illegal to access sites like silkroad?

ehinoze said:

access it only from a vps is the safe way i guess

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I said it before, and I'll say it again; using a VPN/VPS or any other 3rd party to connect to TOR opens you up to a man in the middle attack in such a huge way, that it'd be foolish to do so.

Of course feel free to not listen to me. It's not like I was Cisco certified in highschool and got my degree in networking before becoming a software engineer or anything... *sigh*.

https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/12273/using-tor-vpn-together

STKMKTFTGRU said:

I can't quote because of new member status

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Not sure if you bothered to read what was written on that page, but in the first freaking paragraph:

The major downside, and reason VPN is said to provide privacy rather than anonymity, is that it requires you trust your VPN provider. This is because, should it wish to (or is compelled to), it can ?see? what you get up to on the internet.

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Meaning, that they have the ability to see everything you do, even if you do it through TOR. This is what is referred to as a man in the middle attack; as I said in my previous post...

But if your using one that doesn't keep longs there is nothing to worry about if your not doing criminal stuff just civil stuff.

STKMKTFTGRU said:

But if your using one that doesn't keep longs there is nothing to worry about if your not doing criminal stuff just civil stuff.

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They don't have to keep logs, they can monitor your activity in real time if they choose to, or are ordered by a court to do so.

If you're not using a VPN, the only way of discovering your identity or monitoring your traffic relies on the use of exploiting vulnerabilities (which get patched after discovery); meaning you're going to need to do something stupid (go to the wrong site) or piss off someone with talented developers with a background in penetration testing (whitehat hacking) or the resources/access to hire them, in order to have your identity revealed.

Using a VPN, anyone with authority to issue a writ or subpoena to compel the VPN service provider to comply with an investigation can not only reveal your identity, but also what you're doing!

And there's still the issue of another avenue of attack is created in the form of the VPN connection's security. Should any vulnerabilities discovered to allow an attack on that, that's just one more way you're exposing yourself.

The key to security is to minimize exposure, and using a VPN only increases your exposure; with the only gain being your identity requiring one extra step to discover if compelled by a court.

But they would be able to issue a subpoena to the data-centers anyway. A vpn just adds more work that has to be done to track someone down, so it scares off smaller companies and individuals.

A small company isn't going to go all over the world filing court cases to get the next IP to find out who to sue.

STKMKTFTGRU said:

But they would be able to issue a subpoena to the data-centers anyway. A vpn just adds more work that has to be done to track someone down, so it scares off smaller companies and individuals.

A small company isn't going to go all over the world filing court cases to get the next IP to find out who to sue.

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And using exploits required for that violates the law. Find proof of that and you'll counter their civil suit with a criminal suit .

Also, smaller companies and individuals aren't able to determine your identity by your IP address... so... still no issue without the VPN.

They can determine your ID if they file a subpeona on the ISP within a few months of getting it.

https://www.charter.com/browse/content/lea#status_request
http://www.cox.com/aboutus/policies/lea-information.cox
https://cdn.comcast.com/~/Media/Files/Legal/Law%20Enforcement%20Handbook/Comcast%20Xfinity%202012%20Law%20Enforcement%20Handbook%20v022112.pdf

STKMKTFTGRU said:

They can determine your ID if they file a subpeona on the ISP within a few months of getting it.

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If you read those, you'll notice that's for law enforcement. ISPs have no obligation to respond to private parties unless there is a court order to do so; and is highly unlikely unless there are clear and significant damages. In general, Judges don't like being bothered for petty issues (under a few hundred dollars), and they're going to need a lot of convincing to order a telecom/cable company to hand over customer data for a non-criminal investigation by a private party.

You were originally talking about civil by the way, not criminal:

STKMKTFTGRU said:

A vpn just adds more work that has to be done to track someone down, so it scares off smaller companies and individuals.

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If you're worried about law enforcement investigating criminal activity, they're not going to be hindered by the VPN service, and could far more easily and effectively "wire tap" you by compelling them to monitor and report all your activity...

AutomationSorcerer said:

If you read those, you'll notice that's for law enforcement. ISPs have no obligation to respond to private parties unless there is a court order to do so; and is highly unlikely unless there are clear and significant damages. In general, Judges don't like being bothered for petty issues (under a few hundred dollars), and they're going to need a lot of convincing to order a telecom/cable company to hand over customer data for a non-criminal investigation by a private party.

You were originally talking about civil by the way, not criminal:

If you're worried about law enforcement investigating criminal activity, they're not going to be hindered by the VPN service, and could far more easily and effectively "wire tap" you by compelling them to monitor and report all your activity...

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Those were for both law enforcement and civil suits, they just include them in the same page.