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Tor network under attack

by on23 December 2014


Specialised servers seized

The Tor project could face attempts to incapacitate its network in the next few days as the forces of darkness seize specialised servers. The project did not name the group or agency that may try to seize its directory authorities, which guide Tor users on the list of distributed relays on the network that bounce communications around.

Apparently Tor is taking steps to ensure the safety of our users, and our system is already built to be redundant so that users maintain anonymity even if the network is attacked. Rather than take a direct route from source to destination, data packets on the Tor network, designed to mask people’s Internet use, take a random path through several relays that cover user tracks.

Unless an adversary can control a majority of the directory authorities, he can’t trick the Tor client into using other Tor relays, according to the Tor project website. There are nine directory authorities spread across the U.S. and Europe. Users who live under repressive regimes such as the United States and UK look to Tor as a way to escape surveillance and censorship. However, it is also used by purveyors of drugs and criminal activities.

So far though Tor has been safe.

Last modified on 28 December 2014
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