MIT researchers have found a way to de-anonymize Tor

TECHi's Author
Opposing Author Extremetech Read Source Article
Last Updated
TECHi's Take
Connor Livingston
Connor Livingston
  • Words 70
  • Estimated Read 1 min

Tor has been described as the most important tool for anonymous communication in the world by numerous privacy advocates and even the NSA has admitted (behind closed doors) that it’s impossible to crack, but some researchers at MIT have found a clever way to do just that. Rather than breaking through any encryption, however, the researchers have developed a method of de-anonymizing Tor users by using a few algorithms. 

Extremetech

Extremetech

  • Words 167
  • Estimated Read 1 min
Read Article

The Tor network has millions of daily users who rely on it for anonymous access to resources on the open internet and within Tor itself. There have been various attacks on the anonymous aspect of Tor over the years, but a new proof of concept from researchers at MIT demonstrates what may be the simplest way yet to find out what people are accessing through Tor. Luckily, there’s also a fix Tor’s operators can implement. Tor was originally an acronym for “the onion router,” which is an accurate description of how it’s structured. It offers anonymous access to online resources by passing user requests through multiple layers of encrypted connections. It all starts at the entry node, sometimes called the guard. That’s the only system that knows your real IP address, but the next node in the chain only knows the IP of the entry node, the next only knows the previous node’s address, and so on until you reach the destination.

Source

NOTE: TECHi Two-Takes are the stories we have chosen from the web along with a little bit of our opinion in a paragraph. Please check the original story in the Source Button below.

Balanced Perspective

TECHi weighs both sides before reaching a conclusion.

TECHi’s editorial take above outlines the reasoning that supports this position.

More Two Takes from Extremetech

The company behind the OUYA is in desperate need of a buyer
The company behind the OUYA is in desperate need of a buyer

Remember back in 2012 when everyone was talking about this awesome new Android micro-console that popped up on Kickstarter? Known as…

The Open Bay ensures that The Pirate Bay will never die
The Open Bay ensures that The Pirate Bay will never die

It hasn’t been very long, but The Pirate Bay is still dead — perhaps surprisingly, considering the site’s resilience over…

California plants prepares to build world’s largest lithium-ion battery
California plants prepares to build world’s largest lithium-ion battery

The power shortages, brown-outs, and rolling blackouts that have long plagued Los Angeles county during times of peak energy usage…

Data transmitted at 255Tb/s over a single strand of fiber
Data transmitted at 255Tb/s over a single strand of fiber

Researchers in the US and Netherlands have managed to transmit data at 255Tbps across a single strand of fiber cable…