Slashdot Mirror
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."
"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."
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.
for both sides. enjoy
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...
You have multiple countries with teams of very smart people working to crack everything crackable that protects privacy--because what allows private communication necessarily allows evasion of monitoring.
Of course, there are a lot of kinds of monitoring. Most obvious categories include:
1. Good purposes (attacking and/or defending against terrorists/child pornographers/organized crime/repressive regimes; tracking and blocking malware and other electronic attacks; etc...).
2. Middle-ground purposes (arguably ends-justify-the-means-behavior like violating some civil liberties while hunting white-collar criminals, child support nonpayment grey market income, doing propaganda against people in group #1).
3. Bad purposes (hunting political opposition, tracking and classifying people based on their political opinions or other things that should be prevented by freedom of speech, finding dirt for blackmail, gathering evidence of and prosecuting someone for common civil ordinance violations and petty crimes in a way which chills and stifles free speech and gives the monitoring agency unfettered power, etc...)
Real lawyers write in C++
The article never stated that Tor (or the hardened branch of the Tor Browser) was designed to frustrate law enforcement. Only that it could, which is a true statement. It's simply an unintentional though welcome side-effect.
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.
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.
Isn't it useless on Windows 10, where Microsoft monitors everything you type and every site you go to? The govt. probably doesn't even need a warrant because you "have no expectation of privacy" on your data in Microsoft's databases. Thus do they have warrantless access to your privacy because of some fine print on page 287 of your Windows click-through license agreement.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
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
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.
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.