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New 'Hardened' Tor Browser Protects Users From FBI Hacking (vice.com)

An anonymous reader quotes an article from Motherboard: According to a new paper, security researchers are now working closely with the Tor Project to create a "hardened" version of the Tor Browser, implementing new anti-hacking techniques which could dramatically improve the anonymity of users and further frustrate the efforts of law enforcement...

"Our solution significantly improves security over standard address space layout randomization (ASLR) techniques currently used by Firefox and other mainstream browsers," the researchers write in their paper, whose findings will be presented in July at the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium in Darmstadt, Germany.

The researchers say Tor is currently field-testing their solution for an upcoming "hardened" release, making it harder for agencies like the FBI to crack the browser's security, according to Motherboard. "[W]hile that defensive advantage may not last for too long, it shows that some in the academic research community are still intent on patching the holes that their peers are helping government hackers exploit."

11 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. Government vs. Government by mi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    it shows that some in the academic research community are still intent on patching the holes that their peers are helping government hackers exploit.

    So, to recap, the government-paid researchers are fighting the efforts of government-paid hackers to make the tool, that the government paid to create as a secure one, less so.

    Whichever side wins, we, the taxpayers lose...

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    1. Re: Government vs. Government by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Wey hey! since everyone's doing it... Shut up you donkey-raping shit eating mung filled muff cabbage.

  2. Re: Better idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Generalizing, if you haven't done anything wrong then you have no need to fear constant surveillance.

  3. full employment by turkeydance · · Score: 3, Insightful

    for both sides. enjoy

  4. Re:Better idea by gweihir · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Which law? There are a bout 150 different versions and the FBI will hack anybody (which is criminal in almost all countries for them to do). So, you are right, if the FBI stopped breaking the law, this problem would go away.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  5. Protects against hacking by zedaroca · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The new version will protect against hacking, not from FBI hacking. The research with the hack the FBI used was published, so other people could use the same method. So basically this update protects people from a known vulnerability. This kind of reporting does more harm than inform, as it gives the impression that the main purpose of TOR is to commit crimes.

  6. Re: Protects against hacking - Feminist by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Probably because the World's Leadership are all devout believers in such things.

    Which explains why the World is in such piss poor condition.

    I sometimes wonder where we would be as a species if not for the religious speed bumps we've had to deal with theoughout history.

  7. Re: This only helps terrorists and criminals by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Bad news.

    In this day and age, " The Government " IS the threat.

    We the people aren't sending drones over to kill folks.

    We're not spearheading the "War on Drugs".

    We're not doing regime changes, implementing no fly lists, spying on anyone and everything and doing our damdest to undo The Constitution.

    We don't lock people up in a prison with no means to even challenge their accusers. Nor do we outsource torture to get around local laws.

    We're not trying to force our will on any other people or governments.

    The Government, on the other hand, is guilty of every single statement above and a whole lot more I don't need to type. Not to mention the crap we don't even know about

    So, yeah, if there is anything to be wary of, it's the Government

  8. Re: Better idea by Nunya666 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Generalizing, if you haven't done anything wrong then you have no need to fear constant surveillance.

    Just being accused of doing something wrong can be enough to fuck up your life forever. You could be stuck in jail until your court date, and then go bankrupt because of the attorney's fees.

  9. How about what is needed more... by Lumpy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A hardened Android based on the raw android that protects you from being backdoored and tried to identify and alert you to the fake cellphone towers when you connect to one.

    Then let's get a nice hardened Linux as well that actively fights attacks and tried to hide.

    THEN we have a place for this browser to live.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  10. Re:Billion-dollar holes... by axewolf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    GOOD
    BAD
    Does it ever get tiring cramming reality down to 0s and 1s?

    Your simplistic morality is an intellectual torture device.

    ALL MONITORING IS AGAINST YOUR INTEREST
    Fight for your interest. Stop apologizing for societal problems caused by other people by sacrificing your rights. The solution to "terrorism", child porn, etc etc etc is not more crime that is just as a grave of an offense against natural law.

    What you have is a government that assumes you will never amount to shit, and that you SHOULD never amount to shit, so you don't deserve any rights and should be forced to help in any way with whoever's interest the government happens to be serving that day. What if that person's interests directly compete with yours? The fact is that this is ALWAYS the case.

    It's always for the little man to bear the burden of morality. Doesn't that clue you in to the nature of it?