Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Tor Warns of Possible Disruption of Network Through Server Seizures

Posted by samzenpus on from the here-it-comes dept.

itwbennett writes "Without naming the group responsible, the Tor project warned that it could face attempts to incapacitate its network in the next few days through the seizure of specialized servers called directory authorities. These servers guide Tor users on the list of distributed relays on the network that bounce communications around. 'We are taking steps now to ensure the safety of our users, and our system is already built to be redundant so that users maintain anonymity even if the network is attacked. Tor remains safe to use,' wrote 'arma' in a post Friday on the Tor project blog. The 'arma' developer handle is generally associated with project leader Roger Dingledine. There were no reports of a seizure by late Sunday. The project promised to update the blog and its Twitter account with new information."

19 comments

  1. Good job editors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    same story as yesterday

  2. If they are disrupted by MagickalMyst · · Score: 1

    they might have to change their name.

    The TORN Network.

    --
    Political correctness is really just herd psychology pushed by insecure people who desperately seek social conformity.
  3. Well it still beats... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Dingledines. You can understand why arma primarily goes by his handle :)

  4. Re:Quote: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If that's how you were conceived it explains why you are such a little shit,

  5. again ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    http://tech.slashdot.org/story...

  6. Where Am I? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What crazy world did I wake up in where North Korea has Internet access, armies of 1337 hackers, and uses Tor?

  7. Brilliant, an out of date dupe by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not only is this a dupe, it's an out-of-date dupe:

    http://article.gmane.org/gmane...

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    1. Re:Brilliant, an out of date dupe by Notabadguy · · Score: 1

      And it was outdated news here on Slashdot yesterday. ;)

    2. Re: Brilliant, an out of date dupe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How the hell hard is it to get 2 solid editors at Slashdot?

      A well-coded Python script could probably replace one of them, by at least checking if a story was already posted before like this article was yesterday.

    3. Re:Brilliant, an out of date dupe by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      Do you seriously expect competency in the editors? Because that hasn't been true in years.

      Being an editor on Slashdot must be a cushy job ... you're not held to any standard of knowing the English language, fact checking, or even doing the barest checking for dupes.

      They're just the monkeys who promote the stories, and people keep paying them.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    4. Re:Brilliant, an out of date dupe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://article.gmane.org/gmane.network.tor.user/34619

      No, actually servers have apparently been siezed shortly after the warning....

  8. Server Seizures? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 4, Funny

    If your servers are having seizures you should stop flashing lights at them.

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
    1. Re:Server Seizures? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know that was actually a thing back when some machines used scanned CRT screens to store data.

    2. Re:Server Seizures? by sound+vision · · Score: 1

      They were cathode ray tubes, but I'd hardly call them screens.

  9. A Crock by aaronb1138 · · Score: 1

    Between TOR and Bitcoin, you would think these things were designed by security services like the NSA or GCHQ. TOR is slow, onerous, and never provided reliable anonymity. If anything, the low network throughput was part of the design to slow the dissemination of large files like government documents and child pornography.

    Bitcoin is only anonymous while the exchanges hide your identity. Rather than actually anonymizing transfers, Bitcoin is the ultimate currency tracking tool, leaving a user identifiable trace on every transaction. It literally leaves a trace where law enforcement can say that a $20 drug purchase was funneled to buy guns for organized crime. Further, Bitcoin looks more like a large scale generator for encryption cracking rainbow tables.

    Besides the darknet lurkers and delusionally paranoid journalists (ahem Dan Goodin), TOR never has found use for anything legitimate, it's all just drugs, porn, and bad tin foil hat literature. Even Bittorrent has reasonable use cases (works great for backing up very large files from point A to B on a one time basis).

    1. Re:A Crock by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Between TOR and Bitcoin, you would think these things were designed by security services like the NSA or GCHQ. TOR is slow, onerous, and never provided reliable anonymity. If anything, the low network throughput was part of the design to slow the dissemination of large files like government documents and child pornography.

      Technically, TOR was designed by the US Navy. Not quite the NSA, but still, government designed.

      And the DS really are for exit nodes - taking the servers is the last thing I 'd do. I'd rather run a bunch of exit nodes then force the DS to route traffic over them since he who controls exit nodes has the power to spy, modify and do lots of other things with traffic.

      Because you know sooner or later someone's going to log into their Google, Amazon, Facebook or other thing like their bank and completely de-anonymize themselves.

  10. parse error in story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the summary exploded during compilation due to a parse error.
    ' does not terminate " in any language I know.

  11. is that why the NSA is fucking with its developers by Rujiel · · Score: 1

    Because it's a "crock"?

    http://www.storyleak.com/tor-d...

    The NSA has sought to co-opt it, just as the FBI has gone after secure email providers like lavabit and silent circle. By the way, these publicly-known issues would have been considered tinfoil hat material a mere 2 years ago--by you as well?