Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Tor Usage More Than Doubles In August

Posted by timothy on from the gee-fellas-I-wonder-why dept.

hypnosec writes that the Tor network has witnessed a massive rise in the number of users connecting to it for the month of August. "The privacy-enhancing network is known for providing an anonymous browsing experience through the use of a series of encrypted relays, and has had as many as 500k users throughout this year so far. But if we check the latest statistics available through Tor Metrics Portal there has been a whopping 100 percent increase in the number of Tor clients and as many as 1,200,000 users are connecting to the network. The previous peak for the network was in January 2012, when it saw as many as 950,000 users."

20 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. So is this because... by barlevg · · Score: 4, Interesting

    (a) Awareness of NSA surveillance has caused people to seek out TOR, or

    (b) Increased awareness of TOR, thanks to the coverage of NSA surveillance, has caused people to try to evade said surveillance?

    1. Re:So is this because... by Noxal · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I'm a US citizen that's strongly opposed to all of this bullshit. I've lost my own patience for my government.
      What should people like me do to show people like you that we're just as fed up as you are, if not more? Protest? Rebel? Sign some pledge? Comment on Slashdot?
      What more do you want to see from the people of the United States?

    2. Re:So is this because... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That wont work

      http://www.ted.com/talks/lawrence_lessig_we_the_people_and_the_republic_we_must_reclaim.html

    3. Re:So is this because... by Digital+Vomit · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If the entirety of human history is any indicator, the governed won't see any changes in a situation like this until they're willing to use lethal force against those who govern them.

      When enough of the key positions of political and economic power in a society are filled with sociopaths, the only way you can stop them is to kill them. You can't vote a replacement or try to replace them by running for office yourself because they have the power to corrupt the voting process and to filter out those who attempt to run for office who pose any real challenge to their own power. You can't stop them with protests because they have the force the police to crush any serious protests and they have the force of the media to destroy the message of such protests. The only thing that works when corruption gets really, really bad is lethal force by the governed.

      So, unless you're willing to take up arms against your fellow man, you'll just have to bend down and take it. We all know this is true, and we all try to dance around this fact because we like to think we're civilized and above the use of violence, but the fact of the matter is that a small portion of the population is extremely selfish and has no compunction against using violence against you. When enough of these sorts of people get into the place where they have most of the money, power, and weapons, they *will* use those things against everyone else in order to retain their position.

      Yes, violence sucks. Yes, it's bad. Yes, we should avoid it if at all possible. But there comes a point when that's all you can do, and that's when the sociopaths hold *all* the cards. How far off do we all think that is? There comes a time when violence is necessary because there are evil, selfish people in the world.

      To quote one of The Founding Fathers of the USA, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

      So, to answer your question of "What more do you want to see from the people of the United States?", here's an answer that will work: gather together a million like-minded, armed citizens and take the White House and Capitol Hill. Depose all the corrupt leaders by killing or imprisoning them and seizing all their assets. It won't be pretty, and you'll probably end up splitting the US into smaller nation-states, and you'll likely have to do it all again in a few generations, but it's the only way to keep the boot of the government from stepping on the face of humanity forever.

      But, good luck with all that, because I hear Miley Cyrus is twerking again or something.

      --
      Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
    4. Re:So is this because... by magical+liopleurodon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm a US citizen that has lost patience with the American people. Anonymous Coward is exactly right. Where were the riots over this? The outrage just wasn't there. But then there are riots all over the U.S. over the Trayvon Martin verdict. Stupidest fucking thing I've ever seen. And the media trying to make this a white vs black thing, even though George Zimmerman is hispanic. Zimmerman should probably go in the witness protection program and change his identity......and there you have it right there. The U.S. government really *is* a reflection of the American people. The American people do not respect rights and due process. So neither does the government. The American people are uninformed on The Constitution, so, like the American people, the government ignores it too.

      What do I want to see from the people of the United States? idk, it seems like a lost cause. How many are even aware of the NSA spying? Do they care? They probably care more about Miley Cyrus 'twerking'.

      A minority of Americans have woken up (Libertarians/Ron Paul crowd -- which is growing). Will it be enough to change the direction of the country? I hope so. Julian Assange is right about libertarianism being America's last hope.

    5. Re:So is this because... by N0Man74 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Just tell your opinion to anyone who asks you, like you have done with this post. Some widespread protest would be nice, but to be fair it doesn't seem to happen in other countries either.

      This, I do cheerfully. It's pretty easy these days to convince even non techies of the need for privacy. I send them to eff.org as a start then over to torproject.org

      (posting anon due to my mod status)

      I've been telling my opinion on things such as this for years, and most people have just always looked at me as extremist, paranoid, or unpatriotic when I point out government overstep on constitutional freedoms of its citizens...

      Maybe the climate is changing so that people will be more susceptible to opinions, but the truth is that the average person can't be convinced that anything is true unless the talking heads tell them its true too.

    6. Re:So is this because... by Stuarticus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And the media trying to make this a white vs black thing

      More one of those murderers vs minors things.

      --
      If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
    7. Re:So is this because... by Hatta · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, violence sucks. Yes, it's bad. Yes, we should avoid it if at all possible. But there comes a point when that's all you can do, and that's when the sociopaths hold *all* the cards. How far off do we all think that is? There comes a time when violence is necessary because there are evil, selfish people in the world.

      The only reason that time is not now is that there aren't enough like minded people to join the revolutionary army. If you look at the Declaration of Independence, most of those grievances are trifling next to what we read about in the news every day. The crimes committed by the thugs that call themselves our government more than justify revolution today. All we need are people willing to lay down their lives for freedom. Unfortunately, as you note, more people care about their bread and circuses than they do freedom and justice.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    8. Re:So is this because... by Cimexus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Two big problems as I see it:

      - Money and corporate influence: The money required to run a campaign puts huge barriers in front of anyone from more 'regular' walks of life ever standing for office. It's resulted in an established political class, to which you will need to belong to even get your foot in the door of politics. On top of this (or because of this), companies and industries have a disproportionate influence on policy. Other countries have much stronger laws preventing this (restrictions on lobbying, corporate donations, political advertising, transparency of party finances etc.)

      - The way Congress works and the way elections work basically result in an entrenched two-party system where no one else has any realistic influence. Compare to Parliamentary systems/preferential voting/proportional representation used by most other OECD nations that mean third and fourth parties actually matter. There is a wider diversity of opinion and wider choice of candidates. Here in the US, you only have two choices, and they are both as bad as each other when it comes to privacy/surveillance matters.

      The US system needs to be reformed for the modern age and to address the above issues. Problem is, people treat the Constitution as some kind of untouchable, unchangeable thing, rather than a living document. Yes, it's the supreme law of the land ... but it's still a law, and law can (and should) change with the times. The ability to make amendments exists for a reason.

      It seems that in general, it is impossible to make large-scale reforms happen in the US. The system works against it (just takes a couple of people in Congress to oppose something and it'll get held up forever). Other countries out there, in modern times, have done things like completely rewrite their tax code from the ground up. Or change the way elections are held. Or introduce new currencies. Or convert to the metric system. Grand reforms, not just tinkering around the edges with things. Imagine that kind of stuff happening in the US - seems impossible doesn't it? Look at the difficulty experienced in even getting minor changes to health care through. Even suggesting little things like getting rid of the penny seems to attract massive controversy.

      Some say that the fact that Congress can get so easily gridlocked is actually a benefit of the system. It prevents politicians pushing their own agendas through and acts as a limit on government power. I can see that side of the argument and it's valid. But nonetheless, I still think we need to be more agile than we are or we'll be left behind. Change happens more rapidly now than it did when the Constitution was written.

    9. Re:So is this because... by WOOFYGOOFY · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So you overthrow the feds. And then what? Now you're beholden to your local authorities which are far worse, far more small minded, far more despotic. Overthrowing the govt is not going to result in the small-power libertarian utopia you think it will. It's going to result in a feudalistic system composed of arbitrary overlords. Read the history of England and see how it goes. The fifedoms which predated the nation state we call England were no where a libertarian wanted to be.

      If you want to change things, then repeal the immunity from prosecution prosecutors enjoy. Ditto Congress. As it stands, they have zero fear because voting to defacto take away your rights isn't anything they're every going to be called to account for.

      Ditto prosecutors who engage in phenomenal overreach, over charging, subornation of perjury, hiding of of exculpatory evidence as just SOP in nearly all cases, not to mention the incredible expansion of criminal laws into every aspect of life so that nearly everyone is guilty of something even if they don't know it combined with the rolling back of statute of limitations which makes it impossible to mount any kind of effective defense basically ensures that most of the population is properly intimated all the time.

      The system is corrupt, but the corruption comes from a total lack of fear of consequence. If Congress had to worry that a future Congress or electorate would find them guilty of gross dereliction of duty, if the people in the TLA organizations actually had some level of fear that their actions would be subject to citizen overview if the prosecutors were forced to keep video documentation of every interaction they had over the course of developing cases and the police likewise then there'd be some sort of hesitation. As it is we ambitious sociopaths like Carmen Orttiz going snarling hog wild against our kids.

      Overthrowing the government is a losers gambit because even if it's successful, you haven't done jack shit about the forces that caused the corruption in the first place. They just reconstitute themselves because in reality you're fighting some very ugly aspects of human nature - sociopaths as you termed them, which is about right.

      What we have is a system that is broken but when your car is broken, you don't smash it then start with reinventing the wheel. you just fix it because that's better than starting all over again.

      Remove the immunity from prosecution that Congress enjoys for the laws they pass. Remove the immunity Carmen Ortiz enjoys and which enables her to use her office to abuse due process. What controls sociopaths is fear combined with the high certainty of getting caught. Video tape everything that happens everywhere in the criminal justice system from the courts to the lawyers offices to the jails to the cops. Make that available to citizens investigatory efforts. Ditto Congress. If we're to live under TIA, then guess what comes next- so are they. We actually have a more compelling case to videotape absolutely everything they do since the potential consequences for abuse look like Aaron Schwartz. Give them no place to hide and we'll see big changes, fast.

  2. More Tor usage is good by GameboyRMH · · Score: 5, Informative

    More Tor exit nodes is better. The NSA surely has many honeypot nodes, we need to drown them out with more legitimate exit nodes.

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    1. Re:More Tor usage is good by blueg3 · · Score: 5, Informative

      While more Tor exit nodes is better, all use of Tor should be done assuming that the exit node is controlled by a hostile party. A lot of the exit nodes are controlled by people much more unpleasant than the NSA.

      Note that exit nodes are the weak link in Tor. Your traffic through them is not encrypted by Tor, so you must use SSL. They are, by design, a man in the middle, so you must be prepared for MitM attacks.

  3. Re:..or by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    (d) some entity (NSA or otherwise) is trying to compromise the network by owning a majority of nodes

  4. Anyhows by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 4, Interesting

    > "there has been a whopping 100 percent increase in the number of Tor clients

    Half of them in those new, billion-dollar data centers, no doubt. Maybe they can't crack the traffic yet, but they could get relatively accurate dynamic topologies, and use their other, non-Tor nodes, also judiciously placed around in Internet backbones, to learn connections to individual computers.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  5. Re:..or by TooTechy · · Score: 5, Funny

    The NSA removed your mod points for security reasons

  6. Re:..or by Smask · · Score: 5, Interesting

    (e) botnets that use TOR for command and control stuff.

  7. Liability of exit nodes by garry_g · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The increased usage increases the problem of bad throughput ... haven't used it in a while, but when I played around with it a bit, latency (which would be expected) but more importantly throughput was bad to unbearable ... more users require more performance at the exit nodes, which means more exit nodes are needed ...
    Having run an exit node for a short while myself, I know of the results: within less than 4 weeks, we received an inquiry into the owner/operator of the machine with the node's IP address, due to reported child porn access. Luckily, the police seemed to be halfway knowledgeable, and with the provided infos on the operation of the node (stats about the node throughput, etc.) they stopped investigating the issue. Needless to say node operation was terminated the day we received the initial inquiry. Without decent "provider status protection" for exit nodes, the risk for operators may be a bit too high unless extensive (and expensive) measures are taken to block illegal material ... which, in turn, makes the whole network subject to other manipulation, and goes against the reason for the network ...

  8. Re:Only read the first line, but... by geek · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If the entirety of human history is any indicator, the governed won't see any changes in a situation like this until they're willing to use lethal force against those who govern them.

    Let's take at the history of nonviolent resistance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonviolent_resistance

    In fact, if you look at, it looks as if through the entirety of human history non-violent resistance is really in these days :)

    (In fact, never before in the history of mankind have you as an individual ever been more empowered than now).

    Tell that to Syrians, Iranians, North Koreans, Yemen etc etc. Hell, tell it to Russian homosexuals

  9. Encryption + VPN + Tor is not anonymous by WOOFYGOOFY · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Tor is great to stop your neighbor from spying on your people-dressed-as-cows porn fetish, since it's trivial for someone who lives close to you to sniff your packets (a fact confirmed to me by my ISP btw). SO it's great for privacy from nosy ./ curious / thrill seeking neighbors or defending yourself against common cyber criminals. If you're hoping to position yourself AS a criminal using Tor, for-gheeda-bow-tit.

    Just saying this so no one makes the youthful mistake of thinking they can, for instance, order molly from the silkroad and never have that fact traced back to them. Criminals are going to do what they do and Tor isn't going to protect them and that's between those people and law enforcement. What we don't want is young people whose brains and judgement aren't fully developed yet , but whose taste for adventure is, being caught in the meat-grinder of an incarceration-for-profit system complete with mandatory minimum sentences because they were severely misled on technical matters.

    Do you know what the cost of owning (statistically , virtually) ALL of the exit nodes and most of the intermediate nodes of Tor is? It's effectively zero to the collective financial and technical resources of the "five eyes", that's what it is.

    Oh but WoofyGoofy I use a VPN and encrypt everything !!!! And therefore what do you think follows? When you also own both ends of the connections and every major ISP etc etc How hard is it to attach unique identifying packets to your packets as they pass back into the network and then track them through it? Or a little Bayesian analysis based on just the time and size of your packets? Tor is based on the idea that most nodes are not pwned. That assumption is almost certainly false. Remember this also- law enforcement only needs a subpoena for your online activities and email if it's recent- 18 months. When the information you generated is older than that- and Google et.al. keep it FOR-EVAH-AH - that's forever to the phonically challenged- law enforcement can look at it without even so much as a warrant- just ask and ye shall receive, and yes, that includes the CONTENT of your emails etc. Look it up.

    There are a lot of dangers to the total information awareness that's been set up. The one people focus in on is J Edgar Hoover style political repression.

    Another one is that we're creating a generation of people who get caught for *absolutely* *every* transgression. Call them "generation busted".

    People didn't evolve to be either perfectly compliant nor perfectly spied on all the time, everywhere and and norms of society didn't evolve with that as a fact either. Young people whose judgment is not in effect are a potential gold mine for people who make money off things like parole and incarceration and they will push to increase their revenue flow just like any other corporation would.

    After all, who do you THINK lobbied for mandatory minimum sentencing? Who do you think pushes for three strike laws for what are basically non-violent offenders- stealing pizza, shit like that? This is a real danger.

    I know one friend's son who is constantly in trouble with the law over shit like smoking ladies soap bubbles and petty shoplifting and such shit. Basically, it's like watching a lamb being fed to the wolves piece by piece. Soon enough he'll have enough of a record that they'll lock him up, making him permanently unemployable and then wait for him to commit a robbery or suchlike. It's sickening. The kid has severe mental health issues, probably was born that way and should be on some form of permanent public assistance. There exist people like that. It's cheaper than locking him up. Let him smoke dope, watch TV play games and just exist in whatever way makes sense to him. People are born who are just like this for reasons we don't understand, it's not anyone's fault, least of all his.

    Just as bad is kids who are transgressive as a kind of experimentation, like, oh I don't know our coke snorting (he admits to it) President. Go to a

  10. re: SIlk Road by King_TJ · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Speaking of SIlk Road -- have you ever actually looked around that site at any length?

    After ignoring it for the longest time, I finally created an account there and took a good look at it, just to satisfy my curiosity.

    What surprised me the most about it was the LACK of anything really exciting up there for sale! I mean, when you read the news hype and all the supposed angst from politicians and law enforcement over its existence, you expect the place to be a hotbed of sex slavery, child porn, virus/malware dealers, email spammers, and what-not.

    In reality, I saw a fair number of people simply offering to exchange your bitcoin for US currency or bars of silver, a few people selling used electronics gear, and a lot of offers to sell information on how to supposedly do such things as hacking an ATM machine (reminds me of the old "G-Files" people passed around the local BBS's in the late 80's except those were free!).

    Sure, there were some people offering to sell you pharmaceuticals and even small amounts of drugs like cocaine, but that's one category out of dozens - and there wasn't even a dramatic number of ads posted for them.

    Mountain out of a molehill, all in all.