Tor (anonymity network)

reply to post by webpirate


Ah, I didn't think of that, thanks

I still think it would be good for a knowledgeable person to create a thread that explains how to use tor safely though , a few people seem to think there's a lot of interesting stuff to find and it has definitely caught my interest. However, I'm simply not going to bother until I can gather plenty of info so I don't leave myself wide-open for laptop-buggery

Kyle

what about using a new laptop & only using it for Tor ?

i have thought about Tor in the past, this is a interesting thread.

Originally posted by DanaKatherineScully
what about using a new laptop & only using it for Tor ?

Not bad I guess, but slightly impractical when you only have one laptop and currently unemployed

Kyle

reply to post by DanaKatherineScully


That would work but the better option IMO:

Privatix ->USB Stick

Portable encrypted OS designed with privacy in mind. You can use any computer and boot into a secure Debian OS, Tor comes already configured. Nothing saves to the computer, it's all on your USB stick and all encrypted.

reply to post by kai22


The OP's post actually has a link to the Tor site. Maybe I'm being overcautious, but I'm not gonna repeat that link. Reread the opening post. Tor's website actually has a pretty good description of how it works. Tor was invented by the Navy. It has all kinds of legitimate uses.

There are places to set up anonymous encrypted emails, it's a way for say an anonymous source to contact the police or a journalist without exposing themselves. There are many other legitimate uses too.

Personally...I'm paranoid enough that any time someone especially on here links a link to say...Al Jazeera, I will only go there on tor. Even though Al Jazeera is a world renown respected news agency, I'm too paranoid of my actual IP address being linked with that site. The same with something like RT or similar.

Reread the opening post and find that link if you wanna know more. Usually the trouble comes from people looking for it..not it looking for them. Just like in real life. So the top layers of the deep web aren't too bad. But...I'm not gonna say any more about this. I'm sorry. I understand you wanting to know and learn this, but my opinion is there is too much stuff even on the top layer...if I explained how to get there I'm afraid I'd be in violation of ATS's T&C. Just because of general principals.

Good luck with the search...and be careful there if you get there. But to quote Forrest Gump..."that's all I'm gonna say about that."

Originally posted by kai22

Originally posted by DanaKatherineScully
what about using a new laptop & only using it for Tor ?

Not bad I guess, but slightly impractical when you only have one laptop and currently unemployed

Kyle

couldn't it be run via a USB drive as well ?

Geez.... enough with the tip-toes...
Look, illegal stuff won't just pop up in your browser, if you end up watching illegal pornography is because you were looking for that.
I've browsed the onion web sufficiently enough and I NEVER had a CP/snuff/whatever pic show up, because I never went that way.
So, as long as you proceed with caution (learning the tools before using them) and you don't actively seek illegal content, you'll be fine.
If you choose to get into things outside the law, don't blame the tools...

Again, the first step is ALWAYS education. And then, common sense.

reply to post by webpirate


Thank you for the input either way much appreciated, and I can understand your cautiousness, so no worries there.

I actually went on the tor site but I saw no mention of being able to stop others randomly using your IP as the final link to a "bad" site by using proxys (?)

No doubt I could probably use tor for general use if I spent most of tomorrow looking in to it, it's just that I don't want my IP to be the one that takes the fall for another's idea of "fun" if you catch my drift, and that's why I think it's important to know even just the basic ways of protecting yourself before delving into the darkness

Kyle

ETA:

reply to post by drakus


So, out of curiousity, can you honestly say that using tor has never caused you any problems? The reason for so much tiptoeing on my part is simply being cautious with things that I don't know/understand, hence gathering as much info as possible. Then, in a few months time I could look back and think "what the hell was I worried about?" rather than "damn... f***ed it"

reply to post by kai22

What you're describing is what could happen if you ran an Exit Node. When using Tor, your signal gets encrypted and passed through 3 relays before getting to the target. Since the Tor network is dependent on these relays, people often devote their bandwidth to running a relay, and helping the network grow.

Being the first and second node isn't as bad as being the third "Exit" node, as that is the node which sends the signal to the actual page. You won't accidentally set this up, and it's no surprise that the Tor network has few exit nodes. On the Tor website there's a page devoted to "how to set up an exit node", and "what to do if you get a notice from the authorities".

If you aren't an exit node, and aren't relaying other peoples information, you have nothing to worry about other than your own browsing habits.

i agree with most here,

of course you will have to do a bit of research before you try this & once you have it then spend some time learning how to use it,

i do think it is worth having a look at though & researching it in more depth at least, & as others have mentioned if you actively look for 'bad' stuff then bad things will happen & that's always been the way, somebody mentioned they won't click on links to RT or Al-Jazeera that seems a bit extreme imo.

you just have to know your limits that's all.

Originally posted by benrl
One thing to consider is TOR along with Bitcoin, pretty much equal an untraceable black market for goods and services.

Imagine what untraceable funds, and a anonymous black market equal... those are the types of things you can find on the Deep web...

Here is an example of a tor URL, you need tor to look it up, this is a "Core" site that links to other sites

eqt5g4fuenphqinx.onion

The address are pretty much unsearchable, so they are hidden, many of the sites you have to be invited too by other users, are someone has to tell you the addy because you can't search for them.

edit on 21-1-2012 by benrl because: (no reason given)

Tor is not 100% by any means. You may not know the entrance point, but you can find the exit point. Anyone very familiar with tor knows what I mean. Anonymous has exploited this weakness. I won't go into detail here, but your original ip can be found. There are other weaknesses in tor as well.

reply to post by kai22


No, I never had any problem whatsoever. But, again, I wasn't accessing illegal content nor visiting such places.
I think you are correct in being cautious, above all, learn as much as you can before even downloading tor.

Is there secret government info on tor? That is all im interested in.

reply to post by UkRandom

you think tor and provixy dont have backdoors?

No, they do not.

They are both open-source applications developed in the open and the source code is fully available under the BSD and GPL licenses respectively.

www.torproject.org...
sourceforge.net...

Majority of people who use Tor are security/privacy fanatics they will know immediately if one was added just by looking at recent commits to the development branch.

Needless to say, if you download Tor in a pre-compiled format (windows binary for example) there is no knowing what could be in it. Same goes for if you download it from a site other than the official distribution methods.

Besides it is easy enough to isolate a piece of software in a virtual machine and check if any unexpected remote connections are being made.

TLDR; There is no backdoor in these pieces of software.

Originally posted by blupblup

Originally posted by UkRandom
but apparently i dunno what im talking about
personally i dont give 2 fυcks either way

To be fair, you managed to write a word that is usually censored automatically.... I say you know some ****

He probably changed one of the letters of that word into unicode.

TOR is a tool and like all tools they can be used to create or cause havoc, be wise and educate yourself - its common sense. Assume *everything* you do or say is sniffed by 'someone' for whatever reason - act as you would in public for instance, anyway that aside check out these tools also they augment TOR or can be used for whatever you need them for. *extrapolate* *learn*

thefreenetproject,org and i2p anonymity network ... not 'level 5' as someone mentioned perhaps but useful and often missed or overlooked, apologies if its been mentioned already.

peace and surf with your lights on, objects in mirror may already be attached to your network.

'nuff said.

reply to post by blupblup


Hint: it has something to do with the alt key on your keyboard

reply to post by clay2 baraka


He used upsilon for U. Case closed.

reply to post by InsideYourMind

Majority of people who use Tor are security/privacy fanatics they will know immediately if one was added just by looking at recent commits to the development branch.

This. Also, if you get anything pertaining to your privacy, whether Tor, TrueCrypt, or anything else, get it from a trusted source and check the md5 to make sure it's the same file.