Which would make this a bit of a… God help me for writing this… ‘false flag’ operation:
Hiding from surveillance is a good way to get noticed by law enforcement in the US. Tor, is a free browser tool that sends traffic from a users’ computer through several different servers and machines, making it unclear where the request originated. In light of the revelations from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden about massive government surveillance of the internet and telecommunications, the Kilton Public Library in Lebanon, New Hampshire became part of the Tor network. This meant some traffic from anonymous users on the Tor network would pass through the computers in New Hampshire, regardless of their point of origin. The Kilton library joined Tor in July. Shortly thereafter, the received an email from the Department of Homeland Security.
(H/T: Instapundit) Admittedly, it’s an Internet rumor – but there was at least some indication that the Feds turned Tor last year. I’m not entirely certain that I’d trust anything really private with those guys. Not that I’m doing anything that the feds would care about anyway. I also don’t particularly mind it if the Feds did turn Tor. Which is a pernicious heresy for somebody who works in New Media, sure.
…I don’t know. Who is being the paranoid person, here? After all, the great security weakness of any encryption system will always be the people who built and maintained that system. Get them, and you get the encryption. For all you know, Tor’s been run by the DIA since Day One.
Moe Lane
“Rubber Hose Crypto”, Moe? .. http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2006-03-29
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More seriously, while good crypto is possible and pretty decent crypto is getting easier, it’s like putting a deadbolt on the door to your house .. it won’t stop a determined intruder (with or without a warrant) so .. consider where you need it and plan accordingly.
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Mew
You mean an encryption algorithm developed by the NSA and released to the public might have vulnerabilities?
Inconceivable!
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To most people, encryption and technology are both magic.
I freely admit that past a certain point, I’m one of them. But I do have a vague idea how many operations a computer can execute in a second. And “billions of possible combinations” doesn’t sound all that reassuring.
(insert Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer gag here)
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There’s that, and there’s the idea that something can be “made safe to be transmitted over the internet”.
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Mew
There’s always Cockney rhyming slang.
Everything old is new again.
Something like that, only different .. the *rules* for Cockney rhyming slang in, say, Mandarin…?
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Mew
Sure it can: just remove everything but the cat pix/videos and it’s safe to transmit! 😀
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The internet is a public forum, and information passed on in it tends to be persistent. Everyone should get that by now.
It became public that it had been turned last year.
It was most likely compromised since day one. Utilizing federal infrastructure was kind of a tip-off.
You know, if the Feds went haring down a path that led them to Tor Books and started giving every senior person in that publishing company the colonoscopy that only the Federal Government can perform….
*grin*