Category Archives: Tor Browser

Government censorship is an issue with many countries worldwide. Some governments will attempt to restrict access to information or otherwise curtail their citizens' right to free speech. To get around this, tools like VPNs exist, but depending on how committed a country is to censorship it can become a bit of a game of cat and mouse. Now, Tor wants to help you circumvent censorship with its new WebTunnel feature.

The Tor Project has just announced the release of WebTunnel, a new bridge type that helps people in censored regions connect to the Tor network through the Tor browser. WebTunnel bridges function by mimicking encrypted web traffic (HTTPS), making the Tor Browser appear like regular browsing activity to censors. This is particularly useful in situations where only certain protocols are allowed and others are blocked.

WebTunnel is inspired by HTTPT and wraps the Tor connection within a WebSocket-like HTTPS connection. This allows it to coexist with a website on the same server, making it even more inconspicuous. Unlike obfs4 bridges, which aim to be completely unrecognizable, WebTunnel leverages existing, permitted traffic patterns to bypass censorship. Countries that block the use of Tor include Russia, Belarus, and Turkmenistan, and in theory, WebTunnel would allow you to connect to the Tor network from these countries. In order to use a WebTunnel, you need to grab a WebTunnel bridge from Tor's Bridges website, and then set it up on your Tor browser. You'll need an updated version of the Tor browser in order to use WebTunnel, as the feature is not supported on older versions of the browser.

These WebTunnel bridges might also soon become available through other platforms such as Telegram, but at the moment, they're only available through the Tor website. If you want to check out WebTunnel, make sure to update your browser and download an appropriate bridge from the website. Also, if you happen to live in a country where censorship is rampant, you might also want to shoot your feedback at the developers and tell them how it compares to other circumvention methods such as obfs4.

Source: The Tor Project

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Tor Browser Has a New WebTunnel Feature to Avoid Censorship - How-To Geek

A man trudges through snow to a bleak office full of paperwork. A woman logs onto a government computer. The weary bureaucrats seem to be reaching a breaking point with life in Vladimir Putins Russia.Is this the life I dreamed of? a speaker asks. The camera pans over photos of their children on their desks.

The cinematic video, with the gray tones of a Cold War thriller, is part of a U.S. effort to provide more tools for disaffected Russians who might be willing to provide information. Created by the Central Intelligence Agency, the two-minute clip was posted Tuesday on a new Telegram channel that provides information on how to securely contact the U.S. agency using a Tor browser and encryption tools to send information via the dark web.

Are you a military officer? Do you work in intelligence, diplomacy, science, high technology or deal with people who do? reads a message in the video, which ends with both characters deciding to contact the CIA on their phones. Do you have information about the economy or the top leadership of the Russian Federation? Get in touch with us.

The recruitment effort comes as Russias winter push in Ukraine led to little progress and staggering losses, with more than 100,000 soldiers killed or wounded since December alone, according to a National Security Council spokesman. U.S. intelligence agencies have indicated that they expect the twin tolls of war and economic sanctions will make more Russians open to recruitment, including ordinary bureaucrats, fed-up military officers, and wealthy businesspeople who have taken a financial hit.

Were looking around the world for Russians who are as disgusted with [Putins actions] as we are, CIA Director of Operations David Marlowe said last November in rare remarks at an event at George Mason University. Because were open for business.

Read More: How Telegram Became the Digital Battlefield in the Russia-Ukraine War.

The video suggests that making the difficult but important decision to quietly get in touch with the CIA is the dignified decision, and in the best interest of Russians families. Your information may be more valuable than you think, it says.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Tuesday called the channel, which had almost 6,000 subscribers by noon, a very convenient resource for tracking applicants.

The agency first posted Russian-language instructions for how to get in touch with the CIA on its social channels last year. But with access to most mainstream social-media sites restricted by the Kremlin, the Telegram messaging app has become the primary platform for Russians to communicate beyond the nations borders and seek uncensored information. While the app was popular in Russia before the war, its use exploded after the invasion of Ukraine. An analysis of 187 Russian-language news channels provided to TIME last year by Logically, a U.K.-based technology company, showed that subscribers to Russian-language Telegram channels grew by 8 million, or 48%, in the month after the invasion. The platform became the wars digital battlefield, a prime venue for both intelligence-gathering and recruitment.

U.S. officials clearly targeted the video on the platform to appeal to Russian patriotism and concern for their families, experts tell TIME. It includes quotes from Russian writers Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky, and notably uses the word , the Russian term for stand up or resist, which has frequently been used by Putins own military recruitment campaigns.

Theyre picking up on the language of the regime and just gently twisting it into another kind of context, says Ian Garner, a historian and analyst of Russian propaganda.

Read More: Inside the Kremlins Year of Ukraine Propaganda.

Despite the work that went into the Telegram campaign, theres a glaring flaw, says Garner: Theyre not offering anything. Most people with access to information that would interest the CIA, such as mid-level government officials, are provided security by the state, and their children are much less likely to be forced to enlist.

The video goes from grainy sad life in Russia to whatgrainy, sad life on the CIA side? asks Garner. The messaging, which emphasizes Americas pursuit of the truth, is also likely to fall flat, he says. Most Russians are suspicious of America and the CIA in particular. So associating this with the CIA is only likely to reinforce the belief that theyre the ones doing the lying.

More Must-Reads From TIME

Write to Vera Bergengruen at vera.bergengruen@time.com.

Read more from the original source:
The CIA Is Now Trying to Recruit Russian Spies On Telegram - TIME

The dark web serves as a breeding ground for cybercriminal activities, with stolen data and illicit services often traded on underground marketplaces. One critical tool for organizations to protect themselves against potential data breaches and fraud is the implementation of dark web alerts.

By monitoring these hidden corners of the internet, cyber practitioners can proactively identify and address instances of criminal data exposure, allowing them to take swift action to mitigate the associated risks and safeguard their organizations sensitive information.

The dark web is a part of the internet that exists on encrypted networks, hidden from conventional search engines and accessible only through specialized tools like the Tor browser. Its structure provides a high degree of anonymity, making it an attractive hub for various cybercriminal activities, including the trade of stolen data, illegal services, and contraband.

Threat actors often operate on dark web marketplaces and forums, where they exchange sensitive information such as personal and financial data, corporate secrets, and login credentials.

To effectively combat the threats emanating from this hidden realm, security practitioners must develop a deep understanding of the dark webs structure and role in cybercrime. This knowledge will enable them to harness the power of dark web alerts and other intelligence-gathering tools, ultimately bolstering their organizations defense against the wide array of risks lurking in the digital shadows.

Well discuss some of the general areas in the dark web to monitor for sensitive information about your organization.

A dark web forum is an online discussion board or community that exists on the dark web, an encrypted and hidden part of the internet that requires specialized tools like the Tor browser for access. These forums provide a platform for users to communicate anonymously, exchanging information, ideas, and resources related to various topics, including cybercrime.

Due to the high degree of anonymity provided by the dark web, these forums often serve as a hub for illicit activities, such as trading stolen data, sharing hacking tools, and discussing cybercriminal tactics. Dark web forums play a significant role in the cybercriminal ecosystem, enabling threat actors to collaborate, learn from each other, and conduct illegal transactions.

A dark web market is an online marketplace that operates on the dark web. These markets enable anonymous transactions, often using cryptocurrencies, and primarily facilitate the trade of illegal goods and services. Dark web markets typically offer a wide range of illicit items, such as drugs, weapons, counterfeit currency, and stolen data, as well as services like hacking, money laundering, and identity theft. These marketplaces have become a hub for cybercriminals and other individuals engaging in illegal activities, making them a significant concern for law enforcement agencies and cybersecurity professionals.

Though not technically a part of the dark web, illicit Telegram channels serve as a hub for threat actors and are rapidly gaining popularity. Threat actors take advantage of Telegrams end-to-end encryption and privacy features, providing a space for cybercriminals to communicate, exchange tools and techniques, and share stolen data. They serve as an alternative or supplement to dark web forums and marketplaces.

Dark web alerts function as an early warning system, enabling organizations to proactively monitor and detect potential data breaches and criminal activities involving their sensitive information. These alerts are powered by advanced algorithms and automated tools that continuously scan dark web marketplaces, forums, and other hidden platforms for specific keywords, patterns, or data signatures linked to the organization.

When the platform identifies a match, the system generates a real-time alert, providing security practitioners with critical details such as the type of data exposed, the source of the exposure, and any associated threats or vulnerabilities. Armed with this actionable intelligence, organizations can swiftly respond to potential data breaches, address security gaps, and initiate appropriate remediation measures to mitigate the risks associated with the exposed information. By incorporating dark web alerts into their cybersecurity strategy, businesses can enhance their overall security posture and stay one step ahead of cybercriminals.

Timing is crucial when finding external risks. The average time to identify and contain a data breach inside an organization is 287 days, which is almost a year for malicious actors to be able to find and abuse sensitive data.

Integrating dark web alerts into your cybersecurity strategy provides several key benefits, including proactive threat detection, improved incident response, and enhanced risk management. By monitoring for your organizations data on the dark web, you can identify potential breaches and address vulnerabilities before they escalate into full-blown crises. To make the most of dark web alerts, consider these best practices:

By incorporating dark web alerts into your cybersecurity strategy and following these best practices, your organization will be better equipped to identify and address potential data breaches, ultimately strengthening your overall security posture in the face of evolving cyber threats.

Flare monitors over 13 billion leaked credentials on the dark web. Our platform cuts out the noise and prioritizes alerts so that your cyber team doesnt have to sort through them.

Book demo with us so you can see how our dark web alerts can level up your cybersecurity posture.

The post Dark Web Alerts: Identifying Criminal Data Exposure on the Dark Web appeared first on Flare | Cyber Threat Intel | Digital Risk Protection.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Flare | Cyber Threat Intel | Digital Risk Protection authored by Yuzuka Akasaka. Read the original post at: https://flare.io/learn/resources/blog/dark-web-alerts/

Originally posted here:
Dark Web Alerts: Identifying Criminal Data Exposure on the Dark Web - Security Boulevard

CYBERSECURITY experts have claimed that Google Chrome doesn't take data privacy as seriously as other browsers.

Billions of people use Chrome as their browser of choice, but tech specialists at Kaspersky, a cybersecurity company, suggested that the browser should be avoided.

A recent blog post published on Kaspersky's website explains how Google largely collects user data to make money selling ads and goes as far as to state "the browser is best avoided."

The post stated: "If you use Chrome,Google can seejust about everything you get up to online.

"And theres nothing you can do about it: delete as many cookies as you like or browse in Incognito mode, it wont make a lot of difference Google will still hoover up dataabout your internet activity.

"And dont forget that, besides Google, hundreds of other companies are alsotracking your actionsin cyberspace.

"And Chrome doesnt really do much to stop this."

The post went on to recommend other browsers that it said are more privacy-mindedand work to stop companies from collecting so much data.

The recommended browser list includes Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Vivaldi, DuckDuckGo, Tor Browser, and Mullvad Browser.

However, Google Chrome is extremely popular for a reason and has a range of features that lead to less data collection.

All users can try incognito mode and Android users can try "Do Not Track" mode.

Google in a support webpage post said: "When you browse the web on computers orAndroid devices, you can send a request to websites not to collect or track your browsing data. It's turned off by default."

To use Chrome incognito mode on your computer, click the three vertical dots in the top right corner of the browser.

Then in the drop-down menu select "New Incognito Window".

A new window will appear, which will indicate that you have gone incognito.

The U.S. Sun has reached out to Google for comment.

Read more here:
Billions of Google Chrome users warned to avoid browser over red alert privacy concerns check your sett... - The US Sun

After recently proving its no-log policy in spite of a police raid in Sweden, Mullvad gave demonstrated strong security infrastructure offered by its VPN service once again.

This time it was its new search engine tool Leta which underwent an independent review by audit firm Assured AB.

Auditors were called to assess both the security and privacy posture of the new tool. Leta aced the review with no significant issues found.

"Overall, Mullvad Leta is well contained with a small attack surface, and good measures have been implemented to strengthen privacy as well as security," the audit's report (opens in new tab) concluded.

Auditors performed both a web application penetration test and a web security review of Leta, the new privacy-focused Google search proxy developed by Mullvad and available for all its VPN users at no extra cost.

They found a total of two low-risks privacy issues related to logging and search query caching, as well as one potential security flaw linked with Google search results' HTML content being rendered in the Leta search results.

The provider reassured it had already begun work on carry out the auditors' recommendations.

Leta is also an option to use with Mullvad Browser as a default search engine. First released on April 3, the latter seeks to offer users all the privacy and security of the Tor Browser, together with all the perks of secure VPN software.

"Leta aims to present a reliable and trustworthy way of searching privately on the internet," explains the provider (opens in new tab).

Using such a tool is pointless, though, when combined with a private web browser that blocks fingerprinting, cookies and other web trackers.

"For most people Leta can be useful, as the above conditions cannot ever truly be met by systems that are available today."

This proves more promising still when you consider that Leta's privacy and security have finally been verified.

Compare today's best five secure VPNs on price

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Mullvad aces security audit with this new privacy tool - TechRadar

If U.S. Space Command stays in Colorado, itll look like President Joe Biden is bending to the will of a blue state. If it moves to Alabama, hell be criticized for relocating a key military organization to a state that is enforcing a total abortion ban. | Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo

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The Biden administration has a tough decision ahead: Where to place U.S. Space Command. Its currently based in Colorado, where it was reestablished under a temporary HQ in 2019. But former President DONALD TRUMP said its permanent home should be in Alabama. A furious review is going on within the Air Force about whether to reverse Trumps decision or abide by it.

Whenever its done, were told by two U.S. officials that the process will start with Air Force Secretary FRANK KENDALL briefing Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN on the result. Austin will then surely inform President JOE BIDEN about the decision, and its up to the commander in chief whether to weigh in. The officials were granted anonymity to detail an internal debate.

According to the people weve talked to, the White House still isnt sure which way the Air Force is leaning. No recommendation has been sent over to the National Security Council, so the administration is still a while away from decision time.

Were trying to take into consideration all possible factors that will affect [the] final decision, Kendall said in late April.

But when that time comes, Biden faces a no-win moment. If the command stays in Colorado, itll look like hes bending to the will of a blue state. If it moves to Alabama, hell be criticized for following Trumps lead and relocating a key military organization to a state that is enforcing a total abortion ban.

Those fraught politics are exacerbated by Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-Ala.), who is holding up military promotions over the Pentagons policy to assist service members seeking an abortion.

As POLITICO first reported in February, abortion politics have entered the Space Command debate. And now its possible that last years overturning of Roe v. Wade, which upended American society and roiled national politics, may be a reason why the review which was supposed to be completed in December is still ongoing.

Tubervilles office contends the hold on military nominations and the Space Command headquarters decision are completely separate. The senator has called for a basing decision for a year, long before the Pentagon implemented its abortion policy, a spokesperson said.

But the fight is even more complex, as Colorado Republicans who count themselves Trump allies and opponents of abortion rights argue moving Space Command to Alabama is a mistake driven by politics. Rep. DOUG LAMBORN (R-Colo.), whose district is home to Space Command (for now) in Colorado Springs, said he hopes that abortion would not play a role in this whole decision.

This is an interesting dichotomy, Lamborn told NatSec Daily of the political cross currents on the fight. And I happen to agree with Sen. Tuberville...that DoD should not be financing people going out and traveling to get abortions.

Lamborn instead argued that Air Force rankings placing Colorado Springs below Huntsville were flawed and very subjective. A top factor, he said, should be when Space Command becomes fully operational in Colorado, a milestone he predicted could happen in just a few months.

U.S. Sen. JOHN HICKENLOOPER (D-Colo.) said he believes the Biden administration is trying to make sure the decision as unpolitical as possible, and that Tubervilles holds arent part of the calculus. And to be clear, Hickenlooper believes the command should stay put.

Were almost at full operational capability. Theres no question that the country is better served to keep it where it is, Hickenlooper said. Were in a hostile engagement with various adversaries around the world, some of which have the capability to attack our assets in space. Its not the time to be moving things around.

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BREAKING: INTRUSION AT SULLIVANS HOME: A man entered national security adviser JAKE SULLIVANs home two weeks ago, per the Washington Posts CAROL LEONNIG and TYLER PAGER. Sullivan is guarded by the Secret Service, prompting questions about how the break in happened.

A U.S. official confirmed that Sullivans home was broken into but declined to offer any details.

BIDEN COULD CUT G-7 TRIP SHORT: The president will head to Japan this week to attend the G-7 summit but is considering canceling the remainder of his visit abroad to return to Washington and help oversee ongoing debt ceiling negotiations with congressional Republicans, our own JONATHAN LEMIRE and KELLY GARRITY report.

Were reevaluating the rest of the trip, National Security Council spokesperson JOHN KIRBY said today.

The president is scheduled to leave Wednesday for Hiroshima. He had planned to make visits afterward to Papua New Guinea before heading to the Quad Summit in Australia. The stops in Australia and Papua New Guinea were meant to affirm the U.S. commitment to the Pacific as Chinas influence in the region rises.

MOSCOWS EXCEPTIONAL ATTACK: Ukraine shot down six hypersonic missiles that Russia fired overnight in what Kyiv officials called an exceptional attack on the country, Reuters GLEB GARANICH and SERGIY KARAZY report.

Its the first time Ukraine has claimed to have intercepted a volley of Kinzhal missiles 18 total missiles were launched in the attack which Russia has previously said were essentially unstoppable. The missiles travel up to 10 times the speed of sound.

The latest assault was exceptional in its density the maximum number of attack missiles in the shortest period of time, SERHIY POPKO, head of Kyivs city military administration, said on Telegram.

As Russia ramps up aerial strikes, leaders from across Europe headed to Iceland on Tuesday for a rare summit of the 46-nation Council of Europe, which aims to drum up support for Ukraine, the Associated Press DAVID KEYTON and RAF CASERT report. By the end of the summit on Wednesday, the group hopes to have the outline of a system that can track the damage Russian forces have caused in Ukraine, as well as a clear path for holding Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN accountable for his invasion of the nation.

CIA SEEKS RUSSIAN SPIES: The CIA is looking for well-connected Russians outraged by their countrys war against Ukraine to help the West, writes our own NICOLAS CAMUT.

The CIA wants to know the truth about #Russia, and we are looking for reliable people who know and can tell us that truth, the agency said in a statement published with a video on Telegram, urging Russians to safely contact the CIA through a link on the encrypted Tor browser which also allows access to the Dark Web.

The video is part of a wider initiative, developed by the U.S. intelligence agency, to capitalize on what they see as unprecedented resentment toward the war effort from the Russian public.

The invasion has ushered in a historic opportunity to have Russians come to us and deliver information the United States needs, according to an official who spoke to CNN, and was interviewed on the condition of anonymity.

GOP REAX TO DURHAM REPORT: Several likely and already-declared GOP presidential candidates weighed in on the Durham report, which criticized the FBI for its actions during the 2016 probe that scrutinized DONALD TRUMPs campaign and its alleged ties to Russia, as our own KIERRA FRAZIER reports. Heres what they had to say on television and social media:

TRUMP: THEY ARE SCUM, LIKE COCKROACHES ALL OVER WASHINGTON, D.C. he wrote on Truth Social early Tuesday.

RON DeSANTIS: It reminds us of the need to clean house at these agencies, as theyve never been held accountable for this egregious abuse of power, tweeted Monday night.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY: Shut down the FBI and yes, this is much more practical than it sounds, wrote on Twitter Monday night.

NIKKI HALEY: Heads need to roll over this. Anybody that touched it or had a part in it needs to be fired and every one of their senior managers needs to be fired, said on Fox News Tuesday morning.

ASA HUTCHINSON: This makes my call to reform the FBI and limit the breadth of its jurisdiction even more important. Great people. Just needs more focus and accountability, tweeted Monday night.

ITS TUESDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily. This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at [emailprotected] and [emailprotected], and follow us on Twitter at @alexbward and @mattberg33.

While youre at it, follow the rest of POLITICOs national security team: @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @leehudson, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130, @ErinBanco, @Lawrence_Ukenye, @reporterjoe and @_AriHawkins.

BOLTONS BASHING: Former national security adviser JOHN BOLTON, who is weighing a GOP presidential bid, lambasted his old boss on a range of topics in a CNN appearance Tuesday morning. Here are the highlights:

On Trumps reputation worldwide: I have been in those rooms with him when he met with those leaders, I believe they think hes a laughing fool, he said, referring to the Russian, Chinese and North Korean leaders in particular.

On the Turkish election: Im afraid if [President RECEP TAYYIP ERDOAN] wins that there will be real damage done to the NATO alliance. I think we need to consider whether to suspend or even expel Turkey.

On the Durham report: I was struck at how much of Durhams report followed the Department of Justice Inspector General investigation of the investigation of Russia collusion. And I think Durham hit it on the head when he said there was a predisposition to investigate Trump.

NO MORE HACKING: The Biden administration announced a series of steps Tuesday cracking down on a Russian national alleged to have been involved in ransomware attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure and law enforcement organizations, our own MAGGIE MILLER reports (for Pros!).

In two indictments unsealed Tuesday, the Justice Department alleged that Russian national MIKHAIL MATVEEV was involved in the creation of three major ransomware variants LockBit, Hive and Babuk which have been allegedly used by Matveev and other hackers to attack thousands of victims globally since 2020. According to the Justice Department, these attacks involved demands of around $400 million in ransomware payments, around half of which was paid by victims in an attempt to recover encrypted data.

The coordinated actions undertaken by the Justice, State and Treasury departments is part of a larger effort by the administration to address the wave of ransomware attacks on U.S. companies in recent years, and comes amid ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Russia around the invasion of Ukraine.

CHATGPT IN THE HOT SEAT: As countries around the world race to put guardrails on artificial intelligence, OpenAIs CEO made the case on Tuesday for Washington to do its part and regulate the powerful technology.

We think that regulatory intervention by governments will be critical to mitigate the risks of increasingly powerful models, said SAM ALTMAN, whose company created chatbot tool ChatGPT, told the Senate Judiciary subcommittee during a hearing.

One of Altmans main areas of concern is with the ability for AI to influence voters, he said, because were going to face an election next year and these models are getting better.

Sen. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-Conn.) underscored that point with a fake recording of his own voice produced by AI, saying that it could have created an endorsement of Ukraines surrendering or Vladimir Putins leadership, which wouldve been really frightening.

Wheres Warren G when you need him?

DEVELOP STEM: Congress should make it easier for immigrants with advanced STEM degrees to get a green card to better compete with China in the technological realm, nearly 70 former national security leaders wrote to the House China Select Committees head honchos on Monday.

Bottlenecks in the U.S. immigration system endanger our national advantage by driving international science and engineering talent elsewhere, they wrote. The group made the proposal as part of a letter calling for Congress to invest in boosting STEM education.

MORE MILITARY MULAH: House Republicans are proposing to tack nearly $1 billion onto Bidens proposal for military infrastructure spending as part of the opening salvo in the annual appropriations process, our own CONNOR OBRIEN reports (for Pros!).

The fiscal 2024 military construction and veterans spending bill, released Tuesday by the House Appropriations Committee, would allocate $17.7 billion for Pentagon infrastructure programs. The total is $1 billion more than Biden sought in his defense budget but would still be a $1.3 billion reduction from the current year. Bidens budget would have reduced military construction spending by $2.3 billion.

The bill is the first look at GOP designs for the Pentagon amid a partisan fight over spending cuts, though military construction is a small slice of the more than $800 billion defense budget.

KNIVES OUT FOR BLINKEN: Rep. MICHAEL McCAUL (R-Texas) expects a resolution to hold Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN in contempt of Congress to advance along a party-line vote, he said in an interview with Punchbowl News MAX COHEN.

Itd be the first time a secretary of States ever been held in criminal contempt, I believe, said McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, adding that resolution could arrive on the House floor as soon as early June. And so I dont take it lightly.

In March, McCaul issued a subpoena to Blinken to hand over the unredacted version of a cable dissent document, written by U.S. diplomats in Kabul who criticized the Biden administrations messy exit from Afghanistan in 2021.

The chair said the information the State Department has turned over thus far is insufficient, and claimed the department is in violation of its legal obligation to produce these documents and must do so immediately. McCaul gave Blinken a new May 16 deadline to release the unredacted document.

A spokesperson for the department fired back in a briefing last month, and said the full document includes the personal information of the diplomats who wrote it, and that its full release could discourage future would-be authors.

CAMBODIAN OPPO PARTY OUT: Cambodia has disqualified the main opposition party for the countrys second parliamentary election in a row, eliminating the only competitive candidate running against Prime Minister HUN SEN.

The Candlelight Party was denied registration on Monday by the countrys National Election Commission for the July general election, the New York Times SETH MYDANS reports. The party had apparently failed to file required paperwork to enter.

That ruins any chance of changing Cambodias political makeup. Hun Sen, 70, has been in power for 38 years, and the Cambodian Peoples Party, which holds all 125 seats in parliament, has been dominant ever since its primary challenger the Cambodian National Rescue Party was dissolved by government-controlled courts in 2018. Many of those members joined the Candlelight Party after.

IAN STAPLES has been appointed as Rep. KATHERINE CLARKs (D-Mass.) national security adviser. Staples was most recently acting deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Senate affairs.

DAVID ANDELMAN, CNN: How will Russias war end? Zelenskyys representative in the U.S. has an unflinching view

Ret. Maj. Gen. JOHN FERRARI and CHARLES RAHR, Defense News: Give the Defense Innovation Unit a slice of Ukraine funds

GHAITH OMARI, Foreign Affairs: The Palestinian succession crisis

American Bar Association, the American University and Mayer Brown, 8 a.m.: Security in an Insecure World: National Security, Technology, and the Law

Intelligence and National Security Alliance, 8 a.m.: Preparing for a Post-Quantum Future

Center for Strategic and International Studies, 8:30 a.m.:A Conversation with Sir ANGUS HOUSTON, Co-Lead of Australias New Defence Strategic Review

Atlantic Council and Applied Intuition, 9 a.m.: NEXUS 23: A symposium at the intersection of defense, national security, and autonomy

House Homeland Security Committee, 9:30 a.m.: Chairman Green Announces Markup on Legislative Package

Senate Armed Services Committee, 9:30 a.m.:To receive testimony on the Role of Special Operations Forces in Supporting the National Defense Strategy, Including Activities that Contribute to Long-Term Strategic Competition with China and Russia

POLITICOs China Watcher, 10 a.m.: Too Little, Too Late? Does the U.S. have a China strategy?(With our own PHELIM KINE!)

Center for Strategic and International Studies, 10 a.m.: Allied Burden Sharing in Ukraine.

Korea Economic Institute of America, 10 a.m.:U.S.-ROK-Japan Trilateral Relations and Integrated Deterrence

Hudson Institute, 12 p.m.: The Next Move in Ukraine: A Conversation with MICHAEL POMPEO

Washington institute for Near East Policy, 12 p.m.:Navigating the Dynamic Homeland Threat Landscape

Hudson Institute, 1 p.m.: American National Security and the Russian-Iranian War on Ukraine: A Conversation with Senator TED CRUZ

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2:30 p.m.: Carnegie Connects: Israel at 75 with Former Prime Minister EHUD BARAK

Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 2:45 p.m.: Hearings to examine the nominations of JENNIFER ADAMS, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Cabo Verde, HEATHER VARIAVA, of Iowa, to be Ambassador to the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, and JULIE TURNER, of Maryland, to be Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues, with the rank of Ambassador, all of the Department of State, and other pending nominations

Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who keeps her reviews about us private.

We also thank our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, who always makes the right decision.

A message from Lockheed Martin:

Unrivaled.

Information is the battlespace advantage. F-35 sensor fusion provides vast amounts of information to accelerate critical decisions and win the fight. Learn more.

See more here:
How the decision on Space Command's home will be made - POLITICO

As the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin becomes more widespread, ensuring payment privacy and Bitcoin anonymity is becoming increasingly important. With the public nature of the blockchain, its easy for anyone to trace transactions and identify the parties involved. This has led to the development of tools like Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers, which allow users to break the link between the sending and receiving addresses, providing an additional layer of privacy and anonymity.

Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers are essentially the same thing. They both work by mixing together multiple transactions and redistributing the funds to new addresses, making it impossible for anyone to trace the transactions back to their original sources. By using a Bitcoin mixer or Bitcoin tumbler, users can ensure that their transactions are completely anonymous and untraceable. While the use of Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers is not illegal, they are often associated with illegal activities. This is because they are often used by individuals who wish to conceal their transactions for nefarious purposes.

However, Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers are also widely used by individuals who simply want to maintain their privacy and keep their financial transactions confidential. In this article, well explore the benefits of using Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers, and whether they should be accessed on clearnet addresses or on their onion alternatives. By the end of this article, youll have a better understanding of how Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers work, and how they can be used to protect your privacy and anonymity when transacting with cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin mixers, also known as Bitcoin tumblers or Bitcoin blenders, are an important tool for anyone looking to maintain their privacy while using cryptocurrencies. With the increasing use of blockchain analysis tools, its becoming harder to transact anonymously, and Bitcoin mixers offer a solution to this problem. Most bitcoin mixers offer two types of URLs for accessing their services. One is a standard clearnet domain, and the other is an onion domain alternative. The question you may be asking is: which is more secure and anonymous?

Firstly, lets understand the nature of clearnet and darknet. Clearnet refers to the regular internet that most people use every day. Websites on the clearnet are indexed by search engines and are accessible to anyone with an internet connection. On the other hand, the darknet is a collection of websites that are not indexed by search engines and are not accessible through regular browsers. Darknet websites are accessed through special browsers like Tor or Brave, which hide the users IP address and allow them to browse anonymously.

The darknet is often associated with illegal activities, and while its true that some darknet marketplaces sell illegal products and services, its also home to legitimate websites offering services that require a higher degree of privacy. Bitcoin mixers are one such service. By accessing a Bitcoin mixer through Tor, users can ensure that their transactions are completely anonymous and untraceable.

Although the clearnet is generally considered to be a safer and more reliable option for accessing websites, it is still vulnerable to cyberattacks. One of the most common types of attack that clearnet websites face is a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack.

A DDoS attack occurs when a website is flooded with a large volume of traffic from multiple sources, rendering the website inaccessible to legitimate users. Hackers often use botnets, which are networks of infected computers, to launch these attacks. The goal of a DDoS attack is to overload the websites servers, causing the website to crash or become unavailable.

DDoS attacks can make the bitcoin mixers clearnet address unresponsive, which is another reason why users should prefer the onion version of the bitcoin mixer. If you really value your privacy, you should always access Bitcoin mixer through Tor, a secure and anonymous network.

The benefits of using a Bitcoin mixer are many. Firstly, Bitcoin mixers break the link between the sending and receiving addresses, making it impossible for anyone to trace the transaction back to the sender. Secondly, Bitcoin mixers provide an additional layer of security by encrypting the transaction data, making it impossible for anyone to intercept and steal the funds. Finally, Bitcoin mixers offer users the ability to control the timing of their transactions, making it harder for blockchain analysis tools to detect patterns in the transactions.

To access a Bitcoin mixer through Tor, users will need to download the Tor browser, which is available for free on the Tor Project website. Once the browser is installed, users can browse the darknet and access Bitcoin mixers through their onion addresses. Onion addresses are unique URLs that end in .onion, and they are only accessible through the Tor network.

Its important to note that not all Bitcoin mixers are created equal, and users should take the time to research and find the best Bitcoin mixer for their needs. Some of the factors to consider when choosing a Bitcoin mixer include the fees charged, the level of anonymity provided, and the reputation of the mixer. When searching for the best Bitcoin mixer, users should also look for mixers that offer features like delayed payouts or multiple deposit addresses. Delayed payouts allow users to control the timing of their transactions, while multiple deposit addresses allow users to make multiple deposits to the mixer, further increasing the anonymity of the transaction.

In conclusion, the use of Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers can provide an additional layer of privacy and anonymity when transacting with cryptocurrencies. By breaking the link between the sending and receiving addresses, these tools make it impossible for anyone to trace the transactions back to their original sources. While the use of Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers is not without controversy, they can be a valuable tool for individuals who want to maintain their financial privacy and keep their transactions confidential. By using these tools, individuals can protect themselves from identity theft, fraud, and other malicious activities.

Its important to note that while Bitcoin mixers and Bitcoin tumblers can help ensure payment privacy and Bitcoin anonymity, they are not foolproof. As the world of cryptocurrencies continues to evolve, its likely that well see new tools and technologies emerge to help protect users privacy and anonymity. In the meantime, its up to individuals to take the necessary steps to protect themselves when transacting with cryptocurrencies. Whether youre a casual user or a serious investor, taking the time to learn about Bitcoin mixers can help you stay one step ahead of potential threats and keep your financial transactions private and secure.

None of the information on this website is investment or financial advice and does not necessarily reflect the views of CryptoMode or the author. CryptoMode is not responsible for any financial losses sustained by acting on information provided on this website by its authors or clients. Always conduct your research before making financial commitments, especially with third-party reviews, presales, and other opportunities.

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Bitcoin Mixers: Clearnet vs. Darknet Which Offers Greater Anonymity? - Crypto Mode

By Matt Taibbi / Racket News

Today youll find two new #TwitterFiles threads out,oneby longtime Racket contributor Matt Orfalea, andanotherby Andrew Lowenthal, who worked for 18 years defending digital rights at EngageMedia and watched activists in his space slowly be absorbed by what were now calling The Censorship-Industrial Complex.

The two new threads collectively show the wide political range of revelations in the #TwitterFiles material, which have been slandered absurdly as a partisan exercise. Lowenthal, who in his Insiders Guide to Anti-Disinformation describes himself as a progressive-minded Australian, printed a series of exchanges between journalists who attended a summer tabletop exercise at the Aspen Institute about a hack-and-leak operation involving Burisma and Hunter Biden, weeks before the actual event. When the actual scandal broke not long after, the existence of that tabletop exercise clearly become newsworthy, but none of the journalists present, who included David Sanger of theNew York Timesand currentRolling Stoneeditor Noah Schactman said a word. Perhaps, as was common with anti-disinfo conferences, the event was off the record. (We asked, and none of the reporters commented). It doesnt matter. Lowenthal showed how another anti-disinformation conference featured the headline speaker Anthony Blinken. Hes currently suspected of having triggered the infamous letter signed by 50 intelligence officers saying the Hunter Biden laptop story had the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.

As Lowenthal writes: See how it works? The people accusing others of disinformationrunthe biggest disinformation campaigns themselves.

On the flip side, Orfalea found a document showing that both the Wikileaks account and that of Dr. Jill Stein were algorithmically added by Twitter to a list given the creepy nameis_russian. This was one of two buckets of Russians Twitter was collecting, one called A Priori Russians (usually, accounts identified as Russian by 3rd party researchers), the other Inferred Russians (accounts that had strong, medium, or weak signals of Russianness, involving language, type of email account, location of IP address, tweet time, etc). Even Twitters own analysts noted that any system that captured Jill Stein as Russian spoke to the overly broad nature of is_russian. It was just such a signals or marker-based methodology that Twitter and other researchers used to identify Russians on the Internet, a methodology Twitter internally called one of educated guesses, concealing a company secret about identifying accounts linked to Russias Internet Research Agency: We have no realistic way of knowing this on a Twitter-centric basis.

As Stein noted when I spoke to her yesterday, these unseen algorithmic tweaks to the political landscape have the effect of decreasing the visibility of political independents during a time of record hunger for political alternatives. Stein noted a Gallup poll justshowedidentification with the Democratic and Republican parties is at an all-time low, and said such digital meddling is an outrageous excuse for political repression, and more that Joe McCarthy would be proud of.

When Stella Assange was told about the is_russian list, she first speculated that any algorithm that demerited users based on location might produce false positives if account holders used, say, the Tor Browser, which could randomly result in an RU exit node. Since Tor is an essential tool for civil liberties and privacy communities, you could have people being tossed in a Russian bucket for the crime of trying to evade surveillance.

In another part of his thread, Orfalea notes that a Clemson University researcher hailed as a troll hunter in the press and used as a source by major media outlets, speculated that an account called @drkwarlord that was sharing a hashtag, #BloombergisRacist because the account was tweeting at odd hours:

Thats the expert opinion. Orfalea just called @drkwarlord, who laughed, Im a nurse at a hospital in Indiana. In 2020, I worked the night shift.

Whether its suppression of a news story conservatives care about like the Hunter Biden laptop tale, or deamplification of a left-leaning Green Party candidate like Jill Stein, the #TwitterFiles consistently hit at the same theme, but its not partisan. Its really summed up by something Stella Assange said, about the difference between Wikileaks and the anti-disinformation facsimile, Bellingcat. Wikileaks coined intelligence agency of the people. Bellingcat went with for the people.

Civil society institutions, the media, politicians, and government are supposed to maintain distance from one another in democracy. The Censorship-Industrial Complex shows an opposite instinct, for all of these groups to act in concert, essentially as one giant, incestuous intelligence operation not of the people, but paternalistically for the people, or so they believe. Journalists attend conferences where news happens and do not report it, breaking ranks neither with conference organizers, nor with each other. The Trump era has birthed a new brand of paranoid politics, where once-liberalizing institutions like the press and NGOs are encouraged to absorb into a larger whole, creating a single political cartel to protect against the contagion of mass movements. As Lowenthal notes, this explains why so many anti-disinformation campaigns describe language as a kind of disease, e.g. infodemic, information pollution, and information disorder.

Surrounded by the disease of dangerous political ideas, checks and balances are being discarded in favor of a new belief in banding together. TheGuardiansLuke Harding laid out this idea a few years ago, in a gushingreviewof a book about Bellingcat by its founder, British journalist Eliot Higgins:

Higgins thinks traditional news outlets need to establish their own open source investigation teams or miss out. Hes right. Several have done so. The New York Times has recruited ex-Bellingcat staff. Higgins approves of this. In his view,rivalry between media titles is a thing of the past. The future is collaboration, the hunt for evidence a shared endeavour, the truth out there if we wish to discover it.

Harding makes this sound cheery, but the rivalry of media titles is the primary (if not only) regulatory mechanism for keeping the press honest. If theTimes, Washington Post, CNN, and MSNBC no longer go after each other for uncorrected errors like the Hamilton 68 fiasco exposed in the #TwitterFiles, or Hardings own infamous report that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort managed to have a secret meeting in Londons Ecuadorian embassy with the worlds most-watched human, Assange they can and will indulge in collective delusions. A shared endeavour vision of politics is just a synonym for belief in elite concentration of power.

As noted in Lowenthals thread, the story of the #TwitterFiles and the Censorship-Industrial Complex is really the story of the collapse of public trust in experts and institutions, and how those experts struck back, by trying to pool their remaining influence into a political monopoly. The losers in any advancement of this story would include anyone outside the monopoly, and they can be on either the right or the left. The intense negative reaction by traditional press to the #TwitterFiles stories published to date is rooted in a feeling of betrayal. The new media leaders see themselves as doing the same service police officers in the stop-and-frisk era called order maintenance, pouncing on visible signs of discord or disruption. Theyre gatekeepers, and the #TwitterFiles classic old-timey journalism that assumes the public has a right to know things represents an unacceptable breach of the perimeter.

Orfalea is also releasing today a video he compiled for the Report on the Censorship-Industrial Complex. Titled Eleven Minutes of Media Falsehoods, Just On One Subject, Just On One Channel, its whats left of a more ambitious plan theRacketteam tried to put together as part of this wider series, whose first pieces are coming out today. Andrew and Matts material is coming out first, but in the next weeks youll be reading from a series of contributors in this Report on the Censorship-Industrial Complex, each looking at this subject from different angles.

The project started with a question: whos on this list?

Youre looking at page 7 of areportby the State Department Inspector General from August, 2020, featuring the forgettable title, Audit of Global Engagement Center Federal Assistance Award Management and Monitoring. On the first page, the State IG explained it was auditing a new agency, the Global Engagement Center, which was housed in the U.S. State Department and dedicated to the fight against foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation. The IG added some history:

In March 2016, President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13721, which required the Secretary of State to establish the Global Engagement Center (GEC). The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2017 then mandated that GEC lead, synchronize, and coordinate efforts of the Federal Government to recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining United States national security interests.

The report went on to say that in Fiscal Year 2018, the new anti-disinformation wing of the State Department received $98.7 million, including approximately $78.7 million in congressionally appropriated funds, and $20 million transferred from the Department of Defense. That was distributed among 39 different award recipients, whom the Inspector General was kind enough to list. Only, they redacted all but three names, none of which have what one would describe as vibrant online presences today:Park Advisors, the Democracy Council of California, and the CNA Corporation.

I first read this report in mid-February, roughly three months into the #TwitterFiles project. At the time, I was trying to learn more aboutHamilton 68, the reporter-friendly anti-disinformation dashboard purporting to track a list of accounts linked to Russian influence activities. Internal Twitter emails showed executives reverse-engineered the Hamilton list andfound it to be a fraud, mostly tracking not Russians but ordinary people here at home.

Multiple sources told me to look for Hamilton ties to the GEC. Among those who claimed to help design the site included a writer called J.M. Berger, who told me hed been on the GEC payroll until about a month before the lists launch (though he vigorously denied doing work on Hamilton for GEC). Hamiltons public spokesperson Clint Watts, a former FBI counterterrorism agent, worked at GECs predecessor agency, the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, or CSCC. The first head of GEC, formerTimeeditor Rick Stengel,laudedthe Hamilton 68 project in odd language, saying, If only wed had it during the election:

Trying to answer these questions about a relatively small amount of money and 39 names, I soon realized the anti-disinformation world was awash in cash from a range of public and private sources, and we werent dealing with dozens of organizations butat leasthundreds, many engaged in language-policing at scale. By early February, seeing that keeping track of which group did what was clearly too much work for one person to even begin to take on, Iput out an APBfor help mainly in trying to answer one question: exactly how big is this new speech bureaucracy?

#TwitterFiles reporters like Michael Shellenberger, and myself didnt have much of a hint of what we were looking at until later in the project. That larger story was about a new type of political control mechanism that didnt really exist ten years ago. In preparation for testimony before the House in March, Shellenberger gave it a name: the Censorship-Industrial Complex.

The allusion was an unpleasantly perfect fit. America was introduced to the original Military-Industrial Complex on January 17, 1961, in the farewell address of President Dwight Eisenhower. The former Commander of Allied Forces in Europe in WWII warned of something new in the American experience: an interlocking network of financiers, extra-governmental organizations and official bureaucracies who were organized around permanent arms production and who collectively wielded more power than kings, presidents, and other such titular authorities.

Ike forced Americans for the first time to think of power as suffuse, insuperable, and geographically indistinct, less like a kings scepter than electricity running through a brain. In the context of the Military Industrial Complex, the Oval Office from which Eisenhower delivered his famous farewell was just a room, Eisenhower himself just a recoiling pile of bones and fluids, following a final stage direction:

The Censorship-Industrial Complex is much the same. Shellenberger coined the term while working with me on a #TwitterFiles project that began with a parallel mystery story: who had the power to muzzle a president?

We didnt understand at the time, but thethird,fourth, andfifthinstallments of the #TwitterFiles about the three days of infighting at Twitter between the Capitol riots on January 6th and their decision to remove Donald Trump on January 8th served as an introduction for all of us to the major components of a vast new public-private speech bureaucracy, one that appeared to have been founded in the United States, but was clearly global in scope.

The material youll be reading in the next week or so is designed to accomplish two things. The first task we settled on was to create, through interactive lists and other features, a quantitative map of the world Shellenbergerdescribedin his written testimony, a censorship industrial complex that:

Combines established methods of psychological manipulation with highly sophisticated tools from computer science, including artificial intelligence. The complexs leaders are driven by the fear that the Internet and social media platforms empower populist, alternative, and fringe personalities and views, which they regard as destabilizing.

In pursuit of that first goal, organized loosely around a thing weve been calling The List,Racketwelcomed people likeLowenthalandGeneve Campbell, (formerly of theBerkman Klein Centerat Harvard). With their experience in the anti-disinformation space, Andrew and Geneve helped a team of journalists and researchers put together what we hope will be an accessible starter kit for everyday readers hoping to acquaint themselves with the biggest organizational names in the CIC.

The second goal had reporters like Aaron Mat, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Susan Schmidt, The Hunt for Tom Clancy writer Matt Farwell (a co-worker of my late colleague Michael Hastings), military-veteran-turned-reporter Tom Wyatt, the wonderfully obsessiveRacketcontributor Orfalea, and others attempt to tell the broader history of the new international censorship phenomenon.

Each took on different stories under the theme of the CIC, aided by leads from the Twitter Files, like: what was the genesis of the Senate Intelligence Committees Trump-Russia investigation? How did the post-9/11 counter-terrorism project morph into a post-Trump counter-populism project? How does the development of the CIC fit with the broader history of American information operations? Does a CIC that claims to stop fake news actually create it spoiler, it does and if so, how many media stories need retracting, or at least an editors note, in the face of information found in the Twitter Files? Lastly, can the CIC target individuals, and if so, what would one particularly devastating test case look like? These stories will be coming out in the next weeks.

All the contributors to this report are independents. Many are not formally trained journalists, and some, like the tireless @Techno_Fog, represent a new kind of citizen journalism it seemed important to recognize. A major subtext of the CIC story is that ordinary people are going to have to build their own media and oversight institutions to represent them, as virtually the entire landscape of traditional institutional checks on power seems to have been compromised.

If the Military Industrial Complex was propped up by an Iron Triangle of donors, Congress, and quasi-private interest groups, the CIC is more like a four-legged animal: government, civil society organizations, tech companies, and a shocking fourth partner, news media. Stanfords Election Integrity Project, a supposedly independent group that director Alex Stamos said was created in 2020 to fill the gap of what government couldnt do by itself, did us the favor of creating a graphic representation of these four major stakeholders:

Note the way reports flow both to and fromthe media, which has completely rethought its rolevis a visthe public. Over and over in the #TwitterFiles, we saw newspapers finking on their own readers instead of advocating for them. The typical progression involved a civil society organization like the Britain-based Center for Countering Digital Hate reaching out to reporters with lists of people or accounts deemed to be bad actors, followed by queries from those reporters to Twitter, demanding to know: why hasnt this group been deleted? These voices? This idea?

One of the first observations Andrew made when he started looking through the Files was how bizarre it was to see civil society organizations holding tabletop exercises about election security with representatives of the military.

Not the military is whatcivilsociety is supposed to mean, he says. Theyre not supposed to be partners.

Democracy relies on the dynamic tension between liberalizing institutions like the press, NGOs, and the media, but the CIC seeks to unite these groups and homogenize information flow. This is not only morally wrong, but ridiculous: theres no way to keep a cap on 8 billion voices forever. The people youll be reading about in this series want to try, however. How? Raw numbers. Money. The sheer application of political will and computing power. As youll read and see, if they have to build one NGO for every human on earth, theyll do it.

Franz Kafka dreamed up the one gatekeeper per person idea over a century ago as ironic metaphor inBefore the Law,but the modern United States is moving in that direction as political reality. Its the ultimate convergence of the huge-scale-waste approach to governance as perfected across generations of forever wars and Pentagon spending, and the authoritarian thinking that flowered all over in response to episodes like 9/11, Brexit, and the election of Donald Trump. The core concept is too much democracy and freedom leads to mischief, and since the desire for these things cant be stamped out all at once but instead must be squashed in every person over and over and endlessly, the job requires a massive investment, and a gigantic bureaucracy to match.

How gigantic? Read on, starting with todays threads, and Matts mind-boggling video. Stay tuned to this space for more.

See original here:
Matt Taibbi: Report on the Censorship-Industrial Complex - Scheerpost.com

At a Glance

If you are reading this, youve likely heard about how the Tor Browser can help protect your internet privacy and anonymity online.

You probably have questions about the Tor Browser, such as:

In this comprehensive guide, I will endeavor to answer those questions and many more. Ill go into how the Tor system works, explain the Onion Network, what a relay is, and how to make the Tor Browser work best to protect your online privacy and anonymity.

The Tor Browser (The Onion Router) is a product of the Tor Project, which was founded on the belief that internet users should have private access to an uncensored web.

The Tor Browser automatically routes its traffic through the anonymous Tor network. The browser isolates each website you visit, so it prevents trackers and ads from following you online. When the browser is closed, it deletes all privacy-sensitive website data such as browsing history and cookies.

The Tor browser provides access to .onion websites, which are Tor hidden services that you can only access through the Tor browser. You can access these websites without worrying about someone snooping on a Tor exit node, offering more private browsing of what is known as the deep web.

The Tor Browser is a popular online anonymity tool among political activists and journalists who fear totalitarian governments monitoring or arresting them. Other users appreciate the browser as it allows them to circumvent censorship. And yes, unfortunately, those seeking to perform criminal acts also use it.

The Tor Browser does have its flaws, which well go into a bit later. Suffice it to say that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) can detect when youre using the Tor Browser, which can make you the target of increased surveillance by both the ISP and the government. However, there is an easy-to-use way around that, which well talk about later.

The Tor Browser is a modified version of the Mozilla Firefox browser and includes the TorButton, TorLauncher, NoScript, and HTTPS Everywhere Firefox extensions, along with the Tor proxy. You can run it from removable media (a USB stick, for example).

The browser is available for Linux, macOS, and Windows desktop and laptop computers. A Tor Browser from the Tor Project is available for Android, and The Onion Browser from developer and journalist Mike Tigas is available for iOS mobile devices, which the Tor Project links to.

The browser uses a unique security system, which the United States Navy originally developed to protect the governments intelligence communications.

All Tor Browser data is encrypted and relayed three times over the Onion Router network, which is composed of thousands of volunteer-run servers, which are known as Tor relays.

This encryption and relaying of your browsing data prevents anyone who is watching from detecting which websites you are visiting. All anyone can see is that youre using Tor. You can also hide your Tor activity (more about that later).

The Tor Browser is configured to make all users look the same, making it nearly impossible for users to be fingerprinted based on their browser and device information.

In an onion network, messages are encased in layers of encryption, much like the layers of an onion. The encrypted data is sent through a series of network-based nodes called onion routers.

There are four nodes between your computer and the website you want to connect to.

Each of these nodes removes or peels away a single layer, which uncovers the datas next node destination. When the final layer of the onion is reached and decrypted, the message arrives at its destination.

All of this keeps the sender anonymous thanks to how each intermediary node only knows the location of the previous and next node. This provides high-level anonymity and security.

If this all sounds a bit processor-intensive and a bit slow, you are correct.

Because of the relaying of data through the onion nodes, and the encrypting and decrypting taking place at each node, your internet connection will slow considerably. This means the Tor Browser is not recommended for streaming video, playing games, or downloading large files.

The Tor Browser is easy to install. Simply visit the Tor Project website, then click on the Download Tor Browser button found in the upper right-hand corner or the center of the web page.

On the Download page, download the correct version of Tor Browser for your device by clicking on or tapping on the button for your devices operating system. (Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. There is no official iOS version available. Youll learn more about that shortly.)

Once youve downloaded the version for your device do the following:

Go to the directory where you saved the downloaded Tor Browser installation file. Launch the installer by double-clicking the file. Choose your language and click OK. Follow the installation prompts. Click Finish when the installation is complete.

Open the Downloads folder on your Mac, and double-click the file you just downloaded. A window will pop up. Drag the Tor Browser icon onto the Applications folder icon. This will install the Tor Browser into your Applications folder.

Go to the directory where you downloaded the Tor Browser installation file. Right-click on the downloaded file and select Extract Here. Once the Tor Browser setup files have been extracted, double-click on Tor Browser Setup to install the browser.

Tap on the Download for Android button. Here, you can download an .apk to sideload the app to your device (sideloading is beyond the scope of this article, or simply tap Go to Google Play. (This is what well do here.) In the Google Play Store, tap Install. Once the app is installed, tap Open to launch, then tap Connect to start your Tor network connection.

While Tor doesnt offer a Tor Browser for iOS devices, it does recommend a browser for the platform. The Onion Browser is available in the App Store. In the App Store, click GET to download the browser. Once it is installed, tap the OPEN button to run the app. Tap Connect to Tor to connect.

Locate your Tor Browser folder or application. The default installation location is the Desktop.

Delete the Tor Browser folder/application.

Empty your Windows Recycle Bin.

Locate the Tor Browser application. (By default, the installation location is the Applications folder.

Drag and drop the Tor Browser application to the Trash.

Go to the ~/Library/Application Support/ folder. (Just FYI: the Library folder is hidden on newer versions of macOS. To navigate to this folder in Finder, select Go to Folder in the Go menu. Then type ~/Library/Application Support/ in the window and click Go.)

Locate the TorBrowser-Data folder and move it to the Trash.

Empty the Trash.

Locate the Tor Browser folder on your hard drive. The folder will be named tor-browser_en-US if you are running the English Tor Browser.

Delete the Tor Browser folder.

Empty the Trash.

Tap and hold on to the Tor Browser icon.

In the pop-up menu that appears, tap App Info.

On the App Info screen, tap UNINSTALL.

Tap and hold on the Onion Browser icon.

In the pop-up menu that appears, tap Remove App.

Tap Delete App to fully remove the app from your device.

While the Tor Browser and the Onion Network are an excellent way to protect your online privacy and anonymity, it is by no means a perfect solution, and it has a few weaknesses.

Since each node server in the Tor network is volunteer-operated, you never know who operates the relays that your data is traveling through. While this isnt an issue for most of the trip (since each relay only has access to the previous and next relays in the network), it is an issue with the exit node.

The exit node removes the final layer of encryption on your data. While this doesnt tell the exit node what your original IP address or your geographical location is, it could spy on your activity if the website youre visiting isnt a secured HTTPS website.

Also, since the Tor Browser is based on the Mozilla Firefox platform, its susceptible to the same attacks that other browsers are.

When you install the Tor Browser, it comes preconfigured with the most secure privacy settings. That means Javascript is disabled, extensions are disabled, and the browser is configured to warn you if an attempt is made to download a file and open it in another application.

This means you should never change the default settings in the Tor Browser. Stick with the original settings theyre the most secure.

While the Tor Browser does an excellent job of protecting your privacy and anonymity, you really shouldnt use it as your daily driver browser.

As I mentioned previously, using the Tor Browser will slow down your browsing. Since your traffic goes through a series of relays, getting encrypted or decrypted along the way, things slow way down. This means Tor is a lousy option for streaming video, online gaming, or downloading files (torrenting).

If you need to protect or enhance your streaming, gaming, or torrenting activities, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a much better option as a secure connection to the net.

Another reason you dont want to use the Tor Browser for your daily web browsing is that it draws attention to you. The Tor Browser prevents your ISP from seeing what websites youre visiting, but it does not prevent the ISP from seeing that youre using Tor. That could make them suspicious about what youre doing. That makes you a target for monitoring.

Your ISP may contact a government agency, like the FBI or NSA, who are always interested in suspicious online activity. Unless youre a fan of having big black SUVs parked outside your home and place of work, maybe only use Tor when you REALLY need to hide your online travels. (If you want to protect all of your daily internet activity, try a VPN.)

While the Tor Browser hides your online browsing, it only hides your online activity through the Tor Browser. All of your other online activities remain open to observation.

This is why I strongly suggest using a Virtual Private Network to protect and enhance all of your online activities. A VPN keeps all of your online activities including your web browsing, online gaming, streaming, and file-sharing undercover and safe from being tracked or recorded.

A secure VPN server slows down your browsing much less than the Tor Browser and also opens access to geo-blocked local content around the globe. This makes it a great option for watching videos from streaming services that are available only in other regions of the world.

That said, the Tor Browser and a VPN make an excellent team for protecting your online activities from prying eyes, and provide optimal online privacy protection.

There are two ways to use Tor and a VPN in tandem. They are known as Tor Over VPN and VPN Over Tor. Lets take a look at how both options work.

Tor Over VPN is when you first connect your computer or mobile device to your VPN service and then use the Tor Browser to travel the internet.

This encrypts your internet traffic using your VPNs servers, protecting against outside parties monitoring all of your devices internet activities.

This ensures that your real IP address is hidden from the first Tor relay (it sees the IP address that your VPN provider supplies). Then the Tor anonymity network relays further obfuscate your true location, as the browser relays your browser traffic through several relay locations.

Pros:

Cons:

VPN Over Tor is when you first connect to the Tor network and then connect to your VPN.

While Tor Over VPN merely requires you to connect to your VPN service provider in the usual manner and then fire up your Tor Browser, VPN over Tor requires you to manually set up a few things before you use it.

Plus, there are only a few VPN providers that offer this option (PrivateVPN is the only one that comes to mind).

Pros:

Cons:

Using a VPN in conjunction with the Tor Browser is an excellent way to keep your online travels secure and private. A VPNs ability to hide your Tor usage from your ISP and from government authorities makes for a valuable addition to your online privacy arsenal.

While there are numerous VPN services that work well with Tor, Ive found that NordVPN offers the best protection and compatibility, and keeps your personal information safe.

NordVPN offers top-notch encrypted protection, a kill switch that keeps your Tor usage from being inadvertently exposed, fast download speeds, comprehensive global server coverage, and excellent multi-platform app support.

In addition, NordVPN offers Onion over VPN (think Tor over VPN), which routes your internet traffic through one of its servers, passes it through the Onion network, and then sends it to the internet. This means you can use your favorite browser instead of the Tor Browser and still benefit from being routed through the Onion Network.

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The dark web (often referred to as the darknet, black web or black net) is a small section of the deep web that is hidden and kept inaccessible to regular internet users on purpose.

The dark web is web content that exists on darknets, which are overlay networks on the internet that require specialized software (such as the Tor Browser), configurations, and authorization to access. Arguably, the best-known tool used to access the dark web is the Tor Browser.

The dark web is a refuge for information leakers and whistleblowers. Edward Snowden used the Tor global network on a regular basis. The dark web is the perfect avenue for communicating and publishing sensitive information with no fear of retribution, such as imprisonment.

The dark web is a popular privacy tool for activists and revolutionaries (such as Anonymous). It serves as a way for activists to organize gatherings and other activities in secret, with no worries about giving their plans or position away to the authorities.

The dark web is a very popular platform for journalists, political bloggers, and political news publishers, especially for those living in countries where strict censorship shields are the rule.

Unfortunately, the dark web is also where underground marketplaces flourish, selling drugs, weapons, stolen IDs and credit cards, and other ill-gotten goods. It is also used to facilitate human trafficking, money laundering, and worse.

This is why I strongly advise anyone visiting the dark web to exercise the greatest of caution during their dark online travels. Check out my article for more information about the dark web and how to access it while staying safe. One way to stay safe is to use a VPN while accessing the dark web, so be sure to check out my article on the best VPNs for the dark web.

One of the major advantages of using Tor in overly-restrictive countries is that it keeps your online travels private. Unfortunately, some oppressive regimes have figured out a way to block Tor traffic. Luckily, there is a way around these virtual roadblocks.

If you find that Tor is restricted in your current location, you can use a bridge. A bridge creates an obfuscated relay on the Tor network that is not listed in the main directory. That means that even if an ISP is monitoring all of the known Tor relays, they may not be able to block all of the obfuscated bridges. This presents an extra option for connecting.

To use a Tor bridge, click the Hamburger Menu (three stacked horizontal lines in the upper right-hand corner of the browser window), then click Settings. On the Settings page, click Connection in the left-hand column. Look for the Bridges section.

Your options are:

Weve learned a lot from this article. Weve found that Tor is an excellent way to keep your internet browser-based online activities undercover, although weve also seen how using the Tor Browser can bring unwanted attention. Luckily, a VPN can help prevent that.

Weve also looked at how Tor allows users to access the dark web, and were now aware of the resources and dangers that await us there.

Now you have enough information about what Tor is, how it works, and how best to use it, allowing you to make an informed choice on its proper use, and how to best protect yourself online when using it.

There are numerous search engines for .onion websites. DuckDuckGo offers an .onion version of its search engine, while Sci-Hub offers access to millions of scientific articles and papers. Library Genesis offers a search engine for collections of books on such topics as computers, business, technology, and more. These are only a few of the .onion search engines that are available.

Merely downloading, installing and using the Tor Browser is not illegal. There are many safe and legal uses for Tor. However, some Tor users do so to facilitate illegal online acts.

However, criminals soon found that just using the Tor Browser can bring unwanted attention to their online activities. The NSA and FBI have been known to specifically target Tor users. Internet Service Providers also become interested in your Tor-based online activities, and at least one ISP ::COUGH!:: Comcast! ::COUGH!:: has threatened to cut the service of Tor users.

Originally posted here:
The Ultimate 2023 Guide to The Tor Browser Explained - Pixel Privacy

How Does the Tor Search Engine Work?

By erasing your browsing history automatically with every session and encrypting your web traffic, using Tor can stop people and companies from learning your location or tracking your online habits. After downloading the Tor Browser, everything you do in the browser will go through the Tor network. This network disguises your identity by encrypting your traffic and moving it through different Tor servers, or nodes. If someone tries to identify you based on your browsing activity, theyll only find the last server your data traffic moved through, making it difficult or impossible to pinpoint your identity.

For people who want to keep their browsing activity away from advertisers, internet service providers, or websites, using the Tor Browser provides privacy. Tor can also help people get around censorship restrictions in certain countries and can hide IP addresses. Journalists sometimes use the Tor browser to communicate with sources to protect sensitive information.

A new way to protect your data and devices with Microsoft 365.

In general, using the Tor browser keeps your information private, but Tor only conceals your initial online browsing requests. If you make or sign into accounts online, your identity will no longer be private. Similarly, downloading add-ons or plug-ins may compromise your anonymity. Its also possible for your identity to be discovered by using malware to reveal your IP address.

Using the Tor Browser is completely legal in most countries, including the United States. However, using Tor for illegal activities does not make the activities any less illegal. While there are many legitimate reasons to protect your identity online, you should never use Tor to bypass the law. Law enforcement agencies have several ways to identify illegal activity, even if its performed using Tor.

For most internet users, you likely dont need to anonymize your internet activity. Tors triple-layered encryption makes the browser much slower than your normal internet connection and isnt necessary for everyday web browsing. You also wont be able to use browser plugins when using Tor. If youd like to secure your internet when using public Wi-Fi, using HTTPS or even a VPN is a better alternative. Websites that use HTTPS:// in their URLs instead of HTTP:// show the same web content while encrypting your data and providing a more secure connection. While using a VPN wont keep your identity anonymous, it will keep your data private.

Despite its minor flaws, the Tor browser can be an effective tool to protect your online data. While the average internet user probably does not need the anonymity and privacy that Tor provides, theres no major downside to using the free browser.

See more here:
What is Tor & How Do You Use It? Microsoft 365