Create a Hidden IRC Server with The Onion Router (TOR)

A guide to make secret communication with the untraceable IRC server

Photo by Clint Patterson on Unsplash

Do you wanna build a secret communication with your anonymous team?
Or, You have a secret project with a secret team member?

In this article, I would support what you need.

IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat, is a text-based chat system for instant messaging (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat). The process of IRC is based on client-server networking model.

So, When you wanna make chat with other people, you need IRC Server and IRC Client.

The Onion Router?

TOR or The Onion Router is the answer for anonymity, this protocol helps you make a secret communication without knowing your IP Address or you analytical activity.

Privacy is a human right

The quote above is one of the reasons why I like TOR. I agree with TOR Project’s statement that is “Everyone deserves privacy”.

Then, as I mention before, today we would make a secret communication with IRC for the chat system and TOR for the magic anonymity.

Setting Up The IRC Server

In this example, I use Ubuntu server 20.04 as a virtual machine for the IRC Server.

Firstly, install the inspircd and tor.

sudo apt install -y inspircd tor

Change your header in the /etc/inspircd/inspircd.motd, just copy from my header if you so lazy.

-------------------------------------
Welcome to super secret chat
-------------------------------------

Then run the service and check the status,

sudo service inspircd start && sudo service inspircd status

Change the config at /etc/inspircd/inspircd.conf, and for the proves of concept the IRC Server, I bind address to the machine IP, because if you use the default (127.0.0.1) your IRC Server can’t communicate with another machines.

And your IRC Server is ready for the next steps.

Make a Hidden Service with TOR

Make sure you change the bind address to loopback (127.0.0.1) because you must set your hidden service in the tor config to localhost:

Then change the torrc file (/etc/tor/torrc) with the config below

In the IRC Server run tor in the background and get the onion domain.

sudo tor &

Congratulation, your Hidden IRC Server is live.

Join the IRC server

Firstly, you must run the tor network on your computer, this command below makes you join to the tor relays.

sudo tor &

Then config your IRC Client with proxy settings below:

Hostname: 127.0.0.1
Port: 9050
Type: SOCKS5

Because I use HexChat, here is my network setup

Finally, your server and your computer in the same network, tor. So you could connect to the secret-irc-tor with the onion domain before.

Connect to the network,

And bingo…
You have been connected with the hidden IRC server.

Demo

Conclusion

The TOR network upholds your privacy and keep you anonymous. The tutorial above is just for learning only and I hope you use this knowledge wisely.

Any crime by using the above knowledge is beyond my responsibility.

Thanks for reading.