

Ask HN: Can I trust Tor? - eof

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MacsHeadroom
It is literally funded by the federal government. Says so right on the
website. If you want to know who pulls the strings, follow the money.

While Tor theoretically can be secure (as long as you don't use it to access
the clearnet), there are a few known vulnerabilities which would be trivial
for an entity like the US Government to take advantage of. You can be sure
there are also plenty of non-public vulnerabilities known to government
security contractors and, of course, the NSA.

If you want close to guaranteed security on Tor, use PGP for all communication
while connecting to it from a VPN bought with Bitcoin. Never use javascript,
java, flash, etc. Use only a live linux CD and a non-standard browser. Just
don't be a low hanging fruit.

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captn3m0
If PRISM is real, which seems more and more likely with every statement;
you're screwed even if you use Tor if to access any of the PRISM-enabled
services.

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jrdn
Well, yes. This is like saying you're screwed if you pull a perfect bank heist
and then spraypaint on the wall "My name is jrdn and I robbed this bank. My
social security number is 123-45-6789 and I live at 123 Elm St."

Tor should still do a just fine job of protecting your anonymity if you don't,
you know, shout out who you are.

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stray
Of course not.

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e3pi
Of course not? Why?

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stray
You cannot trust any electronic system.

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e3pi
> You cannot trust any electronic system.

You are in error sir.

Proofed(eg, OTP) or overwhelmingly messy crypto and mathematics is secure.
Animal meatspace is not. Who watches the watchman? Something silicon.

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tmzt
Ironic that you would say silicon, since someone could theoretically put a
backdoor in a chip and you would have no way of knowing it's in there.

~~~
e3pi
Silicon is only required because we're lazier doing repeated simplistic
operations. Apply alot of pencils, paper, a 1GB sufficiently long one time
pad(OTP) 11 miles off the grid without mobile, for the rest of your life, if
you think you need it.

