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does anyone know whether it is actually legal to access this etc? And does TOR really make you anonymous online?
In a crackdown that FBI claims to be about hunting down pedophiles, half of the onion sites in the TOR network has been compromised, including the e-mail counterpart of TOR deep web, TORmail. FreedomWeb, an Irish company known for providing hosting for Tor "hidden services" -- services reached over the Tor anonymized/encrypted network -- has shut down after its owner, Eric Eoin Marques, was arrested over allegations that he had facilitated the spread of child pornography.
Users of Tor hidden services report that their copies of "Tor Browser" (a modified, locked-down version of Firefox that uses Tor by default) were infected with malicious Javascript that de-anonymized them, and speculate that this may have originated with with FBI. Tor Browser formerly came with Javascript disabled by default, but it was switched back on again recently to make the browser more generally useful. Some are predicting an imminent Bitcoin crash precipitated by the shutdown.
KingDoey
Evening all,
Me and my mate at work were talking about the deep/dark web (whatever you want to call it) the other day.
Anyway after researching about it out of curiosity I downloaded TOR, the Onion Router and accessed the hidden wiki. From here I browsed a few forums and blogs etc. Its pretty eye opening to see how freely crime and dark dealings occur on this 'hidden internet'.
After looking round for a while I logged off. I just wondered does anyone on here use TOR and access this part of the internet? If so does anyone know whether it is actually legal to access this etc? And does TOR really make you anonymous online?
Cheers
Carreau
reply to post by KingDoey
does anyone know whether it is actually legal to access this etc? And does TOR really make you anonymous online?
Possible FBI infiltration of TOR
In a crackdown that FBI claims to be about hunting down pedophiles, half of the onion sites in the TOR network has been compromised, including the e-mail counterpart of TOR deep web, TORmail. FreedomWeb, an Irish company known for providing hosting for Tor "hidden services" -- services reached over the Tor anonymized/encrypted network -- has shut down after its owner, Eric Eoin Marques, was arrested over allegations that he had facilitated the spread of child pornography.
Users of Tor hidden services report that their copies of "Tor Browser" (a modified, locked-down version of Firefox that uses Tor by default) were infected with malicious Javascript that de-anonymized them, and speculate that this may have originated with with FBI. Tor Browser formerly came with Javascript disabled by default, but it was switched back on again recently to make the browser more generally useful. Some are predicting an imminent Bitcoin crash precipitated by the shutdown.
FBI Attack on Child Porn Sites May Have Blown Tor Users' Cover
FBI hacks Toredit on 28-9-2013 by Carreau because: (no reason given)
KingDoey
reply to post by Carreau
Yes I was quite aware that the FBI had infiltrated TOR to smash paedophile rings on the deep net.
Naturally I recognise the illegal parts such as the drugs trade, indecent images of children, contract killings etc are going to attract attention of law enforcement. I have no desire whatsoever to access them.
What I meant was the general access to the hidden web... is that illegal? I.e. viewing the whistleblowing forums and blogs etc..
I realise there are some very sinister parts of it, which I avoid.
However, some Tor hidden services users reportedly complained that their copies of Tor Browser, a modified version of Firefox, had been infected with malicious JavaScript that de-anonymized them by default.
Apparently the attack code configured Freedom Hosting's servers so that they injected a JavaScript exploit in the Web pages delivered to users. That exploit loaded malware that infected users' computers.
KingDoey
reply to post by Carreau
That's fair enough, but tbh if it isn't illegal to access then if my IP is revealed to law enforcement, because I am doing nothing wrong (not looking at indecent images or ordering shooters) then I have nothing to worry about?
Carreau
reply to post by KingDoey
You asked 2 questions in your OP, is tor legal and is it anonymous. tor itself is legal but many things found on tor are not. Is tor anonymous, no. LE can and will track users and as I tried to show you there is a chance that your computer will get infected with malware from the tor servers.
Knock yourself out. I'm not here to argue, you asked a question I tried to give you a heads up.
KingDoey
reply to post by BardingTheBard
Sorry if that seemed like I was having a dig mate.
Thank you for your input
KingDoey
reply to post by Carreau
That's fair enough, but tbh if it isn't illegal to access then if my IP is revealed to law enforcement, because I am doing nothing wrong (not looking at indecent images or ordering shooters) then I have nothing to worry about?