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The FBI Identified a Tor User

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Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#341

Post by BenjiWiebe »

TechBro8615 wrote: post #330
causi wrote: post #26

I will never understand people who do illegal things over their own IP. Is it really that hard to find an open access point? Way back in the day when I torrented all my content I used a long-range wifi antenna connected to a public AP and a dedicated PC with a scrubbed drive that never connected to my home network.

The long-range wifi antenna has always sounded like an opsec urban legend to me. You'll be able to transmit signals to the router, but can you really receive them with any sufficient fidelity if the router itself does not also have a long range antenna or unusually high transmission power?

Antennas are reciprocal. They are just as directional receiving as transmitting.

A 10dbi gain yagi boosts your transmitted and received signal equally.

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#342

Post by kylehotchkiss »

Scoundreller wrote: post #48
michaelt wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Based on what little I know of SSL, this suggests the server was compromised too? Not necessarily. If a passive snooper knows I used Tor Browser to make an SSL request to en.wikipedia.org and received 987,654 bytes then immediately made a SSL request to upload.wikimedia.org and received 1,234,567 bytes that might be enough information to work out I visited https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency .

BRB, padding all of my webpages to be exactly 650mb each.

npm install electron react-native-web

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#343

Post by type-r »

Semaphor wrote: post #106
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your strategy might be safer but it also shows criminal intent. Also- the secret about torrents is that nobody really gives a shit. They're more worried about pedos and terrorists.

> Also- the secret about torrents is that nobody really gives a shit. That’s not true in some places like Germany. Just a few seconds of uploading a somewhat popular movie or porn without a VPN will get you a C&D + fees letter.

do you have to actually pay anything? in the us you also get a scare letter from your ISP but nothing happens if you ignore it and continue

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#344

Post by Semaphor »

type-r wrote: post #343
Semaphor wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also- the secret about torrents is that nobody really gives a shit. That’s not true in some places like Germany. Just a few seconds of uploading a somewhat popular movie or porn without a VPN will get you a C&D + fees letter.

do you have to actually pay anything? in the us you also get a scare letter from your ISP but nothing happens if you ignore it and continue

Yeah, because it's lawyers working for the rightholders sending them, not ISPs. You can sometimes get out, but only by replying properly, ignoring then will end in court.

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#345

Post by simiones »

pfisherman wrote: post #215
r3trohack3r wrote: post #95

I have second hand knowledge of lawsuits that have been dropped by the FBI during discovery because it would require them revealing zero days they have on Tor. Recently this has started getting increasing levels of press exposure[1] including in CSAM cases. The FBI has also continued to run CSAM websites after takeover to collect intel, and likely run honeypots for other content. If your adversary is a state actor, p…

> If you're sitting in front of a computer that you're using for something the U.S. government has significant interest in prosecuting, that device should be considered compromised and adversarial - you should act accordingly. I would say that if you are doing something the US government has a significant interest in prosecuting, you might want to reevaluate your life choices and think about whether it is something y…

> but if you are doing something such that the US is going to burn a zero day to get you, the appropriate prior is that you are doing something supremely heinous and evil.

Or, you are someone like Edward Snowden, or some activist who is directly working against the US government's interests overseas. The US has a history of even assassinating activists that get too powerful (usually indirectly, by hiring some local goons), so using a zero-day to compromise them is table stakes.

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#346

Post by robjan »

hashstring wrote: post #320
notfed wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Anyone with access to the VPN servers could spy on all of your traffic, completely bypassing Tor. Hmm, can you explain how this could possibly be true? I think the VPN couldn't see any more than your ISP could have.

The situation is different, think about nodes and encrypted channels between them. If you encrypt traffic on your host properly and send it off to a remote host, your ISP (node(s) in between) sees encrypted traffic. If you create an encrypted VPN connection to a VPN providers server and then configure a second encrypted connection (e.g. through Tor) from that VPN providers server to a remote host, then your VPN provi…

The Tor tunnel will go through the VPN tunnel and terminate on your device, not at the VPN provider.

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#347

Post by dolmen »

autoexec wrote: post #337
hooande wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you're describing is likely overkill. Just buy a used laptop on Craigslist. Drive about 50 mi away. Park at a motel and take a yellow cab to a moderately busy Starbucks. Hack away, and then leave via yellow cab. Leave your phone in your car. Pay for everything in cash. Throw away the laptop. There's a chance that you'll get caught on camera at Starbucks. But the cameras there, if any, aren't set up to provide fu…

When they trace the activity back to that starbucks I imagine the fact that you happened to be in the area that day, 50 miles away from your home, stopping at a hotel that requested a cab to that same starbucks would stand out rather quickly. If you leave your cell phone at home that would help, but you still risk being tracked by your car or being caught on any number of cameras and identified via facial recognition…

> When they trace the activity back to that starbucks I imagine the fact that you happened to be in the area that day

This assumes they are already looking for YOU.

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#348

Post by red-iron-pine »

PartiallyTyped wrote: post #265
dmux wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my favorite HN comments of all time [0] suggested that MMO's provide plentiful means of covertly communicating: >MMO's are packed with possible communication channels in addition to chat. Ever wonder if that annoying gnome in the auction hall is jumping in morse code? Could signals be sent with bids? Could a character's inventory contents be arranged to leave a message to someone else who shares the login info…

Reminds me of this: https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2015/11/14/why-the-p... > The hunt for those responsible (eight terrorists were killed Saturday night, but accomplices may still be at large) led to a number of raids in nearby Brussels. Belgian federal home affairs minister Jan Jambon has said outright that the PS4 is used by ISIS agents to communicate, and was selected due to the fact that it’s notoriously…

Are they not subpoening Facebook?

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#349

Post by red-iron-pine »

PartiallyTyped wrote: post #202
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - ordering the most boring coffee The fatal flaw in the plan: Barista talking to news after person is arrested by FBI: "As soon as they ordered the brewed coffee with no customizations after standing in line for 10 minutes, I knew something was suspicious. Who comes to Starbucks, stands in line for 10 minutes, and then orders boring coffee?"

Good point! Let's make it a caramel macchiato with two pumps vanilla and sugar free creamer! Oh god I am leaking information!

That's not boring that's basic

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#350

Post by godshatter »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #198
PartiallyTyped wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most paranoid plan i have come up with: - tor + cubesOS set up by somebody you deeply trust (person A) - on a USB bought by a different person (person B) - with a network card bought by a different person (person C) - many miles away, wearing generic clothes in a cafe where people go to work - different hairstyle and facial hair - mask - without having a phone (obv) - navigating there by changing multiple cars wi…

> - ordering the most boring coffee The fatal flaw in the plan: Barista talking to news after person is arrested by FBI: "As soon as they ordered the brewed coffee with no customizations after standing in line for 10 minutes, I knew something was suspicious. Who comes to Starbucks, stands in line for 10 minutes, and then orders boring coffee?"

Just order whatever the person 5 people ahead of you in line ordered.
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