How it works

Imagine you’re in class and want to share a message with everyone. You jot it down on a piece of paper and pass copies to a few classmates nearby. They, in turn, rewrite the message and pass it on to others, creating a chain reaction like a game of telephone. Even if some notes get lost along the way, as long as a few keep circulating, eventually everyone gets the message. This is akin to sending an unencrypted message to all users on the network.

Now, picture wanting to send a private message to just one person or a select group. You could encode the message using a secret language. Then, you’d give the key to decode the message only to your intended recipient(s). The message still travels through the same process—passed from person to person—but only those with the key can decipher it. This mirrors sending an encrypted direct or group message, ensuring privacy and security.

This analogy was created by our friends at austinmesh.org