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Just to be pedantic, there is no such thing as Axolotl. Olm is a new protocol, different from Signal Protocol, that uses the double ratchet internally for part
by moxie 10y ago
Just to be pedantic, there is no such thing as Axolotl. Olm is a new protocol, different from Signal Protocol, that uses the double ratchet internally for part of its function. However, they've made other design decisions that are different from Signal Protocol and may have received less study or scrutiny at this point.
We renamed the Axolotl Protocol and the Axolotl Ratchet because of the confusion between the two (https://whispersystems.org/blog/signal-inside-and-out/ https://whispersystems.org/blog/signal-inside-and-out/), particularly when people just used the word "Axolotl."
Often when people intentionally continue to use the word "Axolotl" now, it's because they're trying to benefit from that confusion. Olm, however, has been clear about being a different protocol.
- Arathorn 10y agoJust to echo (again), Olm is indeed an independent C/C++ implementation of the double ratchet, and we've been avoiding the overloaded term 'axolotl'. Olm has recently added a group ratchet on top called Megolm which diverges significantly from the Signal protocol, as it's optimised for Matrix's specific use cases of (optionally) syncing and decrypting existing history onto new devices, which obviously comes at the expense of PFS. In terms of study & scrutiny: Olm and Megolm is still alpha, we're even not using it in earnest in Matrix yet. Things are moving forward fast though, and we're getting a security audit booked in which should hopefully significantly improve our study & scrutiny quotient! (moxie: did you see my mail? any interest in grabbing a beer next week?)