Wired: How to Anonymize Everything You Do Online

[LiteCoinGuy]

How to Anonymize Everything You Do Online

http://www.wired.com/2014/06/be-anonymous-online/


https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=362468.240

[Swordsoffreedom]

This one got my interest since it seems like the smartest way to anonymize

Whonix creates multiple “virtual machines” on the user’s computer—software versions of full computer operating systems that are designed to be indistinguishable from a full computer. Any attacker trying to compromise the user’s computer will be confined to that virtual machine.

Thanks for the share

[bitsmichel]

Whonix seems very interesting indeed,

Whonix is an operating system focused on anonymity, privacy and security. It's based on the Tor anonymity network[1], Debian GNU/Linux[2] and security by isolation. DNS leaks are impossible, and not even malware with root privileges can find out the user's real IP.

Whonix consists of two parts: One solely runs Tor and acts as a gateway, which we call Whonix-Gateway. The other, which we call Whonix-Workstation, is on a completely isolated network. Only connections through Tor are possible

Source: https://www.whonix.org/

This will allow some level of anonymity and privacy for tech people, but the mainstream is still left out in the open  
The article focusses a lot on Tor, which I think is a good but I don't think it's the only method.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Whonix seems very interesting indeed,

Whonix is an operating system focused on anonymity, privacy and security. It's based on the Tor anonymity network[1], Debian GNU/Linux[2] and security by isolation. DNS leaks are impossible, and not even malware with root privileges can find out the user's real IP.

Whonix consists of two parts: One solely runs Tor and acts as a gateway, which we call Whonix-Gateway. The other, which we call Whonix-Workstation, is on a completely isolated network. Only connections through Tor are possible

Source: https://www.whonix.org/

This will allow some level of anonymity and privacy for tech people, but the mainstream is still left out in the open  
The article focusses a lot on Tor, which I think is a good but I don't think it's the only method.

Tor is a very secure system, but it does have its moments when someone can get in like the FBI with Silk Road.

They didn't really break into Tor in that case but caught the person through investigation but it still counts more or less.

Still for less technical people tor is a good way to communicate with a relative sense of privacy and security as the article mentioned the super paranoid will have stronger stuff to use .

http://www.howtogeek.com/142380/htg-explains-is-tor-really-anonymous-and-secure/

[InwardContour]

Long story short, you should use TOR to maintain anonymity online.

The challenge that this faces is the fact that many sites will restrict/block access from TOR exit nodes. These forums will even make you pay a (very) small amount of BTC in order to access your account if you try to access via TOR (AFAIK this is only a one time payment).

Another major challenge is that it is very difficult for a site to gauge the likely hood that your account has been hacked. Normally a site can see that you usually login from London, England using Modzilla and if someone logs in from an IP in London using Modzilla there is a good chance that the account owner has logged in, conversely if someone logs in from Sydney, Australia with Firefox then the account has likely been hacked and additional security screening would be necessary.

[bitsmichel]

Long story short, you should use TOR to maintain anonymity online.

The challenge that this faces is the fact that many sites will restrict/block access from TOR exit nodes. These forums will even make you pay a (very) small amount of BTC in order to access your account if you try to access via TOR (AFAIK this is only a one time payment).

I have seen sites that do not even allow users to register or visit using TOR. But these are not .onion sites but the regular web.  I think the downside of TOR is that the subset which uses it is much smaller than the total set, thus making it easier to find you for an ISP, correct me if I'm wrong.

[AnonyMint]

Tor is a very secure system...

I don't think so...

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Onion_routing&oldid=592703635#Weaknesses

https://tails.boum.org/doc/about/warning/index.en.html#index4h1

https://tails.boum.org/doc/about/warning/index.en.html#index7h1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_%28anonymity_network%29#Exit_node_eavesdropping

If you actually look in to where these Tor nodes are hosted and how big they are, some of these nodes cost thousands of dollars each month just to host because they're using lots of bandwidth, they're heavy-duty servers and so on. Who would pay for this and be anonymous?"

https://www.schneier.com/essays/archives/2013/10/attacking_tor_how_th.html

How to Anonymize Everything You Do Online

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=362468.240

Numerous weaknesses in existing anonymous coins were detailed by me today:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=362468.msg7513111#msg7513111

[bitsmichel]

I think a number of proxies or VPNs may be better for anonymity than TOR. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[dadugan]

The challenge that this faces is the fact that many sites will restrict/block access from TOR exit nodes. These forums will even make you pay a (very) small amount of BTC in order to access your account if you try to access via TOR (AFAIK this is only a one time payment).

Does this bitcoin forum allow user to use tor to register and post?

[wenben]

Has anyone here tested I2P browser and can give some feedback?

[Swordsoffreedom]

Tor is a very secure system...

I don't think so...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_%28anonymity_network%29#Exit_node_eavesdropping

If you actually look in to where these Tor nodes are hosted and how big they are, some of these nodes cost thousands of dollars each month just to host because they're using lots of bandwidth, they're heavy-duty servers and so on. Who would pay for this and be anonymous?"

https://www.schneier.com/essays/archives/2013/10/attacking_tor_how_th.html

How to Anonymize Everything You Do Online

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=362468.240

Numerous weaknesses in existing anonymous coins were detailed by me today:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=362468.msg7513111#msg7513111

Fair enough but unless your the Fed or a Cop it keeps you a bit more clothed in a sense than roaming around the internet naked without any form of anonymous protection.

The question anonymint was what type of privacy can a low level tech user (Not to technical or hard to use)
That a normal user can use to anonymize themselves easily.

I'm more under the idea a namecoin based or Ethereum based cryptography base system might do the trick but curious what your stop gap measures would be.
But zerocoin could work as well not sure what a crytonode is as a designation though.
Is it the tor equivalent of the end server encrypted?

[AnonyMint]

Read my summary of the problems with the other anonymous coins as linked in my prior post. They all have serious problems.

Tor (IP2 also if it becomes popular) draws attention to your activity. The national security agencies are recording everything.

I don't see any good solutions (yet) against the taxman and the hunt for all wealth by the bankrupt governments coming.

Problem with Tor and IP2 is that onion routing in a low-latency node based network is a fundamentally flawed concept. If you want anonymity against the feds, we will need a different conceptual design.

[Nik1ab]

Nothing new here.

[bitsmichel]

The challenge that this faces is the fact that many sites will restrict/block access from TOR exit nodes. These forums will even make you pay a (very) small amount of BTC in order to access your account if you try to access via TOR (AFAIK this is only a one time payment).

Does this bitcoin forum allow user to use tor to register and post?

You can browse the forum and visit the registration form, which does not seem to block. I think it's allowed  

Problem with Tor and IP2 is that onion routing in a low-latency node based network is a fundamentally flawed concept. If you want anonymity against the feds, we will need a different conceptual design.

The way TOR is constructed is indeed drawing attention. I think, in order to have anonymity, a new conceptual design is needed as you mentioned.

[madken7777]

You can browse the forum and visit the registration form, which does not seem to block. I think it's allowed  

Problem with Tor and IP2 is that onion routing in a low-latency node based network is a fundamentally flawed concept. If you want anonymity against the feds, we will need a different conceptual design.

The way TOR is constructed is indeed drawing attention. I think, in order to have anonymity, a new conceptual design is needed as you mentioned.

What seem to be the issue on TOR network?

[bitsmichel]

You can browse the forum and visit the registration form, which does not seem to block. I think it's allowed  

Problem with Tor and IP2 is that onion routing in a low-latency node based network is a fundamentally flawed concept. If you want anonymity against the feds, we will need a different conceptual design.

The way TOR is constructed is indeed drawing attention. I think, in order to have anonymity, a new conceptual design is needed as you mentioned.

What seem to be the issue on TOR network?

There are several issues. For one the mere usage of the TOR network itself, makes you into the subset of 'suspicious users'. The pool not using TOR is still larger. It's not a perfect solution. the NSA has a technique that targets outdated Firefox browsers codenamed EgotisticalGiraffe. It has several weaknesses, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_%28anonymity_network%29#Weaknesses

[salmondance]

Unfortunately, i didn't find anything new for myself here

[gigalew]

I found it usefull. Thanks.

[commandrix]

Interesting article. Now watch all the politicians screech about how Tor should be banned in the U.S. because obviously criminals are using it to organize blatantly illegal activity. I might download the Tor version of Firefox though, if only for the sake of confusing Google.

[InwardContour]

You can browse the forum and visit the registration form, which does not seem to block. I think it's allowed  

Problem with Tor and IP2 is that onion routing in a low-latency node based network is a fundamentally flawed concept. If you want anonymity against the feds, we will need a different conceptual design.

The way TOR is constructed is indeed drawing attention. I think, in order to have anonymity, a new conceptual design is needed as you mentioned.

What seem to be the issue on TOR network?

There are several issues. For one the mere usage of the TOR network itself, makes you into the subset of 'suspicious users'. The pool not using TOR is still larger. It's not a perfect solution. the NSA has a technique that targets outdated Firefox browsers codenamed EgotisticalGiraffe. It has several weaknesses, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_%28anonymity_network%29#Weaknesses

Using tor alone would not be probable cause for law enforcement to get a warrant as there are several legit reasons to use it.