ZOSCIICHAT

ZERO encryption ZERO ciphering 100% secure* communication system

What is ZOSCIICHAT?

ZOSCIICHAT is a secure chat client based on ZOSCII messaging.

Instead of encrypting data, ZOSCII encodes messages as address sequences pointing to locations within a shared ROM (Read-Only Memory) file. Without the ROM, these addresses are completely meaningless. With the correct ROM, messages decode perfectly.

Known ZOSCIICHAT Servers:


  • https://zoscii.com/zosciichat

How It Works

📝 Step 1: Enter Server URL

First enter the URL of the ZOSCIICHAT server you would like to chat on. Anyone can start their own ZOSCIICHAT server by using the software within the official GitHub repository.

🔑 Step 2: ROM Selection

Users select a ROM file (any binary file - image, document, etc.) that becomes their personal encoding key. This ROM is NOT uploaded to the server but is used only within your web browser. (make sure you obtained ZOSCIICHAT from the official GitHub repository)

📝 Step 3: Channel Selection

Messages channels are just numbers that you can use to reduce noise within your conversations. Be sure not to use any identifiable numbers, but any random even if you reuse it will do. These channel numbers do not affect or reduce message security in any way.

📝 Step 4: Message Encoding

Messages are converted to sequences of addresses pointing to byte locations within the ROM.

📤 Step 5: Address Storage

Only the address sequences are uploaded and stored on the server - no actual message is ever sent to the server.

🔍 Step 6: Message Decoding

Other users with the same ROM can utilise the addresses to read back the original message.

Security Features

✅ What Makes ZOSCII Secure
  • Information-theoretic security: Security is mathematically provable, not dependent on computational assumptions
  • No encryption algorithms: Nothing to break or compromise with quantum computing
  • Perfect forward secrecy: Each message uses randomly selected addresses from the ROM
  • Server breach protection: Even if servers are compromised, stored data remains meaningless without ROMs

The * in "100% secure*"

ROM Quality Requirements

ZOSCII's security depends on using a high-quality ROM file that contains sufficient character diversity. A ROM consisting of only zeros would provide no security at all.

Check your ROM quality using our verifier tool: verifier.html

Good ROM characteristics:

  • Contains all characters you plan to use in messages
  • Has multiple instances of common characters (letters, spaces, punctuation)
  • Sufficient size (recommended: 16KB or larger)
  • High entropy (random distribution of byte values)

What You See Here

This bulletin board demonstrates complete transparency:

📁 Noise

Due to the secure nature of ZOSCII and the fact that no actual messages are stored on the server, the server has no knowledge of who different messages are for. This requires your computer to decode the messages and if they can be decoded, presented to you. If a message cannot be decoded you will often get a famous quote or an advertisement as a message.

To reduce lots the noise somewhat of potentially 100s of people communicating within a single channel, numbered channels give you a way to randomly choose one to communicate with others while at the same time remaining anonymous and not having security reduced.

📄 Source Code

View page source to see the complete JavaScript implementation. Zero minification, complete transparency.

Wrong ROM = Orwellian Quotes

When you use the wrong ROM, instead of showing gibberish, the system displays thought-provoking quotes about surveillance and privacy. This serves three purposes:

  • Maintains pagination: Consistent number of items per page
  • Appearance: Is much more attractive than gibberish. Occasionally, due to the way we detect gibberish for performance reasons, it can sometimes get through, but this is only due to our ability to hide meaningless secure information, not the combinatorial security provided. It simply means the ROM used was lucky enough to find printable characters.
  • Provides cover: Makes the system appear to be a discussion forum about privacy topics

Local Client Recommended

🛡️ Maximum Security with Local Client

For users requiring maximum security, we provide a local client that:

  • Processes ROMs entirely on your device
  • Never uploads ROM data to any server
  • Cannot be compromised by server-side attacks
  • Provides configurable server endpoints

Download: https://github.com/PrimalNinja/cyborgzoscii

Technical Documentation

For complete technical details, implementation specifications, and security analysis, refer to the ZOSCII whitepaper available in the GitHub repository.

Key Technical Points from the Whitepaper:

"ZOSCII achieves information-theoretic security by encoding messages as randomized address sequences within shared ROM files. Each character in a message is represented by a randomly selected address pointing to that character's location in the ROM."

"Unlike cryptographic systems that rely on computational complexity to encrypt a message that is still within the actual encrypted file and open to brute force attacks and even identification of the encryption being used in many cases, ZOSCII's security is absolute: without the ROM file, the address file contains no message or recoverable information regardless of available computational resources. This is simply a standard computer address lookup for which no mathematics are required."

Universal Communication Protocol

ZOSCII is designed as a universal communication protocol that bridges different computing eras and character encoding systems:

  • Platform Agnostic: Works on systems from 1980s CP/M to modern cloud platforms
  • Character Set Independent: Supports ASCII, EBCDIC, PETSCII, and custom encodings
  • Cross-Era Communication: Enables secure communication between vintage and modern systems

Server Information

📊 Current Status
  • Logging: None - No IP addresses or metadata collected to our knowledge
  • Data Retention: Automatic cleanup of old messages as we require
  • ROM Storage: None - All ROM processing happens locally in your browser, for absolute security use the local version of the software (see legal mentions above).
🔍 Transparency
  • Open Source: All code publicly viewable
  • Browse Messages: All stored files publicly accessible
  • No Hidden Features: Complete disclosure of capabilities

Getting Started

  1. Choose your security level:
    • Standard: Use this web interface (subject to Australian laws)
    • Maximum: Download local client from GitHub
  2. Prepare a ROM file: Any binary file works - photos, documents, executables
  3. Verify ROM quality: Use verifier.html to check suitability
  4. Start communicating: Share your ROM with intended recipients through secure channels
  5. Setup new servers: Create new servers to let the ZOSCIICHAT community grow

Limitations and Considerations

⚠️ Important Notes
  • ROM Security: Keep your ROM files secure - they are the keys to your communications. If someone obtains your ROM, they can obtain your data if they realise what your ROM was for. If you lose your ROM, your data is lost forever.
  • Character Coverage: Your ROM must contain all characters you want to use in messages
  • ROM Quality: Use the verifier.html tool to ensure your ROM provides adequate security
  • Server Dependencies: Web version relies on server availability and integrity
  • Legal Compliance: This server operates under Australian jurisdiction