[tor-relays] Tor and Viruses

Jon torance.ca at gmail.com
Wed Apr 13 13:14:20 UTC 2011


On Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 10:46 PM, Porcelain Mouse <porcelain_mouse at q.com> wrote:
> 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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>

I have watched my virus checker and I get several virus blocks
attempting to access web pages that were attempted by the user who was
using Tor. It is not viruses from Tor, but the web site and/or pages
that the user wants/is trying to access. I have had no issues with my
provider concerning it.

Jon


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