3 ms·

> NATO, police forces and intelligence agencies use it Is there anywhere to read more about this?

liotier 1mo ago
The existence of "XEP-0365: Server to Server communication over STANAG 5066 ARQ" suggests military usage. Isode advertises XMPP as "The NATO Standard for instant messaging" (https://www.isode.com/secure-xmpp/ https://www.isode.com/secure-xmpp/) and it is one of their core offerings. I remember seeing NATO command posts using IRC long ago - makes sense because it is ultra light, and therefore usable on extremely low bitrate degraded links... XMPP seems to be the successor for that purpose. https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/XMPP_trials https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/XMPP_trials says "On shortwave, you can see the military use this protocol. They are known for using MIL 188-110A Serial HF waveform (fixed 600bps/S) and 6-bit code clear text with dual bursts of STANAG 4539 and STANAG-5066 as for XMPP Multi-User Chat (MUC) messages, over a bandwidth of 34 kHz. Multi-User Chat (MUC) is a central service for military communication. [..] XMPP is widely used for military deployments, where operation over constrained and degraded networks is often essential, particularly for tactical operation"
- dewey 1mo ago
  Thanks! That was exactly the kind of "hidden usage" I was interested in as it seems to not be publicly used by a lot of people these days (As you can see by the user numbers on https://search.jabber.network/channels/1 https://search.jabber.network/channels/1).
  - account42 1mo ago
    Spam is an issue which also drives people off public federation.
mvdwoord 1mo ago
You can find some clues in the published service catalog of the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) here: https://www.ncia.nato.int/about-us/service-portfolio/customer-area https://www.ncia.nato.int/about-us/service-portfolio/custome... It seems their "JChat" application is based on XMPP.

The existence of "XEP-0365: Server to Server communication over STANAG 5066 ARQ" suggests military usage. Isode advertises XMPP as "The NATO Standard for instant messaging" (https://www.isode.com/secure-xmpp/ https://www.isode.com/secure-xmpp/) and it is one of their core offerings. I remember seeing NATO command posts using IRC long ago - makes sense because it is ultra light, and therefore usable on extremely low bitrate degraded links... XMPP seems to be the successor for that purpose. https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/XMPP_trials https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/XMPP_trials says "On shortwave, you can see the military use this protocol. They are known for using MIL 188-110A Serial HF waveform (fixed 600bps/S) and 6-bit code clear text with dual bursts of STANAG 4539 and STANAG-5066 as for XMPP Multi-User Chat (MUC) messages, over a bandwidth of 34 kHz. Multi-User Chat (MUC) is a central service for military communication. [..] XMPP is widely used for military deployments, where operation over constrained and degraded networks is often essential, particularly for tactical operation"

dewey 1mo ago
Thanks! That was exactly the kind of "hidden usage" I was interested in as it seems to not be publicly used by a lot of people these days (As you can see by the user numbers on https://search.jabber.network/channels/1 https://search.jabber.network/channels/1).
- account42 1mo ago
  Spam is an issue which also drives people off public federation.

mvdwoord 1mo ago

You can find some clues in the published service catalog of the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) here: https://www.ncia.nato.int/about-us/service-portfolio/customer-area https://www.ncia.nato.int/about-us/service-portfolio/custome... It seems their "JChat" application is based on XMPP.