Tor

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Tor

Postby Darcy » Sun Aug 30, 2020 8:44 pm

Is there any point in using Tor if you aren't doing any illegal or dark web stuff?

Downloaded it on a recommendation then went to login to my NY Times account and wondering if I should bother, and they have some Onion thingy for certain sites??? I'm not so technically minded, but do need some security.
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Re: Tor

Postby Kurt » Sun Aug 30, 2020 8:53 pm

Darcy wrote:Is there any point in using Tor if you aren't doing any illegal or dark web stuff?

Downloaded it on a recommendation then went to login to my NY Times account and wondering if I should bother, and they have some Onion thingy for certain sites??? I'm not so technically minded, but do need some security.


It wont hurt and it will be encrypted (so that is private, especially in hotels and stuff) but some sites block known tor exit nodes since so much mischief has been done from them.

I only use it in going to .onion sites for my job like seeing what data is offered for sale and to see if any of it is my clients.
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Re: Tor

Postby Alphabet » Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:37 pm

Honeypot. Just like Silk Road was.

Think of it this way......If Tor is known about enough for most people to not say, "What's that?", it's a honeypot.
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Re: Tor

Postby Kurt » Mon Aug 31, 2020 12:47 pm

Alphabet wrote:Honeypot. Just like Silk Road was.

Think of it this way......If Tor is known about enough for most people to not say, "What's that?", it's a honeypot.


There are legit uses for it, just none that I actually need.

Archive.org has a huge presence on their .onion site, mostly for helping people banned from the conventional internet to catch up on all the news sites they were blocked from. It is really popular in KSA and Iran ...now probably Belorus too.

The Chinese prefer to use US or European based VPNs to evade the Great Firewall of China. I worked for a shitty company whose main business was selling cheap VPS to Chinese customers to use as VPNs. Then the chinese would discover this once they were dumb enough to try to resell the service and block the VPS IP address. I had to put up with really weird Chinese begging to swap IP addresses (which we wouldn't do, we would sell them another one but not swap it).

Grown men would beg me to help them by sending images of "hot, crying anime girls" to try to get me to change my mind. Weirdest thing.
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Re: Tor

Postby Alphabet » Wed Sep 02, 2020 1:48 am

Kurt wrote:
Alphabet wrote:Honeypot. Just like Silk Road was.

Think of it this way......If Tor is known about enough for most people to not say, "What's that?", it's a honeypot.


There are legit uses for it, just none that I actually need.

Archive.org has a huge presence on their .onion site, mostly for helping people banned from the conventional internet to catch up on all the news sites they were blocked from. It is really popular in KSA and Iran ...now probably Belorus too.

The Chinese prefer to use US or European based VPNs to evade the Great Firewall of China. I worked for a shitty company whose main business was selling cheap VPS to Chinese customers to use as VPNs. Then the chinese would discover this once they were dumb enough to try to resell the service and block the VPS IP address. I had to put up with really weird Chinese begging to swap IP addresses (which we wouldn't do, we would sell them another one but not swap it).

Grown men would beg me to help them by sending images of "hot, crying anime girls" to try to get me to change my mind. Weirdest thing.


I'm old enough to be a man and admit when I don't understand the latest trend. I'm also old and experienced enough to know that when out of towners start praising the hidden local drinking hole......time to bail.

You've forgotten more about what you do than I could learn in a lifetime. It's your forte. I have mad respect for that.

Mine is being suspicious as fuck about everything. Sometimes that pays out for me. Sometimes it doesn't. I'm not Abe Simpson shaking my fist at clouds...yet. I do understand advancements in tech. But good old paranoia does work sometimes.

What it does do 100% of the time is keep me out of the pokey, and alive.
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Re: Tor

Postby Kurt » Wed Sep 02, 2020 1:29 pm

The way I look at Tor is the way I look at camouflage.

If someone knows I bought one of those shambling mound of grass sniper cammo things, and have a sniper rifle and moved next to a school after writing a "Children suck, especially school children and why they should die" manifesto.

You are going to start checking out mounds of grass near the school to make sure it is not me.

Same with Tor. Traffic inspection, even though you cannot see what it is, you can see it is being used and perhaps wonder "huh? I wonder if this convicted felon is purchasing illegal guns from the Phillipnes or kiddie porn. Perhaps we should look at other things or get a warrant for the computer.

I would use tor in a hotel. But that is it.

Hotel internet security sucks.
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Re: Tor

Postby Alphabet » Fri Sep 04, 2020 3:51 pm

Still too risky in my world.

The Feds love to paint anyone they can with two things: Pedo or Terrorist. Because even if you legit beat either (and I'm not talking about on a technicality. I mean legit server logs, and said agent breaking down in court crying and admitting he made shit up about suspect X.) it is impossible to wash either image off in the hive mind that is US collective thought.


I'd trust a bunch of kids whacked out on Mt. Dew and Cheetos, handling my crypto via Fortnite than anything else right now. They'd be better at it, and also with a healthy distrust of govt.


"Tor? Daaaaad, stop embarrassing me. Like, OMFG. Don't even say that when I have friends over."
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