3 ms·
I believe that tor metrics counts when a connection starts, not when a connection is _established_ This is a important difference, because if there is active D
by benjojo12 10y ago
I believe that tor metrics counts when a connection starts, not when a connection is _established_
This is a important difference, because if there is active DPI that is shutting down a connection before handshake can happen, it will inflate the numbers massively.
I suspect what actually is happening is a ISP in UAE has deployed a DPI system that can detect the Tor TLS signature
- theptip 10y agoThis sounds convincing, a 25-fold spike in real users seems unlikely. If your theory is correct, then the title is slightly misleading.
- scoot 10y agoAnd even if they were only counting successful connections, connections != users.
- notyourwork 10y agoIn the land of Tor can you distinguish the difference in any meaningful way? I agree generally but I don't see how Tor could differentiate.
- __s 10y agoYou'd have to do an anonymous survey of 'do you use Tor?' & project from there
- TheSageMage 10y agoThe title isn't misleading, "the estimated number of directly-connecting clients" is what is meant by "users". I'm not very familiar with TOR, but does this reaffirm what OP is asking, that this might be DPI causing re-connections for TOR in UAE? If so is this a new policy of banning TOR, or is this just a recent ramp up in existing policy?
- 27182818284 10y agoIt is a little misleading. Misleading I think should be the correct word choice. It might not be incorrect, but it is misleading. Another example that comes to mind is the Colorado newspaper headline that crime has "doubled" in the last decade. That leads a person down the train of thought that crime is out of control. In reality, it grew in proportion to the population. The headline, "Crime grows in proportion with population" doesn't evoke gasps and sales of your paper.
- TheSageMage 10y agoFair point, my misinterpretation.