All the rampant speculation in this discussion serves no good purpose and is more harmful than helpful.
Tor veteran exits, shuts down critical 'Tonga' node and relays
31–36 of 36 posts
Re: Tor veteran exits, shuts down critical 'Tonga' node and relays
#32what events? It would be great if he spoke openly, so people not following tor very intensively would know what is so concerning. Yes, I am living under a rock.
There's no event clearly referenced here. The Appelbaum crisis is the most recent public drama, but that's mostly a settled matter and a fall has already been taken for it. It would be fairly strange to do this now over that incident. Given which, it looks like someone involved with a privacy project is refusing to disclose their motives for shutdown, but also shutting down slowly and openly, the way you wouldn't if…
>It would be fairly strange to do this now over that incident.
It wouldn't be strange if you thought the accusations were bullshit.
Re: Tor veteran exits, shuts down critical 'Tonga' node and relays
#33To me, this feels a lot like what transpired with https://lavabit.com/ . Of course, that was a service operated by a company, not a open source software and a distributed network, but there might be paralells. If you haven't read about it, read the post mortem on the Lavabit page. To me, it's very likely that the government demanded backdoors in TOR code itself, or backdoor access to critical TOR infrastructure (brid…
> Can't be sure, of course, but I would not feel comfortable with using TOR for anything sensitive anymore. Out of curiosity, what alternative(s) would you use?
Not the parent poster and no expert, but I'd probably buy a cheap random notebook from the store with cash and use it in free WiFis. Make sure to spoof your MAC address.
I mainly used Tor if I was on a dubious WiFi and was afraid someone was snooping on me - note that due to insecure exit notes you have the same problem there, too - or when something was blocked. But at least your employer doesn't see you use Facebook ;-)
Nowadays I use a server I rented in a different country as a SOCKS proxy which works well.
If you want to be anonymous towards the sure your accessing, I don't know of a good alternative. But many sites block Tor anyway now because people use it for spam or harassment.
Just a crazy idea, but if my safety needs were really high, I'd try to 1) buy botnet nodes and use them as a proxy or 2) build a ultra-low-energy Wi-Fi capable system (saw something commercial on HN the other day, forgot the name), set it up as a proxy, and throw it with a battery near a free Wi-Fi (coffee shop etc.).
Re: Tor veteran exits, shuts down critical 'Tonga' node and relays
#34All the rampant speculation in this discussion serves no good purpose and is more harmful than helpful.
What about meaningless comments such as yours with neither information nor speculation? Do they serve a purpose?
I personally like reading comments even if they are speculative, as I am interested but not an expert.
Re: Tor veteran exits, shuts down critical 'Tonga' node and relays
#35To me, this feels a lot like what transpired with https://lavabit.com/ . Of course, that was a service operated by a company, not a open source software and a distributed network, but there might be paralells. If you haven't read about it, read the post mortem on the Lavabit page. To me, it's very likely that the government demanded backdoors in TOR code itself, or backdoor access to critical TOR infrastructure (brid…
> Can't be sure, of course, but I would not feel comfortable with using TOR for anything sensitive anymore. Out of curiosity, what alternative(s) would you use?
Here is what the REALLY paranoid can do:
-) Rent a small virtual server overseas, payable by bitcoin
-) Make sure to only pay with bitcoins acquired anonymously (buy directly with cash, there are machines in bigger cities too. then run them through a bitcoin laundry to make sure)
-) Route all your traffic through the virtual server (over a VPN).
-) Keep using tor, but only proxied through the VPN
-) Only access your server from public wifi hot spots, with a laptop acquired with cash, and running TAILS or a similar privacy focused Linux distribution without persistance.
-) Keep all your confidential data on an encrypted usb stick that can be easily disposed.
Voi la. Easy, right? :D
Re: Tor veteran exits, shuts down critical 'Tonga' node and relays
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's no event clearly referenced here. The Appelbaum crisis is the most recent public drama, but that's mostly a settled matter and a fall has already been taken for it. It would be fairly strange to do this now over that incident. Given which, it looks like someone involved with a privacy project is refusing to disclose their motives for shutdown, but also shutting down slowly and openly, the way you wouldn't if…
>It would be fairly strange to do this now over that incident. It wouldn't be strange if you thought the accusations were bullshit.
That's an interesting point - it hadn't actually occurred to me that this could be a reaction to the reaction. That would fit the timing (and maybe the ambiguity) much better than reacting to the original topic.