08.07.13
Using Windows With TOR is Like Wearing Makeup to Dodge CCTV
Summary: The TOR project asks users to abandon Microsoft Windows, which helped the NSA (based on identified IP blocks) crack anonymity
THE thing about proprietary software is, it infects any system it is surrounding, making everything penetrable if the underlying layer has a back door, which Windows has. Activists who challenge authority must never rely on proprietary software, suggests experience [1, 2],
More GNU/Linux distributors should start promoting their products based on privacy as a selling point, not just software freedom, especially now that a lot of people are concerned about mass surveillance. Sadly, however, even some of these distributors are now compromising their users' privacy inside Azure, whose host is in bed with the NSA.
“Several mainstream articles are publishing the Tor Project’s recommendation to drop Windows,” told us iophk, noting also the poor headline at the Telegraph. He gave this better example from IDG:
The TOR Project is advising that people stop using Windows after the discovery of a startling vulnerability in Firefox that undermined the main advantages of the privacy-centered network.
The zero-day vulnerability allowed as-yet-unknown interlopers to use a malicious piece of JavaScript to collect crucial identifying information on computers visiting some websites using The Onion Router (TOR) network.
There is more here. “In the pre-Mono days,” iophk says, “I would have expected Canonical and Ubuntu to be all over that. Shuttleworth could make an invitation like he did to the Suse developers. However, with their Community “Manager” defending MS, that may not happen. Speaking of the “manager”, his and the others' responses to your old post here has elicited denial of the problem as well as a bit of an attack. I think the topic is very worth revisiting at least once a month.”
Here is another post about this subject. It is reproduced as follows from JoinDiaspora:
The exploit of Tor by JavaScript
Who were affected?
- Window Users
- People who enabled JavaScript
- Used the Tor Browser Bundle
~Windows~
Most of the users were windows users, I’m not claiming that Linux or
Gnu|linux users are superior but to be more accurate, some windows
users don’t have the mentality of security or common sense when it comes to
protecting them self and their devises. Gnu|linux users or Unix users are more
aware of their surrounding and what goes within their Systems, now that said
Windows users need to understand that to be safe and secure you need to take
away all of those applications that would cause a back door to your system.These are the following said applications:
Javascript - There are multiple ways of disabling this, but
my favorite way is to add an add-on called, “NoScript”. This disables script’s
to be activated and or used within your browser, you have nothing to worry about, you are able to
fully activate or deactivate JavaScript if needed.Flash - Yes Flash, there are ways of doing this, either
deleting the flash application or never going to YouTube ( I doubt you’ll be doing this). There are multiple add-ons for your browser that will disable the usability of flash and allowing Html5 to
take over.Cookies - Cookies are a great way of entering your system and
gather some useful information about said system and maybe you. There are
add-ons for disabling these little critters. there are multiple said add-ons like
Self-Destructing Cookies or going into your system and deleting them yourself.~JavaScript~
JavaScript is not safe cause it has bugs. This holds true
for the various implementations of JavaScript, as well as the browsers that
JavaScript runs in. Some bugs can, when discovered, be exploited to bypass
the said sandbox, or to perform other malicious actions on your machine, like
what the FBI did to a specific Tor network. So JavaScript is not safe in most occasions, anybody
running JavaScript can be the target for something malicious.~Using Tor Bundle~
Tor bundle uses an old version of Firefox and is easily
exploited, add-ons are not implemented within the browser. Even if you
were using Tor you would of gotten targeted. Using a different applications
for the same cause will allow users to be much safer than having a bundle and
thinking that no one can actually hack|crack into said system. This is false when
using anything, just keep in mind that you could always be Hacked|cracked by
someone or a specific organization.Forgot to mention one thing, passwords. People please, don’t
create a password that is easily created like,your name, age, birthThe best way of creating a good
place, or someone or something.
passphrase is to use Uppercase letters as well as other symbols for instance
if your name is jonny michaels useJoney_M1ch_els.
keep in mind that this example is just a bare minimum for a truly secure Password.If you have any questions on what to use or just have anything
to ask me just ask.Like alway, happy hacking
And if you don’t use free software, the hacking (or cracking) is all on you. █
Content is available under CC-BY-SA
Needs Sunlight said,
August 7, 2013 at 12:19 pm
Then there are the end-point compromises. Running Windows, you know you have a system full of back doors. In addition to the official ones, M$ is said to release vulnerabilities to the US government before patching them. Given how long M$ can take to get around to releasing a working patch, this can be quite a lead time.