Zerion

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About Zerion

Zerion is a secure messaging app and encrypted vault built for people who need private, anonymous, censorship-resistant communication. Unlike traditional messengers, it uses no servers, accounts, phone numbers, or cloud services all communication flows directly between devices over the Tor network, protecting users from surveillance, metadata collection, and IP exposure. Every message is protected by hybrid post-quantum cryptography (Mode 3-Full: a fresh ML-KEM-768 encapsulation mixed into the AEAD key on every single frame), with post-compromise security delivered through a Triple Ratchet protocol combining X25519 Diffie-Hellman with per-message ML-KEM-768. Core features include end-to-end encrypted one-to-one and group chats, disappearing messages, direct peer-to-peer voice and video calls routed exclusively through Tor with no STUN/TURN/VoIP servers, one-to-many broadcast Channels (public or private) with discussion threads and editor delegations, and a hardware-backed encrypted vault for passwords, documents, and media using Argon2id and AES-256-GCM. Once a contact is established with post-quantum security, downgrade attacks to weaker encryption are automatically blocked. The app includes anti-forensics protections against mobile extraction tools like Cellebrite and GrayKey, an optional hardened mode that refuses to start on tampered or debugged devices, and a decoy app-icon changer. Zerion is a derivative of the Briar peer-to-peer messaging project, extended with post-quantum cryptography, voice/video calling, a vault, and channels, though it has diverged significantly from upstream Briar and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Briar Project. It is funded entirely by donations, with no investors, ads, subscriptions, or telemetry, and is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0.

Key Features

• No servers, accounts, phone numbers, or cloud services — Tor-only P2P transport
• Per-message post-quantum hybrid ratchet (ML-KEM-768 + X25519) on every frame
• Triple Ratchet protocol for post-compromise security and forward secrecy
• End-to-end encrypted one-to-one and group messaging with disappearing messages
• P2P voice and video calls over Tor, no STUN/TURN/VoIP servers
• Channels: public/private broadcast with threads, reactions, and editor delegations
• Hardware-backed encrypted vault (Argon2id, AES-256-GCM) for passwords and files
• Downgrade attack protection — post-quantum contacts stay PQ-secure forever
• Anti-forensics protections against tools like Cellebrite and GrayKey
• Optional hardened mode blocking start on tampered/rooted/debugged devices
• Decoy app-icon changer (disguise as Calculator, Notes, or Weather)
• Encrypted account backup, including direct device-to-device transfer over Tor
• Zero telemetry, zero-logging build enforcement, no ads or subscriptions
• Available via Google Play, F-Droid, and direct APK download
• Open source under GPLv3, derived from the Briar project

Useful Links