[tor-relays] Tor and Viruses

Porcelain Mouse porcelain_mouse at q.com
Wed Apr 13 03:46:21 UTC 2011


Greetings All,

 	I've been running an exit for about 5 months, but had to stop due 
to virus abuses.  In the last two weeks, my ISP has partially blocked my 
Internet access twice due to suspected virus infections.  I'll spare you 
the long story, but I was able to get a copy of their "evidence" and I'm 
fairly certain it was connections made through my Tor relay.

  1) How common is it that Tor is abused by viruses?  What is the trend?
  2) Is this just standard virus-kit material, these days?

I guess I was a little surprised.  Obviously, this is a great idea for 
hiding the infection site, so I'm sure it's being done.  But still, I've 
been fighting viruses for quite a while and I don't think I've read a 
single virus description that mentioned Tor.  I'm sure it's happening, but 
I've never heard a single statistic about it, so I thought I would ask.

Also, this type of abuse is *not* mentioned on the Tor wiki's Abuse FAQ 
under "What should I expect if I run an exit relay?"  I read that section 
carefully and was prepared for most of the things mentioned.  Again, I'm 
not completely shocked.  I'm just saying it didn't seem likely, according 
to the FAQ.  It would be nice to know how likely is this kind of abuse, 
and what is the trend.  (And, maybe someone can add the results to the FAQ 
when we have an answer.)

Thanks,
PMouse


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