IChat AV 3.1 Encryption

Just a note to everyone who tries it (to prevent a million threads from asking this question), encryption is only available to .Mac subscribers. That means that anyone who uses an AIM screenname, a free/trial .Mac screenname, Jabber, etc. will NOT be able to use iChat's encryption feature.
Similarly, it works between two people who both have full .Mac accounts.
-Ryan

Hey Macks - I just bought the .mac family pack (although $180 sounded a bit steep at first) and my son and I are chatting securely with the main and sub accounts.
I needed the family pack 'cause I used to have a regular account and a few email only accounts, but that meant that the kids and I could not chat securely (secure ichat doesn't work with email only accounts). Between the secure chatting, and their own idisk space, its a pretty sweet deal.
But I'm rambling - what you're describing sounds like what I went through right after the secure iChat feature came out. No matter what I did I couldn't get them "secure". Mebbe your upgrade to the family pack didn't take - and you're stuck as a regular account?
Go to the .mac site and see what you see in the account section there (save yourself a login and go right to <http://mac.com/account/>). If you're still lookin' like a regular account, you could send a note to the .mac billing folks here--> <http://apple.com/support/dotmac/account/>.
Hope this helps!
Rich

Similar Messages

  • IChat screen sharing security/encryption

    I'm going to be using iChat for the first time and want to use the screen sharing feature between two computers running 10.6. iChat's documentation says:
    "While every screen sharing connection uses encryption, the highest level of security requires both participants to have MobileMe subscriptions with encryption enabled. If this is the case, you will see a lock icon in the screen sharing window."
    Neither I nor the person I'm going to do screen sharing with has a MobileMe account. I'm wondering:
    1. What is the difference between the encryption that "every screen sharing connection uses" and the enhanced security allowed with MobileMe accounts? How does this compare with, say, doing VNC over an SSH connection? Is it adequate for the usual "family help desk" tasks, which may involve typing passwords?
    2. I understand that one can get a free MobileMe account which only has iChat capabilities. Does this free MobileMe account enable iChat encryption, or do I have to pay to get that?
    Thanks!

    re 1)
    I am not aware that Screen Sharing is claiming to be Encrypted in each and every connection.
    As far as I am aware it uses a modified Apple Remote Desktop engine and is a VNC connection tied together with a Audio Chat (two separate Ports/Data streams in tandem) and that a problem connecting either part will result in failure of the whole connection.
    It is claiming to be encrypted in each and every connection -- as I quoted in the original post, "While every screen sharing connection uses encryption..." This is from http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iChat/5.0/en/17157.html

  • IChat Encryption with MobileMe certificate

    iChat has been encrypting my chats/video without issue until recently. Although the user I am talking with and I both have working non-expired MobileMe iChat certificates, iChat has not been encrypting our chats anymore. Any idea on what I could do to fix this? I have no idea where to even start looking.
    Thanks!

    Welcome to Apple Discussions,
    See this article from Apple website for information about iChat encryption: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1952
    Both parties must be using MobileMe.
    All MobileMe accounts (Whether the primary account of a Family Pack or a sub account) can use encryption.

  • Can't enter iChat

    I tried to use iChat for the first time. I finished the initial setup and the iChat dialog box titled "Encrypted iChat" said "You are now ready to use iChat... *Click Done to start using iChat.*" The problem is there was no "Done" button! The button supposed to show Done showed "Continue" forever, no matter how many times I clicked on it. I tried every possible way I can think of, including using other accounts, turning off firewall, connecting directly to the Internet, deleting preferences, checking for updates, repairing permissions, reinstalling iChat and related frameworks. What else can I do to solve this problem?
    Message was edited by: Jeffrey_Wang

    I think I have found the source of the problem. I conducted a few experiments.
    First, I tried to use the iChat on a brand new MacBook (v 4,1) 2.4 GHz with OS 10.5.2 pre-installed. That iChat's setup dialog has no MobileMe account option. I used my .Mac account to login and iChat worked just fine.
    Second, I booted up my Mac mini with a backup hard drive whose system has been updated to 10.5.4, but not yet applied the MobileMe update. Logging in with my .Mac account, the iChat on Mac mini now worked.
    Third, I tested the iChat on a first generation PowerPC-based Mac mini with freshly installed OS 10.5 (no updates). Setting up and entering iChat with my .Mac account also worked smoothly without any problem.
    Of course, because I used a .Mac account to login, all three working iChats mentioned above couldn't have the encryption turned on in their preference setting.
    Therefore, my tentative conclusion seems pointing to the recent MobileMe related software update as the source of the problem. I suspect because I never used the iChat on that system before, the update automatically switched on the encryption setting without my consent. For some unknown reasons the iChat then can't work beyond the initial setup dialog.
    To prove my theory, I need to find a way to remove the offending MobileMe update. Time Machine wouldn't work because it will also remove my other important files. Or should I file a bug report? How?

  • Will moving to Airport improve security & iChat?

    I recently bought a Belkin ADSL2+modem with Wireless G+ MIMO router with a Belkin Wireless G universal range extender/access point. This combination was successful in extending the range in a large (3 storey) house. However I have discovered that I am unable to turn on WPA or WEP and have iChat work (in the iChat forums it appears that these Belkin routers do not work that well with iChat). It appears I can choose either encryption or iChat but not both.
    If I were to buy an Airport Extreme base station
    a) I am hoping it will work better with iChat (seems more likely and seems confirmed on the iChat forums)
    b) Sounds like I will need an ADSL modem (I have an old D-link modem I can probably still use)
    c) I can probably use the Belkin products as extenders
    d) I can turn on WPA and use the same password for all the products
    Does this sound like a reasonable plan that is likely to solve the problem that I have at present?
    Any advice appreciated.
    Power Mac G4 & Powerbook G4   Mac OS X (10.4.7)  

    As AEBS is an Apple product, I don't see why it would not work with iChat and provide WPA encryption. I don't think Belkin will work as an extender I am pretty sure. My experience with Belkin is that while I could get it to do WDS network to extend wifi network, it would not work nicely with WPA encryption.

  • Encrypted Chat Fails

    Suddenly, I'm unable to engage in encrypted chat with anyone. In the past, when I've had this problem, it has been easily fixed by deleting and refreshing certificates (in KeyChain Access) on one or both ends of the communication, but that's not working now. I've tried everything I can think of: restarting iChat, logging off of AIM, rebooting the Mac, deleting iChat preferences files. Nothing works. This appears to affect only me and happens with everyone in my buddy list. Un-encrypted chat works fine. I've made no changes to my configuration that I can recall, since I was last able to engage in encrypted chat successfully.
    Suggestions on how to proceed would be much appreciated!

    I'm seeing the same. Audio chat and Video chat are fine. Encryption fails with text chat.
    I also tried a few things, including revoking my certificate from the .Mac site, removing my certificate from Keychain Access, then starting up iChat again. A new certificate was issued through the iChat assistant. Still, encryption fails with text chat. It's fine with audio and video chat. I verified the new certificate was in use by the person I'm audio/video chatting with - by clicking on the lock in the upper right of the audio/video chat box and looking at the certificate info.
    I can text chat if I disable encryption in the iChat preferences. All software is up-to-date on 10.4.10 via Software Update.

  • IChat login

    I see iChat 3 now supports encrypted communication between users (if those users have .Mac). Is the iChat login also secure?
    PB Al 15"   Mac OS X (10.4.3)  

    IChat using the AIM service, which is not encrypted, so technically, it could be read by anyone.

  • Problem with importing and creating self signed SSL certificate

    Mac Pro, 10.7.2 Server.  Attempting to import or create a self signed certificate for use as ichat.domain.com to encrypt iChat service.  Server is acutally called server.domain.com but has an alias of ichat.domain.com.  I understand that this is probably not best practice but I would like to keep things this way since we have one server, run multiple services on it, but want to continue to connect to each service at SERVICE.domain.com.  We have been using this type of mismatched certificate with success since 10.4 or so.
    I am working through setup of 10.7 Server to replace our 10.6 server. 
    Tried upgrade of 10.6 to 10.7 installation.  The installation made a mess of some services and our Open Directory, but did move the certificate over and allowed iChat service to function properly.
    Clean install and setup of 10.7 Server.  Exported self signed certificate, private key, and encryption password from 10.6 Server and functioning 10.7 upgraded Server.
    On import or manual creation of certificate get the following error:
    Error
    Check your server's logs for more information.  The error (code 5001) was: Expected SecKeychainItemImport to return a SecIdentityRef, but it did not
    Log shows:
    Dec 29 17:56:55 server servermgrd[498]: -[CertsRequestHandler(HelperAdditions) importP12Data:passphrase:error:]: importedItems = (
                  "<SecCertificate 0x7fcf6ed43c00 [0x7fff78d96f40]>"
    I have tried importing and manually creating other certificates with a variety of names with success.  I assume that there is something buried somewhere that is causing this particular one to be a problem.  Other than manually removing any remnants of the certificate from /etc/certficates I do not have any ideas what to try.  I am essentially ready to move this server to 10.7 except for this problem and would like to avoid a reinstall.
    Suggestions?
    -Erich

    Take a look here.
    https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=146649
    Maybe it's a problem with your network.

  • Is it necessary to subscribe to .Mac to use iSight?

    Curious if one needs to subscribe to .Mac to be able to use iSight? I guess I don't fully understand how.Mac works.
    Thanks for the help.
    Chris

     Hello, Christopher.Curious if one needs to subscribe to .Mac to be able to use iSight?Nope.  You will find some more info on Using iSight here.
    For more info about dot Mac's features, click the dot Mac tab at the top of this page. ONE of dot Mac's uses is that your dot Mac account name will work as your account name for iChat AV.
    You can use dot Mac's Free Trial offer to get a free dot Mac account name. The Free Trial also lets you try out all of dot Mac's features to determine whether you want to pay to keep using them after the Free Trial period expires.
    One reason that some people choose to use a paid dot Mac account is that iChat AV 3 offers encrypted chat between two paid dot Mac accounts for increased chat security.
    Even if you ultimately choose not to pay for a dot Mac account, the dot Mac name you choose will continue to work as an iChat AV account name after the trial period has expired and dot Mac's many other features stop working.
    Alternatively, if you do not want to try dot Mac, you can get a AIM Name here. You do not need to use AOL to use AIM. An AIM name is all that is necessary.
    Either an AIM name or a dot Mac name will work fine as your iChat AV account ("buddy") name. In practice, an AIM name or a dot Mac name work interchangeably. However, when you add a new name to your "Buddy List" you must use the choices bar to indicate whether the name is an AIM name or a dot Mac name. Once the buddy names are entered, however, they work alike.
    If you want more information on the iChat AV setup process, I recommend Ryan's iChat AV 3 Setup Pages.
    There is more info on Using iSight with iChat AV here.
    Jim

  • Problems with 3-Way Chat

    When I am in a video chat I can't video in a third buddy anymore (in the past I could - I'm not sure when the problem started, but I think it's after the most recent software update - not sure what was included in the update though). If the person I am chatting with adds a buddy, then I just see a grey box with the "John Smith was invited by Jane Doe" text. I am able to hear the thrid person - but no video.
    Any help? Thanks.

    Hi again,
    Just out of curiosity,
    do you have a lock displayed in the upper right of your chat window?
    *When you're in a secure chat, you'll see a lock icon in the upper right corner of the iChat window. (Note: Encryption cannot be activated for multi-person text chats involving 3 or more participants.)
    How Secure iChat works
    If you have a full .Mac membership, and use your .Mac account name when you chat, iChat recognizes you and automatically encrypts your text, audio and video chats, and file transfers. If all participants in your chat use their .Mac account names, you can be sure that no one else is able to tune in to your iChat...
    JP
    http://www.mac.com/1/ichat.html

  • IChat Video Encryption

    Hello Everybody
    I have a family account for MobileMe and each account has a security certificate so we can chat securely.
    When we are text chatting both mine and the other persons chat window show a black closed padlock and it says the chat is encrypted at the top of the window. However when we start up a webcam chat only the person who started the chat has a black closed padlock showing.
    Does this mean that only their portion of the video is secure or are both portions secure? To me it would seem sensible to have both peoples windows showing a black closed padlock when being encrypted just like the text window does.
    Any insight is most welcome,
    Thanks,
    Dennis King.

    Hi,
    From iChat Help
    When you and your buddy have MobileMe certificates installed and you start a chat, a lock icon appears in the upper-right corner of the iChat window. Text, audio, and video are encrypted on your computer, sent across the Internet encrypted, and are not decrypted until they reach your buddy’s computer.
    My emphasis
    10:27 PM Thursday; June 4, 2009
    Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

  • Can't configure iChat encryption.

    My iChat encryption setup never completes/succeeds. If I look in the Accounts -> Security section of iChat's prefs It says Encryption being activated and a spinning cursor, then after a while a message appears telling me it can't activate encryption and I should do it via the account setup. I try this and then the process repeats.
    Anyone got any idea what's (not) happening?
    Thanks
    Tim.
    Message was edited by: TimMyers

    Have you got a full paid up .mac or .me account

  • Encryption between ichat versions

    Hi, excuse any mistakes, I am new to the forum business. Can anyone tell me if you can do an encrypted videoconference between macs using ichat 3(OS 10.4.5) and a ibook using ichat 2,1 (OS 10.3.9). I am able to videoconference ok but don't know if it is encrypted since the older version of ichat doesn't have the encryption setting.
    Thanks
    steinm

    Hi Sreinm,
    Welcome To The Apple Discussion Pages.
    Not with the .mac based encryption.
    But see also this thread http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1793169&#1793169
    Not sure if it works with iChat 2.x
    3:47 PM Monday; March 20, 2006

  • Enable encrypted iChats without .Mac account

    I saw a few postings of individuals asking how to encrypt their iChat messages without the use of a .Mac account.
    I ran accross the following that maybe helpful: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060215084902839

    Hi,
    I see the item they talk about Off the Record is actually listed as early and incomplete on thier site.
    Scroll down for the OS X Tiger version
    Also needs 10.4.2 at least.
    One of the responders to the MacOSXHints thread seems to say that all it requires is a Certificate and hints that AIM already does one.
    The Off the Record thing requires you get a Certificate from them and go through their Proxy. And that the people you are talking to also download the version for their OS.
    Does anybody know anything about AIM issued Certificates ?
    I found this
    11:41 AM Thursday; February 23, 2006

  • IChat works unless encrypted.

    I am able to video and audio iChat without encryption, but if encryption is enabled on both machines I get the message:
    "Security could not be verified for (person I am contacting).
    iChat was unable to establish an encrypted connection between you and the person claiming to be (person I am contacting).
    Encrypted conferencing with them will be disabled until the next time they log in."
    However, when I click on a buddy name (ie for text messaging) it works normally and shows the message is encrypted.
    If encrytion is removed from either machine I can connect.I have trashed plists, revoked and reestablished the security certificate, confirmed that the .mac accounts are valid, rebooted etc. There is an airport on one machine but as mentioned I get through fine without encryption.
    Any ideas?
      Mac OS X (10.4.4)  

    Hi,
    I have looked in the iChat Help item.
    I chose New Feature> Encryption > Trouble Shooting
    Make sure you have a paid .Mac account and that it has not expired.
    Make sure you and your buddies are using Mac OS X v10.4.3 or later.
    Make sure the .Mac Secure iChat certificate is in your keychain and has not expired. To check, open Keychain Access, located in Applications > Utilities, and double-click the .Mac Secure iChat certificate to display the expiration date.
    Make sure the date and time are correct on your computer.
    If your Secure iChat certificate is not in your keychain, and you have used secure iChat on a different computer, sign into your .Mac account to install a copy of your Secure iChat certificate on your computer.
    If you are unable to retrieve a copy of your Secure iChat certificate from the .Mac website, you may need to copy your certificate from the other computer and install it in your keychain on the computer you are using. To do this, locate the certificate in your keychain on the computer you have used to secure iChat. Choose Export from the File menu. Copy the exported certificate to your other computer, and double-click the file to open it in Keychain Access. Choose login from the Keychain pop-up menu and enter your administrator password if necessary.
    Make sure you are chatting with buddies in your Buddy List, not your Bonjour or Jabber list.
    Also this might help http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh2141.html
    Ralph

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