Kaylie Fox

Hey #security #hackers.

So I was using keybase.pub for some file hosting stuff a while back. I liked it because it was encrypted, didn't require account verification that could identify me, and offered a convenient URL that I could give to people to grab files that I uploaded.

Sadly, as of March first, they took Keybase.pub offline. It still works as a means of sharing files between users as I understand, but the major thing I used it for was a secure means to share libraries of content without using an account tied to an email, phone number and then some to those who weren’t using the Keybase system.

So, now I’m on the hunt for a decent alternative that follows the same guidelines. Would anyone know of anything worth looking into?

I don’t need a secure chat platform; I already have a few of those that I trust and have my people on.
I just need a way to host my data and share it with people like Keybase allowed.

KBFS to upload files to private, group or public folders that are then accessible to whoever has the URL like keybase.pub/user allowed. Hope I’m making sence? lol

Help appreciated.

May 26, 2023 at 4:55amWeb
Show threadmikiMay 26, 2023
@LavenderPawprints I’d be interested if you find something, but these solutions inevitably run into the monetization problem (storage and bandwidth isn’t free) and the malware / child porn problem. The first one is of particular importance, if you make it too easy to create new accounts, you may as well not have limitations on your free tier, as people will just make more accounts to go around them. If you make signing up too easy, you essentially give out unlimited free storage to everybody, and there will be a few bad actors abusing the hell out of that.
Show threadKaylie FoxMay 26, 2023

@miki See I'm torn there. I mean obviously bad actors are going to screw shit up for everyone, but the anon aspect of it was what attracted me. A way to add files using a file system virtual drive that is accessible from any browser.

Sure KB gave us 250gb of storage, which was really nice, and still is nice if you intend to use it between Keybase users, but honestly I would take less data if it meant I could havethat same ability to upload files that anyone could access.

I'm torn because I would gladly pay for something like this, but sadly that means it's not so anon at that point.

It's something that could be freely abused, but it's also something that can be very useful too.

Show threadmikiMay 26, 2023
@LavenderPawprints I really don’t know how Keybase avoided the notorious pirates, pedophile rings and hackers/scammers that most hosting services struggle with, especially with such a generous storage allowance.
Show threadKaylie FoxMay 26, 2023

@miki I mean, any secure end-to-end encryption service is going to have that issue. You get the good with the bad. But you can't really crack down on it without punishing those of us who are using it for benign reasons.

To put restrictions on it again defeats the whole point of being anon to begin with, otherwise we'd all just use something like DB or an open ended cloud based storage option.

Show threadKaylie FoxMay 26, 2023
@miki Something else to note. Keybase didn't go away. The core of keybase is still there, they just took down the site access to the files you uploaded. Those same pirates and scammers and stuff can still use the platform for securely sharing files amongst each other. It's just now you can't go to a convenient URL to access those files. But using the Keybase app itself to browse publicly listed directories is still a thing.