TOR user?

[_______]

Is anyone here using TOR?

I know it's not a perfect solution to anonymous browsing and other steps are required but would appreciate any feedback from anyone who has been a user.

How much slower is it would be my first question. Any other problems you have encountered?

[Augenj]

Originally Posted by _______

Is anyone here using TOR?

I know it's not a perfect solution to anonymous browsing and other steps are required but would appreciate any feedback from anyone who has been a user.

How much slower is it would be my first question. Any other problems you have encountered?

I have used it just to check it out. It's a bit slower but still functional. Any thoughts of me doing nefarious things on it were lost when the FBI was able to track down the originating IP address recently.

[spiketoo]

Originally Posted by Augenj

I have used it just to check it out. It's a bit slower but still functional. Any thoughts of me doing nefarious things on it were lost when the FBI was able to track down the originating IP address recently.

You'll definitely sacrifice speed for security. Use an offshore VPN before launching and no one will find your true IP.

[headhawg]

I would add...an offshore VPN that doesn't do any logging, and has DNS leak protection. And maybe takes Bitcoin as payment. There's a few good ones out there -- Private Internet Access and Torguard to name two. Just Google best anonymous VPNs and read up on how they will protect the anonymity of their customers.

[highnote]

Originally Posted by headhawg

I would add...an offshore VPN that doesn't do any logging, and has DNS leak protection. And maybe takes Bitcoin as payment. There's a few good ones out there -- Private Internet Access and Torguard to name two. Just Google best anonymous VPNs and read up on how they will protect the anonymity of their customers.

I used to use it to access betting exchanges that did not accept bets from U.S. customers. My ip address might show up as coming from Germany and I could make bets.

It was much slower than a direct internet connection, but it was better than nothing. Also, since placing bets did not take much bandwidth it wasn't a big deal to have a slow connection.

[wilderness]

FWIW, a knowledgeable webmaster (please note that I did NOT use the word competent), would not allow such obscuring on IP's from their visitors, although it may be beneficial to the visitor the results are detrimental to the webmaster.

It's easy enough to block proxies, VPS, cloud servers and any other software that attempts to obscure IP addresses.

Other countries beyond your general market are also an easy task.

With all the above in mind, in the past ten years, mobile devices have changed the way IP's and/or servers work. GEO-IP-locations are no longer a sure-thing (even for a general area).

There are multiple tools available for servers that also reduce the chances of obscurity, even when a proxy, VPS or cloud is used.

2d FWIW, the majority of webmasters (and their sites) don't even have a clue what raw visitor logs are. In fact, most shared hosting today has logs turned off by default. Unless the webmaster is aware of this off-status and turns them on, the he/she never evens sees what visitors are coming to their site (s).

[headhawg]

Originally Posted by wilderness

FWIW, a knowledgeable webmaster (please note that I did NOT use the word competent), would not allow such obscuring on IP's from their visitors, although it may be beneficial to the visitor the results are detrimental to the webmaster.

I'm not sure what this has to do with the OP's question but I'll bite... Sure the webmaster could do that; many sites will not allow access from things like VPN servers. Then those people realize that traffic decreases by 25, 30% and then they allow it again. I personally would rather have the traffic than worry about the country of the visitor unless it's critical information. Knowing that the bulk of your customers comes from Canada or Sweden or wherever seems irrelevant in most cases, especially if web traffic decreases.

[wilderness]

headhawg,
Wasn't aware that I was fishing.

Suppose I should have just kept it simple and added something like:

I'd advise caution when attempting to obscure your IP and/or use a software to do the same. The results could turn on you and bite you in the backside.

[headhawg]

Originally Posted by wilderness

I'd advise caution when attempting to obscure your IP and/or use a software to do the same. The results could turn on you and bite you in the backside.

I would like to see your reasons.

[wilderness]

headhawg,
I gave you a long winded explanation and you weren't pleased with that, not sure what else your looking for?

FWIW, and as a coincidence?
About the same approximate time last night you were replying, I had a website visitor attempting access.
44 requests (for a specific page and root) from 17-different IP's. All were denied access. All this accomplished for this specific visitor was to provide more insight into precisely what this thread is about. In fact their method exposes nearly all their possibilities. A few requests from different IP's fine, but why expose them all, and primarily because your unable to comprehend that another has more experience and/or awareness than you.

I've pages that seem to attract the leeches, like flies on . . . .
This particular page is Part II of an article on Doc Parshall.
I've not added a new page to my websites since 2009, in fact and in 2012, I reduced the page numbers.
Initially and when created the pages I was quite careful to eliminate and/or change words that could be interpreted by the porn pests (since I'd had some trouble with that in the very early years of my websites). A common horse wood 'stud' attracts the wrong type of visitor.

I've a Memorial Section of previously published obituaries (hell some of them are from the 20's). One of the pages attracts the same kind of leeches that I' explained above (repeated requests from multiple IP's and all in near succession and a very short period of time), however this particular page gets those multiple leech requests almost daily. (I've read and re-read the page and just don't see what they are fascinated with.)

I might accept that one some us-horsey-betting-folks, would obscure our IP to make an wager beyond the restrictions of our own state's borders, however and as I explained previously, there are a variety of tools available that simply stop these obscuring attempts dead-in-their-tracks.

In addition, many websites are not just using cookies, but other methods (similar) to track visitors activities.

[headhawg]

It doesn't matter to me if you're short- or long- winded in your posts except for the fact that you didn't contribute anything to the OP's question. He asked about TOR from a user standpoint which has nothing to do with IP address obfuscation issues for a webmaster. I was asking for clarity in your posts regarding the OP's questions.

Intentionally or not, almost every thread here lately gets completely hijacked or at the very least taken down a different path from the original topic. in reality, only Augenj actually answered ________'s question.

But, whatever...

[highnote]

Originally Posted by headhawg

in reality, only Augenj actually answered ________'s question.

And highnote.

wilderness, maybe those were robots trying to map the web?

[Magister Ludi]

Originally Posted by _______

Any other problems you have encountered?

The biggest problem with Tor (not TOR) seems to be giving the user a false sense of security. True compsec is a state of mind which permeates everything that an aware user does at the keyboard. For protection from a non-nation-state adversary, the following is generally a good start:

ISP > obfuscated proxy bridge > Tor > VPN

If your adversary is Five Eyes, that's an entirely different story. If it is, I can give you some guidance in that area.

[_______]

Originally Posted by Magister Ludi

The biggest problem with Tor (not TOR) seems to be giving the user a false sense of security. True compsec is a state of mind which permeates everything that an aware user does at the keyboard. For protection from a non-nation-state adversary, the following is generally a good start:

ISP > obfuscated proxy bridge > Tor > VPN

If your adversary is Five Eyes, that's an entirely different story. If it is, I can give you some guidance in that area.

Nothing close to that cloak and dagger. The whole Apple episode after the San Bernardino shooting had me considering making my browsing more anonymous but I have been unwilling to trade off the convienence of a faster connection for Tor (I had assumed an acronym should be capitalized but I guess it's passed into common usage like radar).

If I ever decide to go beyond ad blocking, do not track requests, and anti-exploit programs, I know who to ask.