Privacytools.io: Can someone please explain?

Created on 14 Feb 2017  路  5Comments  路  Source: privacytools/privacytools.io

I installed DuckDuckGo when this article use to recommend it. What happened to DDG and should I get a different search engine? Also, since the FBI hacked Tor, and since Brave injects ads (like Adblock Plus); why are these browsers included in the list?

picture michaelstandeven
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Tor is a decentralized network based on open-source software which is partially funded by the US government, because they need Tor just as much as we do. You can't hack a network like that, you can compromise the nodes, you can compromise hidden services, but you can't compromise the network. Also, @michaelstandeven, I'd prefer real arguments and not just links to articles which don't support the claim FBI hacked Tor at all.

Update: In an e-mailed statement, the Tor Project told the Post that the organization is addressing the new relays:
This looks like a regular attempt at a Sybil attack: the attackers have signed up many new relays in hopes of becoming a large fraction of the network. But even though they are running thousands of new relays, their relays currently make up less than 1% of the Tor network by capacity. We are working now to remove these relays from the network before they become a threat, and we don't expect any anonymity or performance effects based on what we've seen so far.

Recent reports in the media? A good journalist would at least add a link to the source(s).

  1. This article says Tor has been compromised as an assumption and their only argument is that a Black Hat 2014 talk was cancelled.
  2. The article is absolute nonsense. Best Alternatives to Tor: 12 Programs to Use Since NSA, Hackers Compromised Tor Project:
    > Freepto is yet another software similar to Tor, it is a Linux based OS on a USB stick. It can be used on any computer and any data saved is automatically encrypted. It's easy to use and seems to be geared toward activists.

How is that an alternative to Tor?

Whonix is an anonymous Linux operating system based on the Tor network and works by isolation.

If Tor is Compromised by the NSA and Hackers, how does an OS that routes everything through Tor an alternative?

Tox isn't a full replacement for Tor, but it can serve to provide messaging services.

A full replacement? How is that a replacement at all? Since when is Tor an IM service?

(basically everything they suggest apart from I2P and Freenet is nonsense in the context of alternatives to Tor, so I won't quote the rest, this should be enough to show how bad this article is)

  1. Again an article that makes huge drama of the attack on TBB and doesn't see the difference between Tor and TBB.
  2. Tor != TBB:
    > With that sudden influx, though, came increased scrutiny. First, in July, the FBI acknowledged that it subverted control of Tor

The agency hijacked and placed Cornhusker on three servers that ran multiple anonymous child pornography websites. The malware then targeted the flaws in Flash inside the Tor Browser.

Tor != TBB. That was a flaw in Firefox. And it targetted TBB users, not Tor.

Correction: According to a Tor spokeswoman, Edman did not contribute to Tor's codebase.

And yet the title is still

Former Tor developer created malware for the FBI to hack Tor users

(This is said in the previous article as well, with ~2 words different. The articles are basically the same, and some parts practically the same.)

picture ghost on 16 Feb 2017
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All 5 comments

DuckDuckGo: https://github.com/privacytoolsIO/privacytools.io/issues/84
Brave: https://github.com/privacytoolsIO/privacytools.io/issues/161

Atavic picture Atavic on 14 Feb 2017
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So both DuckDuckGo and StartPage have servers around the world (in and out of the US). DDG depends on Yahoo and Amazon whereas SP depends on google. Both claim to be private. What's the difference?

chazzcarp picture chazzcarp on 14 Feb 2017

@chazzcarp I think it's best to keep this topic in the already mentioned thread #84 馃檪

@michaelstandeven when you say the FBI hacked Tor, what do you mean exactly? I heard of several cases where the federal agencies were in control of Tor servers and could track people who were accessing these servers. Could you provide e.g. a link to an article, I would like to read about this, thanks !

bakku picture bakku on 14 Feb 2017

FBI hacked Tor is nonsense. @chazzcarp SP uses Google for better results, whereas DDG uses Amazon for hosting.

ghost picture ghost on 15 Feb 2017

Tor is a decentralized network based on open-source software which is partially funded by the US government, because they need Tor just as much as we do. You can't hack a network like that, you can compromise the nodes, you can compromise hidden services, but you can't compromise the network. Also, @michaelstandeven, I'd prefer real arguments and not just links to articles which don't support the claim FBI hacked Tor at all.

Update: In an e-mailed statement, the Tor Project told the Post that the organization is addressing the new relays:
This looks like a regular attempt at a Sybil attack: the attackers have signed up many new relays in hopes of becoming a large fraction of the network. But even though they are running thousands of new relays, their relays currently make up less than 1% of the Tor network by capacity. We are working now to remove these relays from the network before they become a threat, and we don't expect any anonymity or performance effects based on what we've seen so far.

Recent reports in the media? A good journalist would at least add a link to the source(s).

  1. This article says Tor has been compromised as an assumption and their only argument is that a Black Hat 2014 talk was cancelled.
  2. The article is absolute nonsense. Best Alternatives to Tor: 12 Programs to Use Since NSA, Hackers Compromised Tor Project:
    > Freepto is yet another software similar to Tor, it is a Linux based OS on a USB stick. It can be used on any computer and any data saved is automatically encrypted. It's easy to use and seems to be geared toward activists.

How is that an alternative to Tor?

Whonix is an anonymous Linux operating system based on the Tor network and works by isolation.

If Tor is Compromised by the NSA and Hackers, how does an OS that routes everything through Tor an alternative?

Tox isn't a full replacement for Tor, but it can serve to provide messaging services.

A full replacement? How is that a replacement at all? Since when is Tor an IM service?

(basically everything they suggest apart from I2P and Freenet is nonsense in the context of alternatives to Tor, so I won't quote the rest, this should be enough to show how bad this article is)

  1. Again an article that makes huge drama of the attack on TBB and doesn't see the difference between Tor and TBB.
  2. Tor != TBB:
    > With that sudden influx, though, came increased scrutiny. First, in July, the FBI acknowledged that it subverted control of Tor

The agency hijacked and placed Cornhusker on three servers that ran multiple anonymous child pornography websites. The malware then targeted the flaws in Flash inside the Tor Browser.

Tor != TBB. That was a flaw in Firefox. And it targetted TBB users, not Tor.

Correction: According to a Tor spokeswoman, Edman did not contribute to Tor's codebase.

And yet the title is still

Former Tor developer created malware for the FBI to hack Tor users

(This is said in the previous article as well, with ~2 words different. The articles are basically the same, and some parts practically the same.)

ghost picture ghost on 16 Feb 2017
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