
Tor veteran exits, shuts down critical 'Tonga' node and relays - lensi
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/07/18/lucky_green_torpedos_tors_tonga_node/
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justin_vanw
Since he considers it not ethical to continue, my guess is that there is some
kind of government action attempting to force them to sniff or backdoor the
service.

As for why he is announcing he is shutting it down rather than just pulling
the plug, pulling the plug may well be considered obstruction of justice, but
just refusing to donate materially can't be prevented by the government. It
may well be that lawyers have advised him that by announcing his decision to
not participate it gives the government reasonable notice to be able to find
an alternative or take some action, and counting on there being no practical
way for the government to respond without revealing that they are involved.

Edit: It may also be possible that he has become aware of a 'looming' threat
to de-anonymize the service but can't speak of it, and he is announcing that
he is pulling out since if he is subsequently compelled not to pull out it
will act as a canary.

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the_duke
To me, this feels a lot like what transpired with
[https://lavabit.com/](https://lavabit.com/). Of course, that was a service
operated by a company, not a open source software and a distributed network,
but there might be paralells.

If you haven't read about it, read the post mortem on the Lavabit page.

To me, it's very likely that the government demanded backdoors in TOR code
itself, or backdoor access to critical TOR infrastructure (bridge nodes,
directory authority, large exit nodes, ...), all under gag orders that forbid
any mention of this to the public.

Probably in the interest of 'national security'.

Can't be sure, of course, but I would not feel comfortable with using TOR for
anything sensitive anymore.

~~~
dineshp2
> Can't be sure, of course, but I would not feel comfortable with using TOR
> for anything sensitive anymore.

Out of curiosity, what alternative(s) would you use?

~~~
captainmuon
Not the parent poster and no expert, but I'd probably buy a cheap random
notebook from the store with cash and use it in free WiFis. Make sure to spoof
your MAC address.

I mainly used Tor if I was on a dubious WiFi and was afraid someone was
snooping on me - note that due to insecure exit notes you have the same
problem there, too - or when something was blocked. But at least your employer
doesn't see you use Facebook ;-)

Nowadays I use a server I rented in a different country as a SOCKS proxy which
works well.

If you want to be anonymous towards the sure your accessing, I don't know of a
good alternative. But many sites block Tor anyway now because people use it
for spam or harassment.

Just a crazy idea, but if my safety needs were really high, I'd try to 1) buy
botnet nodes and use them as a proxy or 2) build a ultra-low-energy Wi-Fi
capable system (saw something commercial on HN the other day, forgot the
name), set it up as a proxy, and throw it with a battery near a free Wi-Fi
(coffee shop etc.).

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forgottenpass
Appelbaum and the board are out. So now I'm curious. What about recent events
have transpired in a way that he has to cut ties?

Does the organization still housecleaning to do? The Tor leadership jumped on
the grenade, presumably clearing the area for everyone else. Is there an
entirely different angle that I'm missing? Because that vague of a post only
implies one.

~~~
jononor
Any risk that a coup or plant was brought in by the housecleaning? (honestly
asked, I have no clue whatsover)

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mcherm
In a project focused on privacy, vague unclear statements of this sort convey
a certain implication. There is, of course, no way to be sure what is
intended, and that is rather the point.

~~~
rdl
If it were anything security-critical it wouldn't be happening over a month in
the future.

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code_research
what events? It would be great if he spoke openly, so people not following tor
very intensively would know what is so concerning. Yes, I am living under a
rock.

~~~
Bartweiss
There's no event clearly referenced here.

The Appelbaum crisis is the most recent public drama, but that's mostly a
settled matter and a fall has already been taken for it. It would be fairly
strange to do this now over that incident.

Given which, it looks like someone involved with a privacy project is refusing
to disclose their motives for shutdown, but also shutting down slowly and
openly, the way you wouldn't if someone was knocking on your door. This is an
ambiguous outcome to almost everyone.

~~~
Torgo
>It would be fairly strange to do this now over that incident.

It wouldn't be strange if you thought the accusations were bullshit.

~~~
Bartweiss
That's an interesting point - it hadn't actually occurred to me that this
could be a reaction to the reaction. That would fit the timing (and maybe the
ambiguity) much better than reacting to the original topic.

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elcapitan
How is a scheduled shutdown (2016-08-31) a "torpedoing"?

~~~
tezza
It is Alliterative

    
    
      Tor Torpedoes Tonga
    

Perhaps they could've even gone further

    
    
      Top Torian Torpedoes Tonga Tech

~~~
elcapitan
"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both
victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate."

~~~
chris_wot
I'm afraid I read this in the voice of Pontius Pilate from the Life of
Brian...

[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ik0cqxJElqA](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ik0cqxJElqA)

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chillydawg
Maybe he's being sued by the NSA for data and his only "ethical" choice is to
just shut it down and walk away, since he'll have been gagged by them in the
same suit.

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chunkyslink
So what TOR alternatives are there? I came across this on here I think a few
weeks back
[http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/99859](http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/99859)
but I'm not sure it is up and running or even if it is.

~~~
qwertyuiop924
I2P and Freenet are the big ones.

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jlgaddis
All the rampant speculation in this discussion serves no good purpose and is
more harmful than helpful.

~~~
brokenmachine
What about meaningless comments such as yours with neither information nor
speculation? Do they serve a purpose?

I personally like reading comments even if they are speculative, as I am
interested but not an expert.

