Topic: Use of TOR Browser for Bitcointalk (Read 772 times)

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I am currently using Firefox but i want to use TOR browser to login Bitcointalk. Is it safe to use TOR browser as i heard it is a dark web browser where hackers can hack our credentials and information ?

That's not an assumption I'd necessarily make. With Tor, you're getting a "random" Tor node, weighted to favor high-bandwidth nodes and by other factors.  If you choose a VPN in a trustworthy country, with a trustworthy record, then that's potentially safer. Attacks to covertly fill Tor with attacker nodes have been done in the past (see section 5.1 for the most interesting info). Attackers don't need to get anywhere near filling Tor 50% with their nodes, since you pick random nodes all the time: just 2 attacker nodes can be enough, though with low probability.

Also, Tor is fundamentally a centralized network: you can't be a Tor node on the mainnet Tor network without the approval of the Tor directory authorities. The authorities are run by people associated with, and using rules largely set by, the Tor Project. I don't know if I really believe this, but considering how weak Tor is compared to the state-of-the-art research and how poorly-thought-out the Tor Project's overall strategy has tended to be, I've thought that Tor could be an incredibly subtle "controlled opposition" operation. It wouldn't be necessary to control every single person in the Project, just influence things enough to make progress in less important rather than more important directions, slightly bias directory authorities in sane-looking ways which actually help attackers, etc. (I admit that this is quite the conspiracy theory.)

I won't be in the slightest bit surprised if Microsoft announce in, say, 3-4 years:

"terribly sorry kids, it seems we were accidentally recording every keystroke and capturing from your webcam 24/7 anyway, some pesky bug!". I expect some people might actually buy that line a couple times before they finally figure out what Microsoft are really saying

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even with Windows 10 heavily customized to minimize telemetry and monitoring

I mean, it works, but that's irrelevant if Microsoft are listening to everything that's happening at the OS's end.

Even if you turn off all tracking and telemetry features, Windows 10 still tries to phone home a staggering 5,500 times in 8 hours. The additional use of third party tools designed to stop this did help a bit, but these researchers still reported 2758 connections in 30 hours.

Other researchers have similarly found that even when you disable Windows 10 features like Cortana, it is still logging your activity and sending it to Microsoft.

What do you guys think about using TOR from Windows 10?, compared to Win 7, Ubuntu, or even Tails?
Is it bad to run TOR on Win 10? Dangers?

I'm barely tech savvy enough to make Tails work, I'm ashamed to admit.. It's always something that doesn't work right...
I had an old version of tails and remember it being "better" from my perspective as in it just worked and worked right every time without a bunch of messing around compared to the new one, which doesn't like being installed on something not "removable", bunch of glitches like pixilated screens when loading, and internet adapter problems, can't even get the Ethernet to work on my Alienware with Tails much less wifi for some reason but works if I boot it on some other computers.. It doesn't even work the same way consistently it seems..

Qubes OS + Whonix is like out of my league..
I tried putting Qubes on a portable HDD recently actually and couldn't even get it to boot and gave up immediately, lol..

If Tor was only used for illegal activities as you suggest, then no one would use it as doing so would make it blatantly obvious that you were doing something illegal. Plenty of people use Tor all the time for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, the deep web is accessible from any browser, it just isn't indexed. It is not synonymous with the dark web. Saying Tor is a risk because you could download malware from the dark web is the same as saying owning a phone is a risk because a scammer might call you.

I am currently using Firefox but i want to use TOR browser to login Bitcointalk. Is it safe to use TOR browser as i heard it is a dark web browser where hackers can hack our credentials and information ?

Someone could definitely make something much better, though.

Qubes OS + Whonix is a pretty good alternative compared to just using the Tor browser on Windows.

There is also I2P alternative for TOR, but it needs more development.

Unlike Tor, you can't access regular website/domain with I2P.

since you pick random nodes all the time

TOR Browser is only used by people who really need it, not for ordinary people who use an ordinary brochure. Tor may not be an option for laypeople to use, because it is associated with a risk that threatens the Dark Web or the Deep Web.

using tor through a VPN gives extra privacy.

You don't even need to install and run TOR to access .onion "scary deep web" links, you can view them with about any browser if you want to by changing the .onion to something I forget..

"Whenever you see a URL like http://duskgytldkxiuqc6.onion/, that's a Tor Onion service. Just replace .onion with .onion.to or .onion.city or .onion.cab or .onion.direct or any other domain made available by volounteers Tor2web operators Example:" https://www.tor2web.org/

What it would do for you using TOR to login and browse BitcoinTalk is not let BTCT know your real IP, but only if you NEVER use your real IP on that account you logged into, or they gotcha..

but there are many known attacks which can be used against Tor, plus possible 0-days against the browser, so you can never feel 100% anonymous.

Also, even if you treat Tor as perfect, it's really difficult to remain consistently anonymous; for example, you might via Tor use the same email address to order something shipped to you as you use to speak out against your oppressive government, and that's a link that can be exploited. Even though Tor is pretty flawed, being far behind state-of-the-art research, it's these non-Tor anonymity failures which almost always get people. This was the case for Ross Ulbricht, for example. As I always say: if you think that you're perfectly anonymous, then you're wrong. Think of even the best anonymity tech as a light bulletproof vest which will increase your survivability a bit, not as an impenetrable wall.

Is there any alternative to navigate anonymously as good as TOR?

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