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Anonymous, People's Liberation Front Build Anonymous Data-Sharing Site

suraj.sun writes with these snippets from an article at Ars Technica: "Hacker group Anonymous and the People's Liberation Front have created a data-sharing site called AnonPaste.tk, meant to host pastes of code and other messages without any moderation or censorship of the information posted. The new site, which uses a free .tk web address, allows users to set a time for the paste to expire. It claims that data is encrypted and decrypted in the browser using 256 bit AES, so the server doesn't see any of the information included in the paste.The site says it's taking donations in the form of WePay or BitCoins. ... AnonPaste is built using open-source software called ZeroBin, created by French developer Sebastien Sauvage. According to Infoweek Sauvage has experience in creating online authentication systems for French banks, suggesting the creator knows a thing or two about encryption of data. Still, on the software's information page, Sauvage reminds potential users that ZeroBin software can not protect against potential Javascript attacks. 'Users still have to trust the server regarding the respect of their privacy,' he says. 'ZeroBin won't protect the users against malicious servers.'"

27 of 137 comments (clear)

  1. .tk, seriously? by jamesbrx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This site will get it's domain removed faster than I can post this comment. The .tk admins have a long history of blatantly removing anything that might cause trouble, are porn and/or hijacking domains that are popular. Great choice there, indeed.

    1. Re:.tk, seriously? by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 2

      .tks are just frames to another site. So just bookmark the real one if you're concerned about the .tk breaking.

    2. Re:.tk, seriously? by cloricus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why would they want to take down what may become the most effective honey pot in history?

      --
      I ate your fish.
    3. Re:.tk, seriously? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      They should have set their servers up in Judea.

  2. Major Fail: ZeroBin requires the JavaScript by xiando · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I am NOT about to let you or your anonymous friends run JavaScript in my browser. No. That would compromise my security. The idea outlined in the summary sounds good, but the JavaScript-based implementation is bad. EPIC FAIL. Think of the Tor-users! They are not about to let their anonymity go by submitting to the evil JavaScript World Order.

    1. Re:Major Fail: ZeroBin requires the JavaScript by e**(i+pi)-1 · · Score: 2

      javascript is the best option. I would trust it more than any other implementation because is a language which by nature open source, i.e. http://www.peoplesliberationfront.net/anonpaste/lib/sjcl.js http://www.peoplesliberationfront.net/anonpaste/lib/base64.js All the encryption is done in the users browser and not on the server and one can see the code. So, download all the source files first, analyze whether there is something strange in the source and then everytime, before using the tool, check whether the source has changed.

      What I do not understand however is for what this could be useful.

    2. Re:Major Fail: ZeroBin requires the JavaScript by allo · · Score: 3, Informative

      you can have only one of them:
      - no client side scripting
      - client side crypting/decrypting

      but do not worry, javascript is sandboxed to the site's context.

    3. Re:Major Fail: ZeroBin requires the JavaScript by Tom · · Score: 3, Informative

      Javascript isn't half as evil as you make it.

      It's main failing is that it sucks for crypto. A quick reference I could dig out:
      http://www.matasano.com/articles/javascript-cryptography/

      Basically, it has several problems, the main one being that where they write "random key" in the "browser" box in their little flowchart it should honestly say "weak pseudo-random key".

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
  3. Cool, but... by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...we already have lots of ways to do this. We can encrypt and post to Usenet. We can use extensions like FireGPG to encrypt on post to websites. So why use a system where we place all our trust in the service provider, which is both theoretically risky and has failed in the past:

    http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2007/11/encrypted-e-mai/

    --
    Palm trees and 8
    1. Re:Cool, but... by elucido · · Score: 2

      ...we already have lots of ways to do this. We can encrypt and post to Usenet. We can use extensions like FireGPG to encrypt on post to websites. So why use a system where we place all our trust in the service provider, which is both theoretically risky and has failed in the past:

      http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2007/11/encrypted-e-mai/

      Exactly.

      The other problem is it takes specialists to actually use this encryption in the context they are talking about. Anyone with the special skills to have to use this sort of encryption would exercise great caution.

      That website Anonpaste is going to have to have a darknet backend of some sort. It's also going to need a distributed decentralized DNS because governments are going to attack the DNS when they figure out they cannot DDOS the servers.

      Finally these servers have to be protected and secure. The best place to put them would be in bunkers, caves, and other hard to reach places. If they finally got up that satellite dish they were talking about launching then they could use that too.

    2. Re:Cool, but... by elucido · · Score: 2

      Probably not; more like one URL and a decryption key that would be pasted in somewhere. Really though, an extension like FireGPG that provides this capability would be a lot better -- I do not want to trust some server to send me my decryption program every time I want to access a file. This may even be worse than Hushmail, since any of the people who are accessing the file could be targeted; the server could merely flag the data it wants to decrypt, and wait for the first person with that URL to come along and open it.

      If it's a honeypot it's not going to work anyway. But honestly I don't see the PLF offering a honeypot. Anonymous and the PLF are two different entities. PLF are serious and are highly skilled while Anonymous is populated but anybody whether they are serious with skills or just teenagers looking for lulz.

  4. Re:Server cannot see the data? by Sun · · Score: 3, Informative

    Okay, I take it back. It seems that the reading URL contains the decryption key. That's actually quite nice.

    The key seems to be stored in the in-page bookmark (the part after the "#"), so there is even a chance it won't be available through the server's logs. I have not checked whether it is the client or the server that produces the URL for reference. That might mean a trip to the server after all, but given the design of the rest, there is hope it was done properly after all.

    Shachar

  5. Oh yeah? by Rydia · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well, Anonymous is going to start their OWN pastebin! With hookers! And blackjack!

  6. Re:Sounds a lot like nonsense by elucido · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sorry, the whole story doesn't make much sense. If anyone can access the pastebin, then anyone can see its contents, including the server, no matter how encrypted the data is stored on it. If not anyone can access the server then it's not a public pastebin, but an encrypted fileserver and whoever accesses it would need to password first.

    The smart way is just to encrypt your data with PGP or AES and then upload it to piratepad.

    This Anonpaste wont be useful unless you connect to it anonymously. What they are promising is they wont censor your shit if you post something tragic.

  7. Re:OHAI, FBI!!!! *waves* by elucido · · Score: 2

    Trying another false-flag operation? Going for #Anti-Sec 2?

    It's not that simple although I do see your point considering Sabu was their snitch. I doubt the FBI infiltrated the PLF though. PLF are far more skilled and very much professionals.

    I'll say it again, anyone who actually has a need to use encryption of this sort properly would need specialized skills to begin with. The PLF is not going to provide any sort of training. So basically if you have a need to use this then you already know how to become Anonymous on the internet. If you don't then you shouldn't be using something like this in the first place.

    And no I don't think it's about the FBI because there are intelligence agencies all around the world other than the FBI who wont like this either. It's all the global government agencies that will hate this in general. It's global government agencies vs Anonymous.

  8. If you use AnonPaste you're one of them by elucido · · Score: 3, Interesting

    According to what Pastebin says about Anonpaste just using Anonpaste could mean you have something to hide and if you have something to hide it means you need to be investigated.

    Although Anonymous has used the news of AnonPaste to taunt Pastebin, Vader isn't worried about the popularity of his own site. He does see problems with the general idea of the new paste site though. "Having this new anonymous paste service online will most likely mean that less 'sensitive information' is posted on Pastebin.com, which we like," Vader told Ars, "But we think this new totally anonymous Paste site will be used mainly by people who have something to hide, people who are posting things that really shouldn't be posted. We see no benefit for normal legitimate users to use it over the currently existing paste websites. We are afraid that this site will be bombarded with people's personal information, credit-card details, and things such as child pornography."

    If you use Anonpaste then the governments will claim you're a credit card thief, a child pornography, or a terrorist, because why else would you want to use something like Anonpaste?

    My advice is don't post on Anonpaste. Read Anonpaste but don't post a damn thing. If someone really knows what they are doing they probably don't need Anonpaste but if they somehow did then they weighed the risks already.

  9. Monty Python teaming up with Anonymous? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Would that be the Peoples Liberation front of Judea or the Judean Peoples Liberation Front?

  10. Re:Server cannot see the data? by Sun · · Score: 2

    Because the # part is intended for the local browser. It is not part of the URL sent to the server, it is intended to tell the browser to go to a certain bookmark (anchor, in HTML jargon) inside the page.

    You will notice that if you change just the part after the # and hit "enter", the browser does not refresh the page. That's because it does not think anything changed that is worth notifying the server.

    Shachar

  11. Only a contradiction in US-speak.... by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 2

    Only in the US has the word "libertarian" been co-opted by the free-market uber alles, Ayn Rand worshiping, "I've got mine so fuck you!" crowd.

    In the rest of the world, the word "libertarianism" is quite similar in meaning to "anarchism". In fact, many anarchists (including Noam Chomsky) use the term "libertarian socialism" to describe their philosophy, as the term "anarchism" has been tainted with connotations of rioting, looting, burning police cars, and punk-rock wannabees.

    --
    Remember "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"? Help make it a reality again! http://soylentnews.org
    1. Re:Only a contradiction in US-speak.... by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 2

      Only in the US has the word "libertarian" been co-opted by the free-market uber alles, Ayn Rand worshiping, "I've got mine so fuck you!" crowd.

      As one of Kim Stanley Robinson's characters put it, "That's libertarians for you -- anarchists who want police protection from their slaves."

      The typical usage in the U.S. is different because right-wong people opposed to the regulation of big business tried to steal the term in the 1950s. They've managed to bamboozle a lot of folks over the years, but more and more Americans are coming to realize that "libertarian capitalism" reduces in the end to nothing but plutocracy: a state powerful enough to create and enforce so-called "property rights" on the behalf of capitalists, but not to put any leash on those capitalist's exploitation of people or the planet.

      --
      Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
      You cannot wash away blood with blood
  12. Re:There are some problems with it by spydir31 · · Score: 4, Informative

    It runs on ZeroBin, which uses client side javascript to generate a random 256bit AES key, then compress and encrypt the text before sending it to the server. Comments are also compressed and encrypted. The key is never seen by the server, so the server can't decrypt your data.

    It uses the Stanford Javascript Crypto Library for its AES code, and its codebase is available on github.

    The system is vulnerable to an MITM attack, also a server admin may be able to reveal the poster's identity, but not the post's content

  13. Re:There are some problems with it by Meneth · · Score: 2

    The server operator could modify the javascript it sends to the client, so that the client sends either the key or the plaintext to a place of the operator's choosing.

  14. Re:There are some problems with it by spydir31 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The server operator could modify the javascript it sends to the client, so that the client sends either the key or the plaintext to a place of the operator's choosing.

    That would fall under the same category as MITM in this case. You still need to trust the server (or a server, if you prefer)

    You could move the client side code to a browser addon/extension, but you'd still have the problem of trusting the extension to behave

  15. URL by kangsterizer · · Score: 2

    Make sure you don't put the URL that matter in the article!
    That could be thousand of ads prints for missed !

    The link is http://www.anonpaste.tk/

  16. Woao. by sebsauvage · · Score: 3, Informative

    Woao. My name on the front page of Slashdot. Now I can die. :-D

    If you don't trust AnonPaste, you can just install ZeroBin (the opensource software AnonPaste is based on) on your own website.

  17. Re:There are some problems with it by friend+function · · Score: 2

    Also where is the key stored? Expect the government to investigate and interrogate whoever has the keys.

    According to the ZeroBin website, the key is not "stored;" it is part of the URL string (which never goes to the server). For example:

    http://sebsauvage.net/paste/?e4af05540340d85a#zLtQuuHWSJgl3z12lIAJy3ZZeyTdC3dVarlGH8R+TZ4=

    You give the link to your friends. The link contains both a paste ID as well as a key. You and your friends' browsers use the key to decrypt the data for the given paste ID.

    Also, there's no inherent reason to distrust Javascript running on an "Anonymous"-run website any more than you'd distrust any other site's Javascript (or pastebin.com's, for example). In any case, the source is open (and if you have the technical ability to analyze it for holes/backdoors/weaknesses, you can).

  18. Re:OHAI, FBI!!!! *waves* by squiggleslash · · Score: 2

    I knew that this was a false flag operation as soon as I saw Anonymous was teaming up with the People's Liberation Front, and not the Liberation Front of the People. Splitters!

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.