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BBC News launches 'dark web' Tor mirror

bbc.co.uk

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Re: BBC News launches 'dark web' Tor mirror

#91

Post by LeifCarrotson »

blaser-waffle wrote: post #79
class4behavior wrote: post #51

Since no one posted that, yet: Tor relies on the size the of its network to counteract blocks, prevent take overs, and naturally ensure stability as well as performance. You can either donate to various groups running Tor servers, the developers, or take part on your own. https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Tor https://www.torservers.net/ https://www.dfri.se/donera/ https://nos-oignons.net/ https://donate.torproject.org…

Is it worth it to donate, or to just pool a little cash and start your own? Like, how do I know any of those links aren't the NSA? I ask because I have 5-6 Raspberry Pis, a couple retired Supermicro boxes, and old Cisco gear that isn't doing much...

Donations are probably better, because while that hardware is helpful, it's the ISP connections that are hard to come by. If you host a Tor exit node on your home network connection, Comcast is likely going to shut down your service for abuse/TOS violations. Having some rack space in a datacenter is far more valuable and better supported by donations.

Re: BBC News launches 'dark web' Tor mirror

#92

Post by daurnimator »

daurnimator wrote: post #68
andrewaylett wrote: post #37

I know there are good reasons why it's not fully secure, but I'd really like to be able to access `.onion` addresses in my regular browser over TOR and everything else directly as usual. In _this_ I'm not over-worried about the risk of deanonymisation as my aim is on one hand access to resources I don't have access to now and on the other hand legitimisation of TOR as something that anyone could reasonably use, even…

I set this up at one point. I should try and find the config again....

This uses the linux specific TPROXY mechanism, if your desktop doesn't run linux you'll need to figure out the alternative.

In /etc/tor/torrc:

    DNSPort 127.191.0.1:53
    TransPort 9040
    TransProxyType TPROXY
    AutomapHostsOnResolve 1
Add iptables rules:

    iptables -t mangle -A PREROUTING -d 127.192.0.0/10 -j TPROXY --on-ip 127.0.0.1 --on-port 9040 -p tcp
    iptables -t mangle -A PREROUTING -d 127.192.0.0/10 -j TPROXY --on-ip 127.0.0.1 --on-port 9040 -p udp
Make sure you start tor with relevant capabilities (I use systemd, so here is my override snippet):

    [Service]
    AmbientCapabilities=CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE CAP_NET_ADMIN
Split horizon dns to send .onion lookups via the tor daemon. e.g. my dnsmasq config contains

    server=/onion/127.191.0.1
Note that some programs might need some coercing. e.g. firefox needs network.dns.blockDotOnion set to false in about:config (see https://twitter.com/mrphs/status/708548201800982528)

Re: BBC News launches 'dark web' Tor mirror

#93

Post by ur-whale »

class4behavior wrote: post #51

Since no one posted that, yet: Tor relies on the size the of its network to counteract blocks, prevent take overs, and naturally ensure stability as well as performance. You can either donate to various groups running Tor servers, the developers, or take part on your own. https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Tor https://www.torservers.net/ https://www.dfri.se/donera/ https://nos-oignons.net/ https://donate.torproject.org…

The real question is the kind of liability you take on when running a tor node on a machine that "belongs" to you (for some definition of belong).

Another is to find a place that will agree to power your machine and allow it to hook in to the ethernet if it runs a tor node.

At any rate, running a tor node isn't as simple as running apt-get.

Re: BBC News launches 'dark web' Tor mirror

#94

Post by gmac »

VBprogrammer wrote: post #69
rvz wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Finally a good use for my license fee! While I agree that no news corporation should ever be censored and should be accessible to all including the "dark-web", the level of clickbait / fake-news level content on the BBC website is getting ridiculous in some areas and contradicts with their duty to be fair, impartial and balanced as the only UK state broadcaster privileged with a royal charter. Apart from the actual…

I think one of the issues the BBC suffers from is that in the attempt to be impartial they can sometimes give undue weight to crack-pot ideas. That said, I often see both sides of a debate complaining about the bias of the BBC. So long as that is the case then we can reasonably assume they are doing a fair job of walking the fine line between both sides.

I often see both sides of a debate complaining about the bias of the BBC. So long as that is the case then we can reasonably assume they are doing a fair job of walking the fine line between both sides

This is absolutely not true, because unscrupulous parties are careful to complain vociferously (and shamelessly) even about coverage that is heavily skewed in their own favour.

Since the Andrew Gilligan debacle (where the BBC sacked a reporter and apologised profusely over the self-evident truth he had reported: that Tony Blair lied about Iraqi WMD), the BBC has gradually transformed itself from a public broadcaster to a state broadcaster. The only time you hear a reasonable balance of views on an issue these days is where the governing party itself is split on it.

Re: BBC News launches 'dark web' Tor mirror

#96

Post by GoblinSlayer »

ur-whale wrote: post #93
class4behavior wrote: post #51

Since no one posted that, yet: Tor relies on the size the of its network to counteract blocks, prevent take overs, and naturally ensure stability as well as performance. You can either donate to various groups running Tor servers, the developers, or take part on your own. https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Tor https://www.torservers.net/ https://www.dfri.se/donera/ https://nos-oignons.net/ https://donate.torproject.org…

The real question is the kind of liability you take on when running a tor node on a machine that "belongs" to you (for some definition of belong). Another is to find a place that will agree to power your machine and allow it to hook in to the ethernet if it runs a tor node. At any rate, running a tor node isn't as simple as running apt-get.

BBC fights censorship in China, you would do the same by running a tor node.

Re: BBC News launches 'dark web' Tor mirror

#97

Post by class4behavior »

blaser-waffle wrote: post #79
class4behavior wrote: post #51

Since no one posted that, yet: Tor relies on the size the of its network to counteract blocks, prevent take overs, and naturally ensure stability as well as performance. You can either donate to various groups running Tor servers, the developers, or take part on your own. https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Tor https://www.torservers.net/ https://www.dfri.se/donera/ https://nos-oignons.net/ https://donate.torproject.org…

Is it worth it to donate, or to just pool a little cash and start your own? Like, how do I know any of those links aren't the NSA? I ask because I have 5-6 Raspberry Pis, a couple retired Supermicro boxes, and old Cisco gear that isn't doing much...

>Like, how do I know any of those links aren't the NSA?

Well, I've only linked to communities listed by the Tor Project itself.

Otherwise, the same way you would check whether HN or your local tea store is the NSA. You do your own research, run your own risk analysis, and if you want to stay sane, by default you give people the benefit of the doubt.

Generally, it's best not to run Tor relays from home as services will start to blacklist your IP as a proxy.

If you are going to be an exit node, then you should inform yourself about he legal challenges you might face, since you don't know what people will access with your IP address.

https://blog.torproject.org/tips-running-exit-node

https://www.eff.org/torchallenge/faq.html

Being an entry or middle-level node is less of a problem but some uncertainties remain, so this depends on your local laws.

Re: BBC News launches 'dark web' Tor mirror

#98

Post by okcando »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #91
blaser-waffle wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it worth it to donate, or to just pool a little cash and start your own? Like, how do I know any of those links aren't the NSA? I ask because I have 5-6 Raspberry Pis, a couple retired Supermicro boxes, and old Cisco gear that isn't doing much...

Donations are probably better, because while that hardware is helpful, it's the ISP connections that are hard to come by. If you host a Tor exit node on your home network connection, Comcast is likely going to shut down your service for abuse/TOS violations. Having some rack space in a datacenter is far more valuable and better supported by donations.

How does this use case differ from (legal) distributed file sharing, like Bittorrent, which people do at home all the time?

Re: BBC News launches 'dark web' Tor mirror

#99

Post by smrq »

GoblinSlayer wrote: post #96
ur-whale wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real question is the kind of liability you take on when running a tor node on a machine that "belongs" to you (for some definition of belong). Another is to find a place that will agree to power your machine and allow it to hook in to the ethernet if it runs a tor node. At any rate, running a tor node isn't as simple as running apt-get.

BBC fights censorship in China, you would do the same by running a tor node.

When the secret police show up at your door, be sure to tell them that. I'm sure they will leave you alone.

Re: BBC News launches 'dark web' Tor mirror

#100

Post by solarkraft »

okcando wrote: post #98
LeifCarrotson wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Donations are probably better, because while that hardware is helpful, it's the ISP connections that are hard to come by. If you host a Tor exit node on your home network connection, Comcast is likely going to shut down your service for abuse/TOS violations. Having some rack space in a datacenter is far more valuable and better supported by donations.

How does this use case differ from (legal) distributed file sharing, like Bittorrent, which people do at home all the time?

Exit nodes are the points at which traffic goes from the encrypted TOR network to the clear net, and since many people like to use TOR to do legally questionable things you will likely very quickly be flooded with law enforcement requests, if not just blocked by your provider.
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