Gibberfish, Inc./Gibberfish User Documentation

Understanding the threats you and your group will encounter is an important step in establishing a useful security strategy. The goal is to use only the techniques necessary to protect against your likely adversaries. This will prevent your security regime from becoming so burdensome that you stop using it. Your administrator may have already created a Threat Model describing the security challenges you and your group may expect. If you are unsure, please contact them and ask. 

EXISTING COMMUNICATIONS

It is likely that you are adding Gibberfish to a variety of existing accounts and services associated with your online activities. These older accounts and services may already be compromised. We recommend using fresh accounts for any activity that involves your Gibberfish server, the content stored there, or the activities associated with it. 

We recognize that this is not always convenient or appropriate for every user. In this case, please take the time to re-secure any account or service you intend to use for private activities. Change your passphrases in order to lock-out unauthorized users who may have gained access without your knowledge. Wherever possible, enable two-factor authorization. Check for software updates for all your devices, including your phone, and install them.

The Nextcloud “Talk” app allows you to create and join video calls in your web browser. For best performance on mobile devices, we recommend that you install and use the “Nextcloud Talk” mobile app, which is available from iTunes, Google Play, and F-Droid.

The chat system uses the standard XMPP protocol, which will allow you to chat not only with fellow Gibberfish users, but also with anyone else in the world using an XMPP server. Your XMPP address is <your username>@<your gibberfish server>. For example,

For more extensive documentation of the core features, please refer to the Nextcloud User Manual, which is also located in your Gibberfish home folder.

FINAL NOTES

We hope you enjoy using Gibberfish. We have worked hard make it a secure and easy-to use platform, as have the many independent contributors to the various open source projects that we have integrated into our service. Special thanks goes to the folks at Nextcloud, without whom our platform would not be possible.

Gibberfish works with the Nextcloud desktop and mobile clients to allow you to automatically sync files to and from the server. This is disabled by default as a security measure. If you wish to use these clients, talk to your Administrator about changing the file access rules. If you decide to sync files locally, only do so if you have turned on full-disk encryption for your device. This protects your files if your device is lost, stolen or hacked

While the comic above explains the concept, the Diceware method recommends a passphrase length of 5 or more words for optimal security.

Using Tor is the single best way to guard your online privacy. This is why we use Tor to deploy your Gibberfish server. While it specifically refers to The Onion Router project, Tor has come to encompass a variety of free products and services people can use to safeguard their online activities. We recommend that everyone use the Tor browser to help anonymize their online presence.

Please carefully read the documentation and FAQ that Tor provides about browsing on their network. They have important recommendations for maintaining your privacy. Importantly, using the Tor browser does not guarantee that all your online activities are anonymous.  

As your security needs escalate Tor has other free tools to help. When you evaluate your Threat Model, you may wish to investigate Bridge servers and Tails. Bridge servers allow people to access Tor in countries that block it. Tails is a Linux operating system, complete with commonly used programs, all on a USB stick. It allows extremely private computing.