Slashdot Mirror
Developer Of Anonymous Tor Software Dodges FBI, Leaves US (cnn.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNN: FBI agents are currently trying to subpoena one of Tor's core software developers to testify in a criminal hacking investigation, CNNMoney has learned. But the developer, who goes by the name Isis Agora Lovecruft, fears that federal agents will coerce her to undermine the Tor system -- and expose Tor users around the world to potential spying. That's why, when FBI agents approached her and her family over Thanksgiving break last year, she immediately packed her suitcase and left the United States for Germany. "I was worried they'd ask me to do something that hurts innocent people -- and prevent me from telling people it's happening," she said in an exclusive interview with CNNMoney. Earlier in the month, Tech Dirt reported the Department of Homeland Security wants to subpoena the site over the identity of a hyperbolic commenter.
"Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it"
-- William Pitt the Elder, 1770
If she is "one of Tor's core software developers" and she thinks she alone could "undermine the Tor system -- and expose Tor users around the world to potential spying", what does that tell us about Tor.
Is she saying nobody checks code-submissions she makes?
What exactly is she saying here.
..there was a time when people would think it was ridiculous to fear that the US would "I was worried they'd ask me to do something that hurts innocent people -- and prevent me from telling people it's happening,"...Shows how far America has fallen...
If they act like untrustworthy douchebags, then surprise surprise people don't trust them even when they're working on a legitimate investigation. Naturally because they insist on acting like untrustworthy douchebags, no one even has any idea if it is legitimate.
Well done, FBI, you're your own worst enemy.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
How many thousands of people gave their lives in World War 2 so that we could have the freedom to escape the U.S. government and fleet to Germany? I'm surprised we haven't felt the earthquake from all the bodies rolling in their graves. :(
I don't work on Tor specifically. In the important / well organized open source software I've been involved with, submissions are typically read by 1-3 other people, and there are unit tests and/or regression tests.
When I say the code is "read", I mean the same way you might read this post. You aren't looking at individual letters and words, you're reading sentences and paragraphs. You could easily overlook typos (but you might catch some typos too).
Often the unit tests aren't 100% thorough. Especially, they tend to cover the expected/correct case. If the code is supposed to send an MMS message, it is tested that entering a phone number and a message causes the message to be sent. often untested is what happens if instead of a phone number some injection code is entered. What happens if the message is millions of characters long? If the disk is full or the network is unavailable what happens?
> Is inserting code the only way someone on the inside can undermine TOR?
There are several other ways. In systems intended to be secure, flaws in the design create problems just like flaws in the implementation can. Someone could undermine Tor by suggesting a feature that seems useful and good.
Policy decisions matter for security - when you download the tor client, how do you know you're not getting a trojaned copy? That's based on how the Tor project operates, separate from any code submitted.
Somebody has the tor.org TLS key. If a sophisticated attacker had the tor.org key, they could impersonate tor.org and cause a target to download a trojaned copy of the tor client. Even if the target checked the hash of the download, they would probably get the hash from tor.org, which is really the attacker. If I thought about for more than 60 seconds, I could probably think of some more ideas.
People around here think the words "the land of the free and the home of the brave" signify some deeply held core American values, but they are really just lyrics to a song. The phrase first appeared in a poem written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key which was later set to a British tune called "To Anacreon in Heaven" and renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner" which as you know was eventually adopted as the national Anthem.
My point is that they are just song lyrics, and while pleasing and patriotic they are really no more meaningful or insightful as Frank Zappa's "Watch out where the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow."
same thing as a judicial subpoena.
It's worse. You have no legal recourse. Once the FBI 'talks' to you, they can include a gag order and you can't discuss the particulars of the conversation with anyone. Just like an NSL.
Have gnu, will travel.
I forgot that songs and poems don't mean anything... We aren't talking about "Shake it off" here, the song may just be a song but it is written based on events and principles that are values that Americans used to believe in. To say that lyrics are meaningless devalues the whole art of music.
People around here think the words "the land of the free and the home of the brave" signify some deeply held core American values, but they are really just lyrics to a song.
People around here think the Constitution signifies some deeply held core American values, but its just words on a piece of parchment for the CIA to wipe its ass with.
That's not really the question. The question is whether this state is the best we should aim for. Laws, declarations and anthems, while just being words or sequences of glyphs and phonemes, are tools for projecting and promoting a vision for improvement and coexistence.
So you say that the American People have given up on ideals as anything meaningful. That's certainly a plausible view of the evidence.
Her actions are the actions of someone who quite rationally fears 'just talking' to people who might return armed and bearing a warrant if rebuffed. In a world where the POTUS bombs wedding parties with flying robots and cracks jokes about it, if you aren't a criminal you aren't doing enough.