone numbers are therefore not needed. The concept of building a connection using the email address is not new, but is very useful because remembering an email address is much easier than a long string of numbers. After the initial registration at the Gatekeeper, the email address is erased in the Gatekeeper. When a [ClosedTalk]® Client is switched on, a hash value of the email address is sent to the Gatekeeper together with the IP address of the user. This hashed value cannot be calculated backward into the email address. When the caller enters the email address of the communication partner, [ClosedTalk]® calculates the hash value of the other party and contacts the Gatekeeper. The Gatekeeper will locate the other party in its table of online clients and provide the IP address of the destination to the caller. A direct IP connection is then established between the two parties. The communication to the Gatekeeper is encrypted using an ECC key generation protocol. How [ClosedTalk]® Secures the Voice Communication Conversations between the [ClosedTalk]® users are protected using an ECC based Diffie-Hellman Key Generation Protocol to provide secure session keys and a strong 256 Bit AES encryption to secure the voice data. It is known that traditional VoIP communications can be easily intercepted. Interceptions happen when conversations fall vulnerable to a third-party’s eavesdropping. Key exchange and voice content are intercepted, opened for retrieval, and sent back to the destination almost undetected. This form of interception is commonly known as the ‘man in the middle’ attack. The diagram shows how a ‘man in the middle attack works during the session key generation. Whenever ‘The Bad Guy’ has its own keys shared with both the unsuspecting communication partners, the automatic decryption of their voice channel will be very easy and cannot be detected! [ClosedTalk]® exposes such attacks by calculating a hash value of the generated session key and displays some byte of it as security code on both the callers’ screens. This security code is like a checksum of the session keys. If an attack does take place, this ‘checksum’ will be different on both end-points of the communication as seen on the users’ screens. The users can exchange these codes verbally to verify with each other. So long as the security codes are identical, there is no interception of the voice data. Top
Installation Tips
To successfully activate [ClosedTalk]®, please ensure you have taken the following measures: Email Address During the Registration process, [ClosedTalk]® uses a Gatekeeper to generate the activation code which is sent to your own email address. For this reason, you are required to provide a VALID and ACTIVE email address. If you have entered an invalid email address, you will not be able to receive the email containing the activation code. Email Filter Please ensure that your email filter allows incoming emails sent from closedtalk@ce-infosys.com. Your email system must not block this email address. Similarly, your anti-virus or anti-spam software should not block this email address. Firewall Setting If your computer has a personal firewall, it must not block [ClosedTalk]® from accessing Internet. [ClosedTalk]® needs the firewall to enable TCP & UDP connections for both incoming and outgoing traffic on Port 18800. If you are behind a public or corporate firewall that is blocking the port or protocols, please contact your network administrator for further instruction. Better Voice Quality If your computer is connected to the internet via a broadband router, please check whether the UPnP framework is supported by both your computer and broadband router. If yes, enabling the UPnP framework will gurantee direct connections to other users. Very often, a direct connection results in better voice quality. Top
Commitment from CE-Infosys
Management Commitment The FREE version of [ClosedTalk]® will be kept free of charge for all of the future. We will sell hardware enhancements such as [ClosedTalk]® Handsets, approved Headsets, [ClosedTalk]® USB Handsets, e-Identity Tokens and Smart Cards, digital certificates as well as private Gatekeepers. A [ClosedTalk]® version will be included in the CompuSec Pocket. CompuSec Pocket with [ClosedTalk]® is chargeable. We also commit that [ClosedTalk]® will be further developed and enhanced with useful functions and features over time. We do not seek to make the most profit in the shortest time, but we want to win customers over with [ClosedTalk]® for those who needs an independent and trustful security. We guarantee that we will provide fixes and corrections for the product if problems are found by our customers or by ourselves. We further promise that we are committed to an open policy. If security weaknesses should be found, we will inform the community and provide solutions. How to Build Trust? It is not easy for a user to trust an IT product when private information may be send over Internet. To help the community to build trust in our product, we at CE-Infosys will provide technical details of the security implementation. We will explain how the product works and why you can trust the product. We will publish White Papers explaining concepts and protocols. We will not publish the source code in detail due to our commercial obligations for our investments and skills, but we will answer questions that can help people to understand the security implementation. Top [ClosedTalk]® is a registered trademark of CE-Infosys Pte Ltd in Singapore.
More information on CE-Infosys at www.ce-infosys.com