Mega (service)

Last updated

MEGA
Developer(s) MEGA CLOUD SERVICES LIMITED
Initial release19 January 2013;11 years ago (2013-01-19)
Repository https://github.com/meganz
Written in PHP, C++, JavaScript, Java, Objective-C
Operating system
Available in18 languages [1]
List of languages
English, Arabic, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Dutch, Portuguese, Romanian, French, Russian, German, Spanish, Indonesian, Thai, Italian, Vietnamese.
Type
License MEGA Limited Code Review Licence (source-available freeware)
Website mega.co.nz
mega.io
mega.nz

Mega (stylized as: MEGA) is a file hosting service offered by MEGA CLOUD SERVICES LIMITED, a company based in Auckland, New Zealand. [2] The service is offered through web-based apps. MEGA mobile apps are also available for Android and iOS.

Contents

Data encryption

Data on MEGA services are end-to-end encrypted [3] client-side using the AES algorithm. Since MEGA does not know the encryption keys to uploaded files, they cannot decrypt and view the content. Therefore, they cannot be responsible for the contents of uploaded files. [4]

In the first few weeks after the MEGA launch, various security problems were found that researchers said an attacker could use to gain access to a logged-in user's files. [5] [6] [7] In response, MEGA started a vulnerability reward program, offering a reward of up to €10,000 for reporting security problems to MEGA. [8]

Account options

Transparency

MEGA publishes an SDK [15] as well as source code of all their client applications [16] under the MEGA Limited Code Review Licence, a proprietary source-available license which only permits usage of the code "for the purposes of review and commentary". [17] The source code was released after former director Kim Dotcom stated that he would "create a MEGA competitor that is completely open source and non-profit" following his departure from MEGA Ltd. [18] [19]

History

MEGA launched in 2013 as a cloud service with a tagline of "The Privacy Company". [20] On 4 July 2013, the MEGA Android application was released on the Google Play marketplace. [21] Four days later, on 8 July 2013, the MEGA software development kit (SDK) and affiliate program was released. [22] On 26 November 2013, the official MEGA iOS application was released on the App Store marketplace. [23] On 20 January 2014, the official MEGAsync application was released for Windows [24] and on 6 September 2014, the official MEGAsync application was released for Linux. [25]

In January 2016, MEGA announced that the service has 35 million registered users that have uploaded 12 billion files. [26]

Later in 2016, MEGA Ltd. released the source code to their client-side software under the Mega Limited Code Review License, a source-available software license, on GitHub. [27] This allows independent verification of the correctness and integrity of the implementation of MEGA's cryptographic model and service reliability.

In 2020, it reached a user-base of 195 million users. [28] This was also its first year turning a profit. [29]

In 2021, MEGA added a domain name to include Mega.io and Mega.nz. [30] The .io domain was chosen to reflect the global nature of MEGA which has more than 200 million registered users in over 215 countries/territories. [30] MEGA continues to say that the .io pages are also more likely to be properly indexed by search engines than the current .nz pages, which are often incorrectly treated as only being relevant to New Zealand searches.

Later in 2021, MEGA shared their transparency report where they record 230 million registered users storing 107 billion files. [31]

Features

MEGAchat

In February 2013, MEGA announced it would be expanding into e-mail, chat, voice, video, and mobile. [32] In December 2014, MEGA said it would "soon" launch a browser-based chat service. [32] In mid-January 2015, MEGA launched MegaChat in beta, [33] [34] marketed as a web-based, encrypted alternative to applications like Skype and FaceTime. [33] [34]

Browser extension

On 5 September 2018, it was reported that the extension on the Chrome Web Store was compromised by the addition of code designed to steal website credentials and cryptocurrency. [35] [36] [37] The original code on the GitHub page was not affected.

MEGA VPN

In December 2023, MEGA announced a new product to help users protect their privacy while online – MEGA VPN. [38]

See also

Related Research Articles

Source-available software is software released through a source code distribution model that includes arrangements where the source can be viewed, and in some cases modified, but without necessarily meeting the criteria to be called open-source. The licenses associated with the offerings range from allowing code to be viewed for reference to allowing code to be modified and redistributed for both commercial and non-commercial purposes.

End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a private communication system in which only communicating users can participate. As such, no one, including the communication system provider, telecom providers, Internet providers or malicious actors, can access the cryptographic keys needed to converse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Dotcom</span> German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur

Kim Dotcom, also known as Kimble and Kim Tim Jim Vestor, is a German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur and political activist who lives in Glenorchy, New Zealand.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryptocat</span> Open source encrypted chat application

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megaupload legal case</span>

Multiple criminal indictments and enforcement actions were taken against Megaupload owner Kim Dotcom in various jurisdictions. On 19 January 2012 the United States Department of Justice seized and shut down the file-hosting site Megaupload.com and commenced criminal cases against its owners and others. On 20 January 2012 Hong Kong Customs froze more than 300 million Hong Kong dollars in assets belonging to the company.

Tresorit is a cloud storage platform that offers functions for administration, storage, synchronization, and transfer of data using end-to-end encryption. More than 13,000 companies use Tresorit to protect confidential data and share information securely. It is also used widely by Government organizations and NGOs as well as privacy-conscious individuals to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access and data-breaches. As of today, the encryption of Tresorit has never been hacked.

Wickr is an American software company based in New York City, known for its instant messenger application of the same name. The Wickr instant messaging apps allow users to exchange end-to-end encrypted and content-expiring messages, and are designed for iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux operating systems. Wickr was acquired by Amazon Web Services (AWS) mid-2021 and discontinued the free version of the app in December 2023.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Signal (messaging app)</span> Privacy-focused encrypted messaging app

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References

  1. ↑ "Mega". Mega LTD. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  2. ↑ MEGA Limited Archived 10 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine in the New Zealand Companies Office Companies Register.
  3. ↑ "MEGA". Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  4. ↑ Graeber, Charles (28 March 2013). "Megaupload Is Dead. Long Live Mega! | Threat Level". Wired. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  5. ↑ "SpiderOak's Analysis and Recommendations for the Crypto in Kim Dotcom's Mega, Part One". Spideroak.com. 23 January 2013. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "A word on cryptography". Mega.co.nz. 22 January 2013. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "Mega's first week - a retrospective". Mega.co.nz. 26 January 2013. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  8. ↑ "The Mega Vulnerability Reward Program". Mega.co.nz. 2 February 2013. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  9. ↑ "Looking for the largest free cloud storage in the world? - MEGA". 11 June 2021. Archived from the original on 11 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  10. ↑ "How to bypass Mega's Daily Download Limits". 23 October 2018. Archived from the original on 2 December 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  11. ↑ "Best Way to Easily Bypass The Mega Download Limit". 8 October 2021. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  12. ↑ "Mega Insufficient Transfer Quota". Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  13. ↑ "Mega packages". Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  14. ↑ "The Secure Cloud Storage Solution for Your Business - MEGA". Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  15. ↑ "MEGA Software Development Kit". Mega.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  16. ↑ "MEGA Source Code Transparency". Mega.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  17. ↑ "meganz/MEGAsync". GitHub. 7 September 2017. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  18. ↑ "Interviews: Kim Dotcom Answers Your Questions - Slashdot". yro.slashdot.org. 30 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  19. ↑ "Kim Dotcom promises to launch an open-source competitor to Mega (updated)". Engadget. 31 July 2015. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  20. ↑ Stevenson, Rebecca (28 September 2020). "Mega, the encryption company that wants to be everything". businessdesk.co.nz. Archived from the original on 21 February 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021. Mega, the new company, was launched in 2013. And this time around the company wouldn't pay for popular uploads – depending on being a more traditional cloud storage service ... Mega's tagline is: 'the privacy company.'
  21. ↑ "MEGA". mega.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  22. ↑ "MEGA launches SDK and Affiliate program". Official blog. 8 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  23. ↑ "MEGA". mega.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  24. ↑ "MEGA". mega.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  25. ↑ "MEGA". mega.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  26. ↑ "MEGA turns 3!". 20 January 2016. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  27. ↑ "Mega Limited". GitHub. Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  28. ↑ Stevenson, Rebecca (28 September 2020). "Mega, the encryption company that wants to be everything". businessdesk.co.nz. Archived from the original on 21 February 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021. Hall says the Kiwi company now has 195 million users. In March, when the covid lockdowns happened, user registrations jumped 60 percent almost overnight, Hall says.
  29. ↑ Stevenson, Rebecca (28 September 2020). "Mega, the encryption company that wants to be everything". businessdesk.co.nz. Archived from the original on 21 February 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021. The company has also become profitable in the past 12 months - an important milestone although neither will give details on revenue.
  30. 1 2 "Additional Domain for MEGA: mega.io". 18 January 2021. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  31. ↑ Immanni, Manikanta (22 October 2021). "Mega Cloud Now Has 230 Million Users Storing 107 Billion Files". TechDator. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  32. 1 2 Protalinski, Emil (28 December 2014). "Kim Dotcom's Mega to launch browser-based encrypted video call and chat service 'soon'". VentureBeat . Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  33. 1 2 Mathews, Lee (22 January 2015). "Kim Dotcom launches MegaChat, the video chat service even Snowden trusts". Geek.com . Archived from the original on 24 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  34. 1 2 Condliffe, Jamie (22 January 2015). "Mega Just Launched End-to-End Encrypted Audio and Video Chat". Gizmodo . Archived from the original on 24 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  35. ↑ Kan, Michael (5 September 2018). "Mega.nz Chrome Extension Hacked to Steal Logins". PC Magazine . Archived from the original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  36. ↑ Cimpanu, Catalin (4 September 2018). "MEGA.nz Chrome extension caught stealing passwords, cryptocurrency private keys". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 12 September 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  37. ↑ Nguyen, Chuong. "Hacked Chrome extension disguised as legitimate version steals logins". Yahoo! Finance. Archived from the original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  38. ↑ "MEGA Launches High-Speed VPN for Android Devices". Mega Blog. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
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