• chevron_right

      AlphV ransomware site is “seized” by the FBI. Then it’s “unseized.” And so on.

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Wednesday, 20 December - 21:08

    Shortly after the FBI posted a notice saying it had seized the dark-web site of AlphV, the ransomware group posted this notice claiming otherwise.

    Enlarge / Shortly after the FBI posted a notice saying it had seized the dark-web site of AlphV, the ransomware group posted this notice claiming otherwise.

    The FBI spent much of Tuesday locked in an online tug-of-war with one of the Internet’s most aggressive ransomware groups after taking control of infrastructure the group has used to generate more than $300 million in illicit payments to date.

    Early Tuesday morning, the dark-web site belonging to AlphV, a ransomware group that also goes by the name BlackCat, suddenly started displaying a banner that said it had been seized by the FBI as part of a coordinated law enforcement action. Gone was all the content AlphV had posted to the site previously.

    Around the same time, the Justice Department said it had disrupted AlphV’s operations by releasing a software tool that would allow roughly 500 AlphV victims to restore their systems and data. In all, Justice Department officials said, AlphV had extorted roughly $300 million from 1,000 victims.

    Read 13 remaining paragraphs | Comments

    • chevron_right

      Most criminal cryptocurrency is funneled through just 5 exchanges

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Saturday, 28 January, 2023 - 12:15 · 1 minute

    A bunch of blocks

    Enlarge (credit: Eugene Mymrin/Getty Images)

    For years, the cryptocurrency economy has been rife with black market sales, theft, ransomware, and money laundering—despite the strange fact that in that economy, practically every transaction is written into a blockchain’s permanent, unchangeable ledger. But new evidence suggests that years of advancements in blockchain tracing and crackdowns on that illicit underworld may be having an effect—if not reducing the overall volume of crime, then at least cutting down on the number of laundering outlets, leaving the crypto black market with fewer options to cash out its proceeds than it’s had in a decade.

    In a portion of its annual crime report focused on money laundering that was published today, cryptocurrency-tracing firm Chainalysis points to a new consolidation in crypto criminal cash-out services over the past year. It counted just 915 of those services used in 2022, the fewest it’s seen since 2012 and the latest sign of a steady drop-off in the number of those services since 2018. Chainalysis says an even smaller number of exchanges now enable the money-laundering trade of cryptocurrency for actual dollars, euros, and yen: It found that just five cryptocurrency exchanges now handle nearly 68 percent of all black market cash-outs.

    Read 11 remaining paragraphs | Comments

    Android application for on-line privacy and security.

    InviZible Pro. (Open source)
    New version 5.9.0

    Keeps privacy, prevents tracking, gets access to blocked and hidden on-line resources.

    InviZible Pro uses DNSCrypt, Tor and Purple I2P to achieve maximum security, privacy and comfortable use of the Internet.

    DNS is used by most applications to translate domain names into IP addresses to find a remote server with the site that you want to visit. But this communication is not encrypted and can be used by attackers. DNSCrypt encrypts and authenticates DNS traffic, thus preventing DNS tracking and spoofing.

    Tor encrypts Internet traffic and hides your actual location. It uses thousands of computers around the world to mask your IP address and prevents activity tracking to preserve your privacy and anonymity. Tor also provides access to onion services. These are sites that are in a completely hidden network without censorship.

    The Invisible Internet Project (I2P) is a hidden anonymous network. It includes thousands of computers distributed around the world. Purple I2P encrypts the traffic of your device and sends it through these computers to ensure privacy and anonymity. Start I2P to access i2p sites and other Invisible Internet hidden services.

    InviZible Pro can use root, if your device has root privileges, or uses a local VPN to deliver Internet traffic to Tor, DNSCrypt and I2P networks.

    - InviZible Pro does not support ipv6 at this time.

    Features:
    * No root required
    * Hides location and IP
    * Unblocks the restricted web content
    * Prevents tracking
    * Allows access to hidden networks
    * ARP spoofing detection
    * Built-in firewall
    * Tethering supported
    * No analytics
    * No advertisements
    * Open source
    * Material design theme

    Premium feature:
    * Automatic Updates – Use the latest versions of InviZible Pro, and its modules such as DNSCrypt , Tor, and Purple I2P.
    * Absence of reminder about the need to support the project.
    * Priority technical advice.
    * Material design night theme

    What's New
    * Updated DNSCrypt to version 2.1.2.
    * Added http3 option to DNSCrypt settings (DoH3, HTTP over QUIC).
    * Updated Tor to version 4.7.10.
    * Updated Tor snowflake bridge to version 2.3.0.
    * Tor restarts if the internet connection is lost.
    * Fixed requesting Tor bridges via the app interface.
    * Updated Purple I2P to version 2.43.0.
    * Added SSU2 option to Purple I2P settings.
    * Added Italian translation.
    * Fixes and optimizations.

    Please visit the project’s page: https://invizible.net/en

    Download from Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pan.alexander.tordnscrypt.gp

    F-droid: https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/pan.alexander.tordnscrypt

    Take a look at source code: https://github.com/Gedsh/InviZible

    #android #internet #vpn #anonymous #privacy #confidentiality #dnscrypt #tor #i2p #vpn #proxy #invizible #inviziblepro
    Android application for on-line privacy and security.

    InviZible Pro. (Open source)
    New version 5.8.0

    Keeps privacy, prevents tracking, gets access to blocked and hidden on-line resources.

    InviZible Pro uses DNSCrypt, Tor and Purple I2P to achieve maximum security, privacy and comfortable use of the Internet.

    DNS is used by most applications to translate domain names into IP addresses to find a remote server with the site that you want to visit. But this communication is not encrypted and can be used by attackers. DNSCrypt encrypts and authenticates DNS traffic, thus preventing DNS tracking and spoofing.

    Tor encrypts Internet traffic and hides your actual location. It uses thousands of computers around the world to mask your IP address and prevents activity tracking to preserve your privacy and anonymity. Tor also provides access to onion services. These are sites that are in a completely hidden network without censorship.

    The Invisible Internet Project (I2P) is a hidden anonymous network. It includes thousands of computers distributed around the world. Purple I2P encrypts the traffic of your device and sends it through these computers to ensure privacy and anonymity. Start I2P to access i2p sites and other Invisible Internet hidden services.

    InviZible Pro can use root, if your device has root privileges, or uses a local VPN to deliver Internet traffic to Tor, DNSCrypt and I2P networks.

    - InviZible Pro does not support ipv6 at this time.

    Features:
    * No root required
    * Hides location and IP
    * Unblocks the restricted web content
    * Prevents tracking
    * Allows access to hidden networks
    * ARP spoofing detection
    * Built-in firewall
    * Tethering supported
    * No analytics
    * No advertisements
    * Open source
    * Material design theme

    Premium feature:
    * Automatic Updates – Use the latest versions of InviZible Pro, and its modules such as DNSCrypt , Tor, and Purple I2P.
    * Absence of reminder about the need to support the project.
    * Priority technical advice.
    * Material design night theme

    What's New
    * Updated Tor to version 4.7.8.
    * Updated Tor snowflake bridge to version 2.2.0.
    * Updated Tor obfs4proxy to version 0.0.13.
    * Updated Purple I2P to version 2.42.1.
    * Implemented real-time connection logs for Root mode.
    * Improved real-time connection logs for VPN mode.
    * Added a switch to enable/disable real-time connection logs.
    * Improved firewall for Root mode.
    * The "Run modules with Root" option is no longer supported and will be hidden in the Common Settings.

    Please visit the project’s page: https://invizible.net/en

    Download from Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pan.alexander.tordnscrypt.gp

    F-droid: https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/pan.alexander.tordnscrypt

    Take a look at source code: https://github.com/Gedsh/InviZible

    #android #internet #vpn #anonymous #privacy #confidentiality #dnscrypt #tor #i2p #vpn #proxy #invizible #inviziblepro
    • chevron_right

      Tor Project Unblocked But Russia Demands Censorship, Embroils Google

      news.movim.eu / TorrentFreak · Friday, 27 May, 2022 - 07:39 · 3 minutes

    Tor After years of government censorship to suppress dissent and maintain authorized narratives, unfiltered internet access in Russia is seen as a threat.

    Russia’s measures include a massive domain name and IP address blocklist governing what services can be legally delivered by ISPs. Whether that’s the “extremist organization” behind Facebook and Instagram, BBC News, Google News, or thousands of streaming and torrent sites, access is routinely denied.

    The inevitable response from citizens was to circumvent these blocks with VPNs and tools such as Tor. The equally predictable response from the authorities was to categorize tools that provide access to blocked resources as banned themselves, and also subject to blocking.

    Last year Russia began blocking Tor nodes and TorProject.org , the tool’s official homepage. Tor was branded “an absolute evil” by the chairman of the State Duma’s Information Policy Committee, who dismissed its anti-censorship billing by framing Tor as a tool for criminals.

    Activists Mount Legal Challenge

    The blocking of TorProject.org was unusual. The authority to implement an ISP blockade was granted at the Saratov District Court back in 2017 but local telecoms watchdog Roscomnadzor only alerted Tor Project to imminent blocking early December 2021. Tor Project decided that in addition to a technical response, legal action would be required.

    In partnership with digital rights activists at Roskomsvoboda, The Tor Project filed an appeal at the Saratov District Court. They argued that the blocking decision should be reversed because it was issued without giving Tor representatives an opportunity to participate – a violation of their procedural rights.

    Court Agrees, Blocking Decision Set Aside

    A Roskomsvoboda announcement reveals that the appeal was a success. Lawyer Ekaterina Abashina says that the exclusion of The Tor Project provided “an absolute basis for setting the decision aside” and the court agreed. The domain was ordered to be unblocked but an outright victory is still a way off.

    A second submission by Tor Project, stating that Russian law does not contain any general prohibition on the dissemination of information related to anonymizing tools such as Tor, was rejected by the prosecutor and telecoms watchdog Roscomnadzor, with the latter claiming that courts have “unlimited power” to recognize any information as prohibited.

    With no need to address that debate as part of the appeal, the judge ordered the blocking case to be heard at a new trial. Hearings are scheduled for this week and The Tor Project will be allowed to participate. However, the Russian prosecutor will take the opportunity to expand Tor blocking beyond the domain at the heart of the dispute by introducing a new party.

    Prosecutor Decides to Involve Google

    The unexpected development reported by Roskomsvoboda shows that the Saratov prosecutor’s office has decided to involve Google in the Tor Project blocking case. The prosecution asks the court to do the following:

    • recognize the information contained in the Tor Browser software application as prohibited in Russia;
    • recognize the Tor Browser application hosted on Google Play as prohibited;
    • restrict access to the Tor Browser application;
    • oblige Google LLC to remove the Tor Browser app from Google Play.

    The involvement of Google in this matter could go either way. Google may choose to stand up and fight, giving The Tor Project an indirect boost with its considerable legal muscle. Alternatively, this may be a complication The Tor Project really doesn’t need right now.

    Google and Russia’s Information War

    Last week Google’s Russian subsidiary said it would file for bankruptcy and move its staff out of Moscow in response to the Russian government seizing its bank account. The reasons for that seizure are linked to Russia’s position on what content should or should not be available online.

    In the past year, Google has been repeatedly fined by Russia over its refusal to remove content that Moscow claims is “prohibited”. Google’s YouTube has also restricted access to Russian media channels, enraging the Kremlin, but in other areas also related to censorship, Google appears much more compliant.

    Notably, Google has complied with dozens of Russian government requests to delist tens of thousands of URLs from its search results. These link to VPN services that in most other regions would be entirely legal but in Russia are seen as tools granting access to banned information.

    From a functionality perspective, Russian authorities see little difference between VPNs and Tor. Both allow access to “prohibited” information, something the Kremlin wants to prevent. The fact that the CIA recently used Instagram to seek out Russians to act as potential informants might also come into the mix, particularly given the advice that to evade detection, they should use Tor.

    From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

    • chevron_right

      Surfer en passant par le réseau Tor, c’est super facile

      news.movim.eu / Korben · Saturday, 14 May, 2022 - 07:00 · 2 minutes

    Je vous ai déjà parlé de nombreuses fois de Tor, ce réseau chiffré qui permet de surfer sur Internet en contournant les blocages, la censure et dans une certaine mesure de protéger votre identité. Je dis bien « dans une certaine mesure » car en fonction de ce que vous faites et de votre configuration, il est encore possible de déterminer votre identité.

    Les gens pensent souvent à tort qu’utiliser Tor est complexe et demande beaucoup de configuration. Mais c’est faux car il existe des navigateurs accessibles à tous qui à la fois vous permettent de passer par le réseau Tor mais également de protéger votre identité (en intégrant par exemple un bloqueur de tracker).

    Tor est utilisé par des tas de gens à travers le monde. Il y a bien sûr des dissidents politiques, des personnes souhaitant communiquer avec leur famille à l’extérieur de leur pays, des gens qui font du business et qui n’ont pas envie de se faire espionner, ou encore des gens soucieux des traces qu’ils laissent en ligne.

    L’objectif de cet article est donc de vous présenter les principaux « Navigateurs Tor » user-friendly pour que vous puissiez surfer facilement sur le web normal et le dark web en protégeant au mieux votre identité.

    Tor sur un ordinateur (PC ou Mac)

    Ici, pas de blabla, la référence c’est le navigateur officiel proposé par Tor : Le Tor Browser. Disponible sous Windows, macOS et Linux, ce Firefox a été configuré et patché pour passer au travers du réseau Tor et cela même si vous êtes dans un pays qui bloque Tor. Cela est rendu possible grâce au mode bridge proposé lors du lancement initial. Il intègre également des extensions protégeant la vie privée comme HTTS Everywhere ou encore NoScript.

    Attention toutefois à ne pas ajouter de plug-ins ou d’extensions à votre Tor Browser car ces derniers pourraient compromettre votre identité. Le téléchargement en p2p type Bitorrent est également déconseillé car cela peut mener à la découverte de votre adresse IP et cela alourdit également le réseau.

    Tor Browser est téléchargeable ici

    Tor sur votre smartphone Android

    On peut également surfer via Tor sur un smartphone Android. Toute d’abord avec un portage officiel de Tor Browser que vous pouvez télécharger ici au format APK ou directement sur le Google Play Store .

    Tor sur votre iPhone / iPad

    Et si vous êtes dans l’écosystème Apple, le navigateur de référence s’appelle Onion Browser . Il est open source, passe par le réseau Tor (connexions chiffrées) et protège à la fois votre vie privée et l’historique de ce que vous faires en ligne. Il y a également de nombreux paramètres que vous pouvez régler.

    Comment tester si ça fonctionne ?

    Pour tester l’efficacité de votre installation Tor ou de votre navigateur, il existe de nombreux sites qui vérifient toutes les fuites de données que vous pourriez rencontrer, de l’empreinte de votre navigateur en passant par votre IP ou votre géolocalisation.

    Evidemment, ce que je vous ai présenté ici n’est que la partie émergée de l’iceberg. Il y a de nombreuses façons d’implémenter Tor, par exemple via une passerelle Raspberry Pi…etc. Si ça vous intéresse, dites-le-moi et je vous ferai un tuto.

    Amusez-vous bien et surfez couverts !

    Android application for on-line privacy and security.

    InviZible Pro. (Open source)
    New version 5.7.0

    Keeps privacy, prevents tracking, gets access to blocked and hidden on-line resources.

    InviZible Pro uses DNSCrypt, Tor and Purple I2P to achieve maximum security, privacy and comfortable use of the Internet.

    DNS is used by most applications to translate domain names into IP addresses to find a remote server with the site that you want to visit. But this communication is not encrypted and can be used by attackers. DNSCrypt encrypts and authenticates DNS traffic, thus preventing DNS tracking and spoofing.

    Tor encrypts Internet traffic and hides your actual location. It uses thousands of computers around the world to mask your IP address and prevents activity tracking to preserve your privacy and anonymity. Tor also provides access to onion services. These are sites that are in a completely hidden network without censorship.

    The Invisible Internet Project (I2P) is a hidden anonymous network. It includes thousands of computers distributed around the world. Purple I2P encrypts the traffic of your device and sends it through these computers to ensure privacy and anonymity. Start I2P to access i2p sites and other Invisible Internet hidden services.

    InviZible Pro can use root, if your device has root privileges, or uses a local VPN to deliver Internet traffic to Tor, DNSCrypt and I2P networks.

    - InviZible Pro does not support ipv6 at this time.

    Features:
    * No root required
    * Hides location and IP
    * Unblocks the restricted web content
    * Prevents tracking
    * Allows access to hidden networks
    * ARP spoofing detection
    * Built-in firewall
    * Tethering supported
    * No analytics
    * No advertisements
    * Open source
    * Material design theme

    Premium feature:
    * Automatic Updates – Use the latest versions of InviZible Pro, and its modules such as DNSCrypt , Tor, and Purple I2P.
    * Absence of reminder about the need to support the project.
    * Priority technical advice.
    * Material design night theme

    What's New
    * Updated Tor to version 4.7.6.
    * Updated Tor snowflake bridge to version 2.1.0.
    * Updated Purple I2P to version 2.41.0.
    * Implemented the use of Tor relays as default vanilla bridges.
    * Implemented Tor bridges sorting and swipe to refresh bridges ping.
    * Implemented firewall for Root mode.
    * Optimized memory usage in VPN mode.
    * Added Turkish translation.

    Please visit the project’s page: https://invizible.net/en

    Download from Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pan.alexander.tordnscrypt.gp

    F-droid: https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/pan.alexander.tordnscrypt

    Take a look at source code: https://github.com/Gedsh/InviZible

    #android #internet #vpn #anonymous #privacy #confidentiality #dnscrypt #tor #i2p #vpn #proxy #invizible #inviziblepro
    • chevron_right

      Video: Introduction to #TOR web browser

      Mathias Poujol-Rost ✅ · Sunday, 6 March, 2022 - 10:31 edit

    Introduction to Tor

    “You're watching Infosec Bytes, a flash course in information security for journalists. We're based at the Centre for Investigative Journalism in London and supported by the Logan Foundation.„

    • Introduction to Tor

      You're watching Infosec Bytes, a flash course in information security for journalists. We're based at the Centre for Investigative Journalism in London and supported by the Logan Foundation., This is an introduction to Tor, a tool for using the internet anonymously. In this video we're going to explain what Tor is and a little bit about how it works., Be sure to check out our other videos on how to install and use Tor on Windows (https://youtu.be/7Q1OM5dzzqc) and Mac OS X (https://youtu.be/GKOJ0mFbb_s). Get Tor here: https://torproject.org Read more about how Tor works, exit nodes, and HTTPS: https://www.eff.org/pages/tor-and-https https://www.torproject.org/about/overview.html To support the Center for Investigative Journalism with a donation, please visit http://tcij.org/donate. And if you want to watch our other videos, please go to http://infosecbytes.org or subscribe to our channel below. This video could not have been made without invaluable criticism and feedback from our reviewers: Marie Gutbub Information Security Trainer/Journalist https://shiromarieke.github.io/ Jens Kubieziel Security Researcher https://kubieziel.de/blog/ Fabio Natali Software Developer/Information Security Trainer https://fabionatali.com/ Christian Vandrei Privacy Activist Licensing and Attribution

    Android application for on-line privacy and security.

    InviZible Pro. (Open source)
    New version 5.6.0

    Keeps privacy, prevents tracking, gets access to blocked and hidden on-line resources.

    InviZible Pro uses DNSCrypt, Tor and Purple I2P to achieve maximum security, privacy and comfortable use of the Internet.

    DNS is used by most applications to translate domain names into IP addresses to find a remote server with the site that you want to visit. But this communication is not encrypted and can be used by attackers. DNSCrypt encrypts and authenticates DNS traffic, thus preventing DNS tracking and spoofing.

    Tor encrypts Internet traffic and hides your actual location. It uses thousands of computers around the world to mask your IP address and prevents activity tracking to preserve your privacy and anonymity. Tor also provides access to onion services. These are sites that are in a completely hidden network without censorship.

    The Invisible Internet Project (I2P) is a hidden anonymous network. It includes thousands of computers distributed around the world. Purple I2P encrypts the traffic of your device and sends it through these computers to ensure privacy and anonymity. Start I2P to access i2p sites and other Invisible Internet hidden services.

    InviZible Pro can use root, if your device has root privileges, or uses a local VPN to deliver Internet traffic to Tor, DNSCrypt and I2P networks.

    - InviZible Pro does not support ipv6 at this time.

    Features:
    * No root required
    * Hides location and IP
    * Unblocks the restricted web content
    * Prevents tracking
    * Allows access to hidden networks
    * ARP spoofing detection
    * Built-in firewall
    * Tethering supported
    * No analytics
    * No advertisements
    * Open source
    * Material design theme

    Premium feature:
    * Automatic Updates – Use the latest versions of InviZible Pro, and its modules such as DNSCrypt , Tor, and Purple I2P.
    * Absence of reminder about the need to support the project.
    * Priority technical advice.
    * Material design night theme

    What's New
    * Updated Tor to version 4.6.10 (onion v2 services are no longer supported).
    * Updated Tor snowflake bridge to version 2.0.1.
    * Updated Tor geoip and default bridges.
    * Updated Purple I2P to version 2.40.0.
    * Fixed visiting onion websites with DNSCrypt force_tcp enabled.
    * Pausing InviZible instead of completely shutting down when using another VPN.
    * Improved the Arp Spoofing attack detector.
    * Optimized battery usage.
    * Improved firewall.

    Please visit the project’s page: https://invizible.net/en

    Download from Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pan.alexander.tordnscrypt.gp

    F-droid: https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/pan.alexander.tordnscrypt

    Take a look at source code: https://github.com/Gedsh/InviZible

    #android #internet #vpn #anonymous #privacy #confidentiality #dnscrypt #tor #i2p #vpn #proxy #invizible #inviziblepro