July 2016 - tor-relays - lists.torproject.org

AWS abuse handling
by Snehan Kekre 28 Jul '16

28 Jul '16

Hi All, I have a *free* membership for a year on Amazon's AWS (*capped* at 15GB/month of traffic each way). I've been running an exit node with a reduced exit policy on an ec2 instance for months and have received my first abuse notice. I'm sure a few on this mailing list may have received the same or similar abuse notification from Amazon. Besides shutting down the exit, what measures did you take to deal with this? What would be the consequences of ignoring their email and continuing to run it? Note: I'm a student and am running on a really tight budget at the moment (reason for not hosting it on a paid vps) Any suggestion(s)/help is appreciated :) Best, Snehan ----------------------------------------------- The contents of the Abuse notice: Hello, We've received a report(s) that your EC2 instance(s) Instance Id: IP Address: has been has been operating as a TOR Exit node. Operating a TOR Exit node is forbidden in the AWS Acceptable Use Policy (hxxps://aws.amazon.com/aup/) We've included the original report below for your review. Please take action to stop the reported activity and reply directly to this email with details of the corrective actions you have taken. If you do not consider the activity described in these reports to be abusive, please reply to this email with details of your use case. If you're unaware of this activity, it's possible that your environment has been compromised by an external attacker, or a vulnerability is allowing your machine to be used in a way that it was not intended. We are unable to assist you with troubleshooting or technical inquiries. However, for guidance on securing your instance, we recommend reviewing the following resources: * Amazon EC2 Security Groups User Guide: hxxps://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/using-network-security.… (Linux) hxxps://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/WindowsGuide/using-network-securi… (Windows) * Tips for Securing EC2 Instances: hxxps://aws.amazon.com/articles/1233 (Linux) hxxps://aws.amazon.com/articles/1767 (Windows) * AWS Security Best Practices: hxxp://media.amazonwebservices.com/AWS_Security_Best_Practices.pdf If you require further assistance with this matter, you can take advantage of our developer forums: hxxps://forums.aws.amazon.com/index.jspa Or, if you are subscribed to a Premium Support package, you may reach out for one-on-one assistance here: hxxps://console.aws.amazon.com/support/home#/case/create?issueType=technical Please remember that you are responsible for ensuring that your instances and all applications are properly secured. If you require any further information to assist you in identifying or rectifying this issue, please let us know in a direct reply to this message. Regards, AWS Abuse " ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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How to find (and test) my obfs4 bridge?
by Tor-Node.net 28 Jul '16

28 Jul '16

Hi! I know the format for an obfs4 bridge is obfs4 IP:port fingerprint cert=XX iat-mode=0 I know my IP, port and fingerprint, but where can I find the "cert"-value? Kind regards Tor-node.net

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switching between exit and guard
by Markus Koch 27 Jul '16

27 Jul '16

Hi there, now I am getting abuse mails nearly every day and digital ocean looks like getting pissed off. Is it technical possible to switch between exit and guard so I only run an exit for 14 days a months (less abuse mails per month if it is a exit only 14 days). Or is this a really bad idea? Markus PS: I am also getting my first bullet proof exit note tomorrow ... lets see how this works out ...

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Established connections per port
by ken＠kenbaker.co.uk 25 Jul '16

25 Jul '16

Hi, I've been contacted by my VPS supplier. It seems that my exit nodes are generating a huge number of established connections (10K - 35K), most of which are unreplied. This is causing some grief. Is there a way, inside or outside of tor, for limiting the number of connections per port? Maybe a kernel or networking parameter? I'm afraid I'm not a networking expert. TIA: K.

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Introduction
by Cr1m3Pi 22 Jul '16

22 Jul '16

Greetings all, I wanted to take a minute and introduce myself. I'm Cr1m3Pi and am a new relay operator. https://atlas.torproject.org/#details/8D3ABE5B3B4ADE5C1A40BF7D5277830BCDB5D… The relay is running on a RPi3 {hey, every little bit helps, right?} while I get my feet wet as an operator. Any advice regarding security and general maintenance is appreciated. Cr1m3Pi

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Re: [tor-relays] Best bandwidth setup for exit node
by Tristan 15 Jul '16

15 Jul '16

"It's also worth noting that the Tor network only uses about 50% of the advertised bandwidth. But this is a good thing, because it helps reduce latency and congestion." Yes, but less than 1/3 of all Tor relays are exits ( https://metrics.torproject.org/relayflags.html) and exit bandwidth is much lower than total bandwidth: https://metrics.torproject.org/bwhist-flags.html

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Best bandwidth setup for exit node
by Tor-Node.net 15 Jul '16

15 Jul '16

Hi! I have a VPS on a 6 TB (rx + tx) per month plan. What is most useful for the Tor network: a) Run it at full speed for about seven days per month (AccountingMax) or b) Throttle network speed by setting RelayBandwidthRate and always be online? Kind regards Tor-node.net

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ARM Launch Permissions
by Alex Chang-Lam 13 Jul '16

13 Jul '16

I'm running a tor non-exit relay with ARM (or rather nyx), and yet though I launch arm with sudo -u $USER arm, I'm still unable to view connections. On start, connections are displayed, but disappear after a time. Likely an easy fix, but so far I'm stumped. [ARM_NOTICE] We were unable to use any of your system's resolvers to get tor's connections. This is fine, but means that the connections page will be empty. This is usually permissions related so if you would like to fix this then run arm with the same user as tor (ie, "sudo -u <tor user> arm"). Alex -----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE----- Version: GnuPG v2 owFVUn1MlHUcP0BuB0nKbiZvxTdg467gMGZem4oddNRN4CYZOJDwOZ7f3T30vNye F+8OF0FDgoRgmZMmKjBjjc2QlEMUGTEuxuTF6pYyU8FGUUMkRrXJW78H5sjt+ef5 /D6/7+fl+6sPCVCo/MZdEeEzU/aP/W7+YVHkVgatmuIZ4CWWpVgbECByPLAcm4hc lAg8ogk3OCnRDobsTNDgM54Q7QhT3C5tAhAsCW4kgmjnJJsdTEATEltkB4Jn1m8J EslBogRx771rzJbhBJDlBJGiaZBYwkIjrAhHKeSEIo5lUZFIcaygAzOLSQQvJvwf xgMQkJTgwK4QmQAWSZR/CYcDETwQVhEbwwkoBukgg/oA0W7sEBAhuMFKudb5AgdW TF53ITEOROpCgvNxusIs80FTmrEAchE4ERbasCcJCA9yA2cFNyfxILgFETHxAu5H 4OijiBdklk0uguMx/EySg3ZKAPxZKRatW2AQgbOIdkIuDj0T0EHYsLpcjgUBYhyi e2OAJEgEjSM5EM9QgrDGlxckIlJORa2ZAycn0STQOL3sCcfGGpSshlh5yxurwYge BIJBcjzcm7C2eg2FTcY8XdseGZKPU+R7MVpclYFGrmr/qE0KP5VCGegvPyBFcNDW p69qZm7LqnkobaxisLq0+I2kQTbHs/jow9Yx1xV31FZzRnnba9PNk3cCTi2Uvj9d cyjR0ackk8vqH1QTmb7vjuSc3rG7LunwvdpDyf9wLStKfXezYiEuUh/8WYB2NH8s n7ehw4+dF6q81jI15Ic9f/XG3byzs67zgapKW8kLgfN8eqEUM2EK/aVu9zn/iyVS Xnhmb+TE5QxLi+9C7K7ud8IeJP729WZVVUxK9IupZ4p7Dtj3rP45VXTqeD/Rzxr2 x325L+rTzw/0eryryy2dlzbfvzW8fN5ckE5P+lvm/k65dm6kdW/33ZWfZ6qUJyrq ypMrYnel1nx/XBmmGQzJHqnb3qTxflJakqqurpyeb8+drf3mRGHOX3Ml0Y+PGE1O bfnOIWN73su/7ij7YSKIGV76QlkZTnrj9Z0XPf8WzOp3XiIHmp9Lus9kaXVGPStE 9Fy3feWLblR7gvVTTHXnnbjpxv2vhJ4d2Pbm3qxjI6On1RUN2pvipn2512tXhn8a H7860NyfMGp4ovL8rugYUUQ4F+tvlBZ0zfSpXZFVrck9A28vtp5UtscKjcE1Tb4F /eiVvm1xK5kTNd6G29tPOuc1Y5fD6FcfGmZf73oYeM23FOGT2kjqCUx9G+Kqb5gs 6VCcCehKD298abwtb6n/WKe298ek4onQjrceWZZvjabpPhqC21tUA7ame/8B =B9un -----END PGP MESSAGE-----

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Source build, then update it
by Petrusko 13 Jul '16

13 Jul '16

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Exit node situation in Finland
by Nurmi, Juha 13 Jul '16

13 Jul '16

Greetings Tor Relay mailing list, I decided to write little bit about Finnish exit node situation. I am maintaining this exit node campaign in Finland: http://campaigns.ahmia.fi/finnish-tor-campaign/index_en.html In Finland: - Running an exit node is absolutely legal - ISP may cut your connection because it is listed as malware host - The National Cyber Security Center Finland (NCSC-FI) is able to "whitelist" your IP address so the ISP does not get those automated malware detections - Sebastian Mäki got police visit because his exit node - The National Bureau of Investigation is using exonerator.torproject.org so basically they are considering this information before they rush to your home - There has been warming up phase that maybe Finnish libraries start some Tor activity I am doing a lot of local advocacy work here :) Best, Juha

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