TOR network crippled/compromised (by FBI?)

[vesseblah]

More info here https://openwatch.net/i/200/anonymou...owner-arrested

There will probably be whole lot more on this subject in next few days around the web once the dust settles.

[Deleted]

TOR is for wannabes and paranoid people anyway.

[zeropeorth]

I thought this was about The Old Republic ... being a gaming site and the front page ... if that is what I think it was, from what I heard from even the more open minded people; it had some stuff going on that needed to be tracked; I think they did themselves a disservice by crashing it, instead of tracking the black market stuff I've heard that went on.

[vesseblah]

Yes, TOR network has huge traffic of drug sales and child pornography, but it's also a way to stay alive while posting your opinions in certain countries, and used by most whistleblowers (like Snowden recently) for anonymization.

[Vargur]

The only link in that scrips would be the IP registered in Virginia, which is Verizon anyway.
http://tinyurl.com/ntwdoc3
That's just one blip in TOR anyway.

[Cyanotical]

TOR is for wannabes and paranoid people anyway.

thats a pretty ignorant and stupid statement, you should probably go read the wiki on it

[Yohassakura]

Wow, just the other day I saw someone recommend ToR to help to increase your privacy... Seemed a bit vulnerable to me so I stayed away and now this, lol.

[yurano]

I think they did themselves a disservice by crashing it, instead of tracking the black market stuff I've heard that went on.

Thats exactly what happened, but some people caught on.

"Since the arrest, internet users have reported noticing malicious JavaScript designed to compromise their identities inserted into pages hosted by Freedom Hosting, including the 'Tormail' service, as well as a number of pedophile messageboards"

[Deleted]

TOR is for wannabes and paranoid people anyway.

If you don't have a clue what you're talking about, please refrain from posting.

[Cyanotical]

something to consider, with places like the Silk Road existing on Tor, the FBI has every reason to go after it, the problem is that someone who controls an exit node is nothing more than a gateway host, but the FBI doesn't really see it that way, nor does US law, in theory (keep in mind i'm not a lawyer), running an exit node means you have full knowledge of what goes on within Tor, that also means that you are aiding the criminals who use it, and in the US, you can be charged with aiding a criminal, and in the case of Tor, a single conspiracy charge would mean that you could also be charged with every crime they charge the criminals, which between the child porn and the Silk Road would put you in jail for a long time

This has happened before, an exit node hoster was arrested and charged with distributing child porn, although i don't think this was in the US, the FBI knows exactly how Tor works because they host tons of exit nodes in order to catch criminals, and Tor was itself developed by the US government, so i doubt they will go after exit node hosts, but there could be legal ground to do so provided they find a judge ignorant enough (not hard these days)

now taking a look at the arrests today, something to consider is that this is related to child porn, something that almost no hackers, pirates, or even hard core gang members and serial murderers have sympathy for, when something is that vexing to that many areas of society, it doesn't really matter what side of the law you are on, if you enable it on a massive scale, your head probably has a shelf life

[yurano]

The law probably exists to allow the FBI to lean on exit node hosters so they'll narc in a plea deal.

[Deleted]

I'm actually sicken by this, they're attacking a sanctuary. Tor isn't only used by pedophiles, unfortunately no one understands this and tormail have nothing to do with pedophiles, as far as I know. So why would they attack that site?

something to consider, with places like the Silk Road existing on Tor, the FBI has every reason to go after it, the problem is that someone who controls an exit node is nothing more than a gateway host, but the FBI doesn't really see it that way, nor does US law, in theory (keep in mind i'm not a lawyer), running an exit node means you have full knowledge of what goes on within Tor, that also means that you are aiding the criminals who use it, and in the US, you can be charged with aiding a criminal, and in the case of Tor, a single conspiracy charge would mean that you could also be charged with every crime they charge the criminals, which between the child porn and the Silk Road would put you in jail for a long time

This has happened before, an exit node hoster was arrested and charged with distributing child porn, although i don't think this was in the US, the FBI knows exactly how Tor works because they host tons of exit nodes in order to catch criminals, and Tor was itself developed by the US government, so i doubt they will go after exit node hosts, but there could be legal ground to do so provided they find a judge ignorant enough (not hard these days)

now taking a look at the arrests today, something to consider is that this is related to child porn, something that almost no hackers, pirates, or even hard core gang members and serial murderers have sympathy for, when something is that vexing to that many areas of society, it doesn't really matter what side of the law you are on, if you enable it on a massive scale, your head probably has a shelf life

They arrest people who host exit nodes and accuse them for assisting criminals, even though that they're unaware of the traffic that passes through it. Yet they host some exit nodes themselves? Oh the irony...

[Milkshake86]

I'm actually sicken by this, they're attacking a sanctuary. Tor isn't only used by pedophiles, unfortunately no one understands this and tormail have nothing to do with pedophiles, as far as I know. So why would they attack that site?



They arrest people who host exit nodes and accuse them for assisting criminals, even though that they're unaware of the traffic that passes through it. Yet they host some exit nodes themselves? Oh the irony...

Corners are not only used by drug dealers they are monitored and routinely policed. Somethings in this world are not sacred enough for the abuse of children, and this issue is not the policing of criminal actions already committed being policed but rather the precognition style of spying being done.

[DeltrusDisc]

They arrest people who host exit nodes and accuse them for assisting criminals, even though that they're unaware of the traffic that passes through it. Yet they host some exit nodes themselves? Oh the irony...

That's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the US government's irony. Not to go off-topic, but the politicians all have socialized healthcare. -.-

[Raptor With a Saber]

So in reading this... TOR is still safe long as you dont look at child porn or buy drugs or have terrorist ties. Just like the rest of the internet.

[vesseblah]

So in reading this... TOR is still safe long as you dont look at child porn or buy drugs or have terrorist ties. Just like the rest of the internet.

That's not at all what it means.

What the article means FBI or some other government organization has injected their trojans here and there in the whole network to track down pedophiles (always good excuse because nobody will shed a tear for them). Unfortunately that also mean they can at their whim track down whistleblowers or other people who just appreciate their anonymity. Essentially the system is broken, or at least seriously crippled.

[Paq]

I use TOR sometimes for browsing whistle blowing sites (Seeing as it is about the only way to actually see them), and while I have never seen any child exploitation while in the TOR network, I am more than aware that its possible that at some point that my computer could have been used as a node for something that I would never allow, but is ultimately out of my control. The real question is how far would the FBI push it to get people being used as nodes? I find it hard to believe that they would attempt to get all potentially 36 million node users, it it pot luck if your computer was used a node for these things....

[Sorrior]

The article suggests they used a flaw in Firefox, not TOR. Plus JS had to be enabled, which is generally a bad idea if you want to stay anonymous.

Hell isn't disabling java even listed as one of the most basic things to do even on TORs official site?

[yurano]

Hell isn't disabling java even listed as one of the most basic things to do even on TORs official site?

Java is different from Javascript. Javascript is necessary for running a whole slew of website functions. Reddit's quick reply and voting system run off of Javascript; the same probably goes for MMO-Champion.

[Vargur]

Half of .onion isn't working atm.