MsgMe | Devpost

Example of the Chat being used.

Inspiration

The main inspiration came from a fascination with secure communication and a desire for a challenge to promote self-improvement. With the goal of creating a securely encrypted messaging app, we took on the challenge of developing an app that prioritizes user privacy and security.

We're submitting it for the Ciena Network Security competition, in-person.

What it does

The main purpose of the app is to permit users to have a seamless experience while chatting with their friends on a secure encrypted network.

The app provides:

A rapid Network Performance
The ability to send large quantities of data at once
A smooth experience with an intricate design

How we built it

MsgMe was built using a combination of React.JS, CSS, and HTML. React.JS was used to develop the app's functionality, while CSS was employed to enhance its visual appeal. HTML provided the foundation for the app, allowing for the integration of buttons and other essential components.

The team utilized several libraries, including Gun and routes, to build a complex encryption system that ensures the privacy and security of all messages exchanged on the platform. The incorporation of these libraries was crucial in the creation of the app, that is both functional and secure.

As a proof of concept, we applied an encryption to a node, which could theoretically also be applied to messages as well. As it is now, the user's information is encrypted. Each sign-up has attached to it a cryptographic hash using the SHA-256 protocol - essentially, as the strings get larger, their encryption becomes exponentially harder to replicate.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge the group faced was making sure that the registration and login data was not lost. Since MsgMe is a decentralized server, all the information is not held in one place, making it difficult to maintain the data. We also had to learn a lot about React and Gun since this was our first time using these libraries in any elaborate capacity.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Although the task seemed difficult at first, we persevered and the team is proud to have worked together to overcome all the obstacles we had in our way.

We are very proud of completing such a difficult challenge in such a short amount of time, by ensuring that we were communicating with each other at all times and helping one another when a teammate was struggling.

What we learned

We learned that although programming knowledge is incredibly important in these kinds of projects, communication with your teammates is what brings the group together and enables us to deliver the highest quality work. We also learned a lot about React, which was integral to the success of the project.