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Tor is not untraceable, but neither does it need to be. If you download a 10Gb file, there is very little Tor can do to prevent the bandwidth graph correlation

Tor is not untraceable, but neither does it need to be. If you download a 10Gb file, there is very little Tor can do to prevent the bandwidth graph correlation of 10Gb going up at the exit node and 10Gb coming down from your guard node. It's not magic. However, used optimally (browsing relatively small pages over a long period of time, avoiding transferring large amounts of data, using onion sites where possible), the deterrent it adds is sufficient for the NSA to state that "we will never be able to track 100% of Tor users 100% of the time". TAILS is described as a "CNE (computer network exploitation) nightmare". Mitm is a risk if you're browsing clearnet sites, and exit nodes regularly try to run SSL stripping attacks. You just have to use a different circuit until it works. It's not perfect, but under no circumstances are you worse off with Tor than without it, so I use it for as much of my browsing as I can manage. Really, the primary threat arises not from Tor's security model, but from the number of websites that are completely non functional without javas****t garbage. Plain text websites will stop loading """for your security""". In the 3rd security level, with scripts fully disabled, TAILS is one of the most robust solutions I'm aware of, with Whonix deserving a honorary mention.

gray_charger 4y ago
> In the 3rd security level, with scripts fully disabled, TAILS is one of the most robust solutions I'm aware of, with Whonix deserving a honorary mention. Tails and Whonix have different use cases. Whonix is meant to be a persistent OS that provides anonymity. If you're installing an anonymous OS to your laptop as your daily driver, Whonix is your pick. Tails is amnesic, meaning once shut down it forgets everything. Tails runs in RAM only, so everything is destroyed on shutdown. Should your Tails disk be confiscated, the only thing that can be found is that Tails is installed. If you want to use an anonymous OS without digital evidence Tails is the better option.
dmarchand90 4y ago
There is one case where you can be "worse" off using tor. One student hacker got caught be because he was the only one using tor on campus so that identified him https://www.forbes.com/sites/runasandvik/2013/12/18/harvard-student-receives-f-for-tor-failure-while-sending-anonymous-bomb-threat/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/runasandvik/2013/12/18/harvard-...
- Trouble_007 4y ago
  'Every needle needs a haystack' ... (when playing Hide and Seek) a.k.a... 'Anonymity loves Company'
xypage 4y ago
What actually is the difference between .onion sites and clearnet ones? I understand Tor but I've never really looked into what's different about .onion

gray_charger 4y ago

> In the 3rd security level, with scripts fully disabled, TAILS is one of the most robust solutions I'm aware of, with Whonix deserving a honorary mention. Tails and Whonix have different use cases. Whonix is meant to be a persistent OS that provides anonymity. If you're installing an anonymous OS to your laptop as your daily driver, Whonix is your pick. Tails is amnesic, meaning once shut down it forgets everything. Tails runs in RAM only, so everything is destroyed on shutdown. Should your Tails disk be confiscated, the only thing that can be found is that Tails is installed. If you want to use an anonymous OS without digital evidence Tails is the better option.

dmarchand90 4y ago

There is one case where you can be "worse" off using tor. One student hacker got caught be because he was the only one using tor on campus so that identified him https://www.forbes.com/sites/runasandvik/2013/12/18/harvard-student-receives-f-for-tor-failure-while-sending-anonymous-bomb-threat/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/runasandvik/2013/12/18/harvard-...

Trouble_007 4y ago
'Every needle needs a haystack' ... (when playing Hide and Seek) a.k.a... 'Anonymity loves Company'

xypage 4y ago

What actually is the difference between .onion sites and clearnet ones? I understand Tor but I've never really looked into what's different about .onion