Tor traffic exploding

[JimboToronto]

i use tor to watch blacked out mlb.com ballgames.

Yeah, it's better than Vipbox because mlb.com removes the commercials, while Vipbox leaves them in.

I'm lucky because it seems I somehow got my MLB.TV account cleared to watch all games (commercial-free) including Jays games which are normally blacked out in all of Canada.

Now if only Android had better Flash support so I could take my 7" shirt-pocket tablet to Skydome for "instant" (delayed only by buffering time) replays of controversial calls.

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[niko]

Wait, what?! You guys use Tor to watch video streams?  What bitrate is that?

[byronbb]

Wait, what?! You guys use Tor to watch video streams?  What bitrate is that?

Ya that's a surprise unless tricking the geo-check is all that is required and the streaming is done over the plain NSA ruled internet.

[JimboToronto]

Wait, what?! You guys use Tor to watch video streams?  What bitrate is that?

Ya that's a surprise unless tricking the geo-check is all that is required and the streaming is done over the plain NSA ruled internet.

Although having considered it, I haven't actually tried it because I haven't needed to, due to some freakish blackout exemption I apparently lucked into.

It seems to me though that going through the TOR network would just lead to longer buffering times, with Firefox compensating. Am I totally off-base with this?

[bitcon]

Wait, what?! You guys use Tor to watch video streams?  What bitrate is that?

Ya that's a surprise unless tricking the geo-check is all that is required and the streaming is done over the plain NSA ruled internet.

Although having considered it, I haven't actually tried it because I haven't needed to, due to some freakish blackout exemption I apparently lucked into.

It seems to me though that going through the TOR network would just lead to longer buffering times, with Firefox compensating. Am I totally off-base with this?

sometimes, yes.  sometimes you get a decent connection.  i usually use a lower bitrate/video quality so it doesnt buffer much.

[bitcon]

i use tor to watch blacked out mlb.com ballgames.

Yeah, it's better than Vipbox because mlb.com removes the commercials, while Vipbox leaves them in.

I'm lucky because it seems I somehow got my MLB.TV account cleared to watch all games (commercial-free) including Jays games which are normally blacked out in all of Canada.

Now if only Android had better Flash support so I could take my 7" shirt-pocket tablet to Skydome for "instant" (delayed only by buffering time) replays of controversial calls.

at SF ballgames i get seats near the concession stands and they have several big screen TVs showing the aired feed so fans can watch the replays. 

[JimboToronto]

at SF ballgames i get seats near the concession stands and they have several big screen TVs showing the aired feed so fans can watch the replays. 

That's handy. I'm surprised the umpires' union lets them get away with that.

We don't get that option at Skydome. Since I prefer to sit directly behind home plate near the front of the top deck, my only choice is the Jumbotron.

I'm not complaining though. By buying a 15-game flex-pack, I get my seats for $2 less than the cost of a beer. I attended 2 of 3 games in a recent series against the Yankees and the ticket (way out by 3rd base) that I bought at the box office cost twice as much as my flex-pack seat right behind the plate.

[Pangia]

http://www.dailydot.com/politics/tor-usage-doubles-snowden-nsa-prism/

[Pangia]

Also of importance to Tor users.

http://www.dailydot.com/news/tor-project-windows-firefox-vulnerability/

[01BTC10]

An alternative recurring explanation is the increased usage of botnets using Tor, based on the assertion that the increase appears to consist of mostly new users to Tor that apparently are not doing much given the limited impact on Tor exit performance. In recent days, we have indeed found evidence which suggests that a specific and rather unknown botnet is responsible for the majority of the sudden uptick in Tor users. A recent detection name that has been used in relation to this botnet is “Mevade.A”, but older references suggest the name “Sefnit”, which dates back to at least 2009 and also included Tor connectivity. We have found various references that the malware is internally known as SBC to its operators.

http://blog.fox-it.com/2013/09/05/large-botnet-cause-of-recent-tor-network-overload/

[caveden]

I don't know the impact on battery yet.

I don't know the impact on your monthly bandwidth yet.

It might not be that bad if his Tor daemon is not configured as a relay. (Not enabled by default)

Actually, there shouldn't be any significant difference in that case. Unless you do lots of telnet, ssh and other frequent-tiny-packets protocols, Tor shouldn't really increase your bandwidth usage.

[Mitchell]

Maybe a botnet owner has decided to donate his rooted machines.

I read an account, I thnk it was on reddit, of a guy who found his machine connecting to tor and acting as a relay on its own. It was infected.

This botnet operator was setting up his bots as Tor relay: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/sq7cy/iama_a_malware_coder_and_botnet_operator_ama/

Damn. -is still reading the thread-

[01BTC10]

Maybe a botnet owner has decided to donate his rooted machines.

I read an account, I thnk it was on reddit, of a guy who found his machine connecting to tor and acting as a relay on its own. It was infected.

This botnet operator was setting up his bots as Tor relay: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/sq7cy/iama_a_malware_coder_and_botnet_operator_ama/

Damn. -is still reading the thread-

lol. Found this thread when it started and spent many hours reading it.  

[Mitchell]

Maybe a botnet owner has decided to donate his rooted machines.

I read an account, I thnk it was on reddit, of a guy who found his machine connecting to tor and acting as a relay on its own. It was infected.

This botnet operator was setting up his bots as Tor relay: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/sq7cy/iama_a_malware_coder_and_botnet_operator_ama/

Damn. -is still reading the thread-

lol. Found this thread when it started and spent many hours reading it. 

It is very useful and is full of good information. -is scanning his computer against rootkit infections-

[johnmatrix]

The Tor network can be used for a wide variety of things, it can host an attack, they can be setting up a new server network, etc., so i doubt that is the result of more traffic at silkroad.