3 ms·

Do you run those nodes you hop through? Also.. congrats on finding people to communicate with securely-as-possible.

s_q_b 12y ago
Thanks, it's mostly security nuts like me about security related topics. Hopping through my own Tor nodes could be a bit counter-productive, as it would make attribution of my circuit quite a bit easier. I use an extended hop relay with hand-selected nodes, which allows me to use five hops instead of the standard three, and hand-select fast relays that are in nations which are unlikely to share information readily. There's a few more tricks I use to counter e.g. stream watermarking, but at a certain point you reach diminishing returns, as the browser is only so secure. If I was running a drug cartel, it'd be appropriate COMSEC, but for me its really more of an experiment than anything else.
- trebla 12y ago
  Well, there are many uses. Impopular speech is in theory protected by free speech laws, but in practice you are only safe doing popular speech. Anyone that says something impopular should use COMSEC. It might not be needed today, but I'd use it to be safe tomorrow.
  - s_q_b 12y ago
    Free speech is an ideal I hold closely, and I would rather let myself be locked up, with all that entails, than acquiesce to governance that required I renounce it. So if I no longer live in a country that feels as I do, which I very sincerely doubt, let come what may.
- s_q_b 12y ago
  @tor_user, your comment is dead, but since I have showdead on: I go beyond the .torrc config settings. I have a custom Python controller that uses Stem[0] to interface with the tor binary's control port to build my paths and circuits. My tor binary has some customizations as well (stop sending 512 byte cells by default, random packet delays with large transfers, creative TLS and circuit multiplexing), and of course there's the standard use of obfsproxy[1], unlisted bridges[2], etc. [0]https://stem.torproject.org/ https://stem.torproject.org/ [1]https://www.torproject.org/projects/obfsproxy.html.en https://www.torproject.org/projects/obfsproxy.html.en [2]https://bridges.torproject.org/ https://bridges.torproject.org/

s_q_b 12y ago

Thanks, it's mostly security nuts like me about security related topics. Hopping through my own Tor nodes could be a bit counter-productive, as it would make attribution of my circuit quite a bit easier. I use an extended hop relay with hand-selected nodes, which allows me to use five hops instead of the standard three, and hand-select fast relays that are in nations which are unlikely to share information readily. There's a few more tricks I use to counter e.g. stream watermarking, but at a certain point you reach diminishing returns, as the browser is only so secure. If I was running a drug cartel, it'd be appropriate COMSEC, but for me its really more of an experiment than anything else.

trebla 12y ago
Well, there are many uses. Impopular speech is in theory protected by free speech laws, but in practice you are only safe doing popular speech. Anyone that says something impopular should use COMSEC. It might not be needed today, but I'd use it to be safe tomorrow.
- s_q_b 12y ago
  Free speech is an ideal I hold closely, and I would rather let myself be locked up, with all that entails, than acquiesce to governance that required I renounce it. So if I no longer live in a country that feels as I do, which I very sincerely doubt, let come what may.
s_q_b 12y ago
@tor_user, your comment is dead, but since I have showdead on: I go beyond the .torrc config settings. I have a custom Python controller that uses Stem[0] to interface with the tor binary's control port to build my paths and circuits. My tor binary has some customizations as well (stop sending 512 byte cells by default, random packet delays with large transfers, creative TLS and circuit multiplexing), and of course there's the standard use of obfsproxy[1], unlisted bridges[2], etc. [0]https://stem.torproject.org/ https://stem.torproject.org/ [1]https://www.torproject.org/projects/obfsproxy.html.en https://www.torproject.org/projects/obfsproxy.html.en [2]https://bridges.torproject.org/ https://bridges.torproject.org/