Rendered at 04:56:46 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Cloudflare Workers.
amiga386 6 hours ago [-]
Oh boy. The first line of any blog post on how to create a Tor Exit Node should be: DON'T.
If you really want to, first do a metric shitload of legal and commercial prep work, including picking a specific ISP for the exit node, registering an LLC or equivalent to be the legal entity that owns the exit node, and all sorts of steps that mean when the inevitable deluge of traffic from hackers, bittorrenters and so on come through your exit node, you're at least somewhat insulated from the blowback you'll get. Prepare for answering legal queries about your exit node being your full time job.
If you merely want there to be more Tor exit nodes in the world, I recommend you donate to an existing operator of them, like https://torservers.net/ -- if you read their blog, https://torservers.net/blog/ , you'll see the latest entries (also from 8 years ago) are about seized servers and arrested operators.
If you want to donate your ISP bandwidth for improving the Tor network, do it by running a guard relay or middle relay, that is relatively straightforward.
ftnnn 3 minutes ago [-]
Bit overblown? I have ran many over the years. Another option is don't have a legal presence in the US. Many of these issues disappear. Many US companies will rent you hardware and when there is an issue move on.
mmooss 1 hours ago [-]
That's an intense reaction. Do you have experience doing it?
braiamp 8 hours ago [-]
Wow....
> I’ll go with Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty)
This is extremely old. I am aware that the Tor project tries to keeps their defaults sane for any use, but someone has checked that the configuration here is still valid for this use?
Also, running tor as a root is bad idea, I don't think the client allows you to anymore (or at least warns you)
2legit2quit 7 hours ago [-]
> This is extremely old. I am aware that the Tor project tries to keeps their defaults sane for any use, but someone has checked that the configuration here is still valid for this use?
Article was published in 2015. Seems 14.04 was the LTS, as the time of writing.
Fergusonb 7 hours ago [-]
I got in huge trouble hosting one of these when I was a kid.
I saw some call-to-arms post that got me excited for the free internet and set it up on my parents' residential service.
You can imagine the fallout. No permanent damage though.
WarOnPrivacy 7 hours ago [-]
I ran an exit node about 15y ago on a free IP. After a few weeks, I found malware files (not deployed) on the desktop. They reappeared after deletion a few times. I concluded the experiment and wiped the system.
Some time later I tried running a middle relay (VM non-persistent live distro) but Dan List (then) didn't differentiate between between exit and other node types and my public IP kept getting blacklisted. I eventually gave up.
jandrese 6 hours ago [-]
There are still blacklists that don't differentiate. They'll even list it as "verified malicious activity originating from the host", and security products that gather all IP blacklist services and take them at face value will block your IP.
p0w3n3d 8 hours ago [-]
I wonder, according to law, what are the outcomes of maintaining an exit node, apart from having, I quote, _balls of steel_
parl_match 8 hours ago [-]
depends on the jurisdiction
in the us, entirely legal. you may get law enforcement knocking on your door with questions, from time to time.
best to do it as part of a non profit or other organization, and being open about running a node, so that law enforcement/etc knows what they're dealing with
p4bl0 8 hours ago [-]
> you may get law enforcement knocking on your door with questions
If you host an exit node on your home internet connection, the daily thing you will struggle with is not law enforcement, but rather the fact that your public IP will be blocked by most big websites to the point that simply browsing the web will become a pain.
kevinpacheco 7 hours ago [-]
Then whoever did this experiment will likely shut down the node and reset their router to pull a new IP, which could be reassigned in short order, thereby causing trouble for an innocent neighbor.
Cider9986 7 hours ago [-]
Use a VPN on your router to avoid this issue.
marc_abonce 2 hours ago [-]
> best to do it as part of a non profit or other organization
I've always thought that universities would be a great safe haven for exit nodes, probably managed by a student club but using campus's infra (with their fully informed permission and support, of course).
I think this would make them less likely to be shut down by the police because a university would lend them more credibility as a civic-driven research project rather than some random person running "shady" stuff, as most people unfortunately assume.
Here in Mexico there's very few Tor nodes running at all, but some of the longest running (non exit, TIL) nodes are run by UNAM [1], which is the biggest university.
That being said, I studied in a different university and I didn't have the confidence or knowledge to propose anything similar, so I've no idea of how effective would such a project be or how hard would it be to run.
So let me ask this: How hard is it to create a temporary exit node that is basically a rasberry pi with a sim card or wifi connection say from a cafe, or any other public wifi, ans are online for say na hour or two? If we had enough of these scattered around, would it matter?
noident 8 hours ago [-]
> So let me ask this: How hard is it to create a temporary exit node that is basically a rasberry pi with a sim card or wifi connection say from a cafe, or any other public wifi, ans are online for say na hour or two?
It's not hard at all.
> If we had enough of these scattered around, would it matter?
No. Your relays won't be trusted with significant amounts of traffic until they've been up for a few weeks.
r3trohack3r 7 hours ago [-]
The last time I looked into it, exit nodes have a long “ramp up” period of many days. If this is still true, you’re not going to be serving much purpose with a collection of transient nodes.
leni536 7 hours ago [-]
How is that trust anchored? To public IPs or to public keys?
thcipriani 6 hours ago [-]
I note that Linode will still let you run exit nodes on their infra (though they may ask you to respond to specific complaints to reduce the exit policy).
vivzkestrel 2 hours ago [-]
stupid questions for a guy with no idea about TOR
- how is it better than a VPN
- how is it untraceable
- what makes you think you dont get tagged by 3 letter agencies when are you trying to download it for the first time?
auscad 55 minutes ago [-]
> how is it better than a VPN
There isn’t one centralized entity with your email address and credit card information on file that can pass it on wittingly or otherwise to interested parties.
> how is it untraceable
It’s not. It tries to be by routing your connection through a random set of relays + exit node (each peeling back one layer of encryption, like an onion), but it hinges on the assumption that those nodes aren’t all operated by the same entity. If the network is dominated by a bad actor (at one point the FBI had a large fraction), your route can land entirely on their nodes, and they can associate the original request with the decrypted request at the exit node. Of course you’re still protected by regular internet security, plus the browsers often take additional measures to make tracing harder, but it’s definitely not a guarantee.
> what makes you think you dont get tagged by 3 letter agencies […]
You absolutely do, lots of mainstream media coverage about this.
functionmouse 8 hours ago [-]
best not, lads
tamimio 8 hours ago [-]
>harrased by ISP
Or the FBI setting you up and jail you for 3 years
If you really want to, first do a metric shitload of legal and commercial prep work, including picking a specific ISP for the exit node, registering an LLC or equivalent to be the legal entity that owns the exit node, and all sorts of steps that mean when the inevitable deluge of traffic from hackers, bittorrenters and so on come through your exit node, you're at least somewhat insulated from the blowback you'll get. Prepare for answering legal queries about your exit node being your full time job.
Read https://blog.torproject.org/tips-running-exit-node/ first, and note that even that post is 8 years old.
If you merely want there to be more Tor exit nodes in the world, I recommend you donate to an existing operator of them, like https://torservers.net/ -- if you read their blog, https://torservers.net/blog/ , you'll see the latest entries (also from 8 years ago) are about seized servers and arrested operators.
If you want to donate your ISP bandwidth for improving the Tor network, do it by running a guard relay or middle relay, that is relatively straightforward.
> I’ll go with Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty)
This is extremely old. I am aware that the Tor project tries to keeps their defaults sane for any use, but someone has checked that the configuration here is still valid for this use?
Also, running tor as a root is bad idea, I don't think the client allows you to anymore (or at least warns you)
Article was published in 2015. Seems 14.04 was the LTS, as the time of writing.
I saw some call-to-arms post that got me excited for the free internet and set it up on my parents' residential service.
You can imagine the fallout. No permanent damage though.
Some time later I tried running a middle relay (VM non-persistent live distro) but Dan List (then) didn't differentiate between between exit and other node types and my public IP kept getting blacklisted. I eventually gave up.
in the us, entirely legal. you may get law enforcement knocking on your door with questions, from time to time.
best to do it as part of a non profit or other organization, and being open about running a node, so that law enforcement/etc knows what they're dealing with
If you host an exit node on your home internet connection, the daily thing you will struggle with is not law enforcement, but rather the fact that your public IP will be blocked by most big websites to the point that simply browsing the web will become a pain.
I've always thought that universities would be a great safe haven for exit nodes, probably managed by a student club but using campus's infra (with their fully informed permission and support, of course).
I think this would make them less likely to be shut down by the police because a university would lend them more credibility as a civic-driven research project rather than some random person running "shady" stuff, as most people unfortunately assume.
Here in Mexico there's very few Tor nodes running at all, but some of the longest running (non exit, TIL) nodes are run by UNAM [1], which is the biggest university.
That being said, I studied in a different university and I didn't have the confidence or knowledge to propose anything similar, so I've no idea of how effective would such a project be or how hard would it be to run.
[1] https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/country:mx
It's not hard at all.
> If we had enough of these scattered around, would it matter?
No. Your relays won't be trusted with significant amounts of traffic until they've been up for a few weeks.
- how is it better than a VPN
- how is it untraceable
- what makes you think you dont get tagged by 3 letter agencies when are you trying to download it for the first time?
There isn’t one centralized entity with your email address and credit card information on file that can pass it on wittingly or otherwise to interested parties.
> how is it untraceable
It’s not. It tries to be by routing your connection through a random set of relays + exit node (each peeling back one layer of encryption, like an onion), but it hinges on the assumption that those nodes aren’t all operated by the same entity. If the network is dominated by a bad actor (at one point the FBI had a large fraction), your route can land entirely on their nodes, and they can associate the original request with the decrypted request at the exit node. Of course you’re still protected by regular internet security, plus the browsers often take additional measures to make tracing harder, but it’s definitely not a guarantee.
> what makes you think you dont get tagged by 3 letter agencies […]
You absolutely do, lots of mainstream media coverage about this.
Or the FBI setting you up and jail you for 3 years
https://rockenhaus.com/
Not to fear monger, in fact, the more people run exit node the harder it will be to go after individuals.