The downside of everything being federated is that it’s really easy to listen in. Make sure to keep yourself anonymous online!

  • madame_gaymes@programming.dev
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    2 days ago

    Just know that various governments have been confirmed to be running their own Tor nodes and monitoring traffic. To the point where they can de-anonymize some stuff in the right conditions.

    https://medium.com/@paradigmintelligence/a-brief-history-of-government-surveillance-targeting-tor-5def5298aa7d

    Then you have the whole KAX17 thing.

    https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2021/12/was-threat-actor-kax17-de-anonymizing-the-tor-network

    All this to say, take extra precautions and don’t get complacent just 'cause you’re using Tor. It’s kinda like how most car accidents happen within a mile of your home, because you’ve driven it so many times you some times check out and go into auto-pilot. Some people assume Tor is the end-all, and it is not unfortunately.

    • Possibly linux@lemmy.zip
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      2 days ago

      What else are you going to use? Also Tor is highly resistant to attacks and it is very hard to trace traffic even if you control a sizable amount of the network. I think using Tor for random stuff once and a while is good as it mixes in junk with sensitive stuff.

      I think the actual risk for a single low priority individual is low. However, run a node of you can. Also install the snowflake extension

      • madame_gaymes@programming.dev
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        1 day ago

        I didn’t say don’t use it, I am just making a note for those that don’t know Tor and expect it to be the 1 tool to rule them it all.

        Yes, some of the attacks I mentioned have been mitigated, but that’s no reason to assume it is 100% foolproof. Clearly, it wasn’t before.

        • Possibly linux@lemmy.zip
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          1 day ago

          The browser is much weaker than the network itself. Stay up to date with security patches and run Tor in a live environment like Tails OS

          • madame_gaymes@programming.dev
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            23 hours ago

            Again, just saying not to lean on Tor as your only privacy tool that is 100% foolproof. The comment I originally applied to made it seem like Tor is the only thing you need.

            Even your suggestion includes a secondary tool.

    • FauxLiving@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      That attack type is mitigated both through protocol updates and network management.

      It hasn’t been a problem for several years.

      That isn’t to say that you should trust TOR completely, just that you don’t have to worry about sybil attacks on the network.