Question: Is Tails a More Secure Way to Use TOR?

I watched your show about TOR and enjoyed it. What do you think about using tails software on a thumbdrive (that ends up using TOR network)

I realize it will still have same TOR issues you mentioned, but it uses the thumbdrive and sounds like it is a step that keeps things off your computer.

-Doug S.

(#Microstopped... We will never forget)

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[runnman]

7:11 - Tails is better then simple having Tor installed

Question answered

And while Tails and Tor have their vulnerabilities, like the safe in your basement can be cracked if someone really really wanted to, this is by far the safest way to surf the web

[kardashevr]

The plot of the video: "I don't believe it, I just don't believe it you guys"

[gerardshort]

As of this posting date the NSA has ranked the use of Tails as an obstruction to monitoring by them and a security risk. That should answers everyone's questions about Tails security. As for this clown, ask who pays him.

[Spudstr]

Tails and Tor is orders of magnitude better than normal internet.

Security is all about your adversary.  Most people's real threats are not the NSA.

[Afitz]

Hmn, but TOR has many more systems setup that you dont take into count. Tor as the browser allows you to make a request for a webpage, this data is encrypted and (you have to set this up) sent to a bridge which proxies your actions on the tor network. Even if the bridge machine gets compromised, all you see is encrypted traffic. Then your connection goes to a entry node, the node gets the ip for the bridge and then the encrypted data, that node breaks up all data and sends it to random machines in the tor network, then that data gets passed along over 10 times to other random machines in the network; for the data to be assembled at the exit node. If someone even did compromise the exit node; the only data you can pull is the last ip that touched the packet in tor and the packet, it gets re assembled and then sent off as a request like normal. Anonymity shouldn't be thought of as invisible, rather making it hell to be found. Its nearly impossible to track the thousands of packets from point A to B; as they make many stops along the way.

[presterjohn]

I suspect that for the average snooper Tails & Tor are more than enough to stop you finding out what you are up to. If a government or agency is seriously interested in you as a named individual and a budget for your specific investigation has been okayed then they will find enough out about what you are up to do you some damage. I would suggest that for most people covering most activities it does the job fine. It is ideal for keeping the wife in the dark about what you are up to and the boss at work too.

[MrMike]

Got to say, I feel your bias towards tor is damaging your ability to answer this question neutrally. No offence intended.

[Karyabs]

I wonder what gets tired first. His mouth or his hands?

[roogalater]

Anyone who looks at the ceiling and closes their eyes when they explain something generally doesn't really know what they're talking about. Tor's an extra layer, like encryption. Anyone who really, really went after you would locate you. But again, it's an extra layer and extra layers are always good.

[wfpnknw]

small note too, it's much more safe if you're gonna use tails to use it on a non rewritable dvd/cd instead of a usb which can be re-written and compromised..

[geozoide]

The cool thing is that you don't have to believe in Tor in order for it to work! Online anonymity is independent of your opinion.

[KowboyUSA]

My intention to run Tails isn't to do anything nefarious, it's simply to be able to surf as I once did a couple decades ago without having to worry about some jerks messing up my computer just because I looked at a website. Is it, or is it not, going to serve that purpose?

[mountainghost]

You have a Arm a Tron in the back ground one of the best toys on Earth. Good vids I've learned a lot. People like you that share you're knowledge for free, I respect that a lot thanks.

[cmill]

Ya so i want to avoid the NSA/FSB ect so im sitting here on yt and looking for random vids on internet security...
Come on dude. Most people in the audience just wanna get away from big tech...

[TheInfiniteSelf]

3:25 TOR does not leak DNS. Tor transports the hostname (inside the Tor protocol) to the exit relay, which resolves it for you. The exit node "handles" everything, including DNS, for the nodes behind it, because of the nature of being a proxy server. It then transmits the DNS information backwards through a Tor circuit. Theoretically you would only need to "resolve" the address of the first node of the circuit. But you don't have to do that, because Tor already has that information in its configuration files. Also typical DNS requests use UDP but TOR only only supports TCP thats why the hostnames are packaged within the TOR protocol and resolved at the exit node.

[ferrousfurniture]

There is no security... only the illusion of security. If I buried a jar of pennies encased in concrete, 100 ft down... nobody would care. But if I burried a billion bucks in a jar encased in concrete 100 ft down... people would be all over my yard with heavy equipment. What really matters is if the thing that's hidden or locked up is worth the work. You would call the pennies secure... but you'd probly still want lights and security cameras over your yard if it was a billion bucks.

[___xyz___]

The internet may not be anonymously usable functionally. But practically it very much works. If you send several chunks of well encrypted data via VPN to someone on the other side of the globe, no-one will even bother to try and intercept your transfer. Not your ISP, not the NSA, on-one. No matter the value of the data. It's a pain in the butt and all you get out of it is unreadable garbage. I've only observed this process and couldn't do it myself, as I would have to split the decryption process to nodes across several servers in order to break the key. Not to mention I would need access to networks internationally. Ok, so what if some organization is able to spy on you; if you are sufficiently secured it would cost them massively to invest resources in you over someone else, and unless you are a genuine thread to other people's safety - in which case go ahead - then that simply wouldn't happen.

While it is naive to think that TOR will protect you regardless, it is even more naive to think you are more safe (or even _as_ safe) without it. It takes your average Joe 5 minutes to sweep your credit card information and identity at a local Starbucks with something like an evil twin. Think about that.

[TomasForslund]

How pessimistic.. Basically he's saying, nothing is working and everything about tails and TOR sucks. He states: "There is NO privacy on the internet, there is no anonymity on the internet".. So just a counter question, if the above quoute is true, how can the hacktivists succeed without beeing caught? If there's a will there is a way.. :-)

[Danny]

They have already publicly admitted to the fact that they cannot watch what terrorists are doing online because they can't break the encryption. Now, I don't know if that's changed, but it demonstrates that encrypting your traffic and running it through multiple nodes if nothing, makes tracking specific individuals very difficult.

Granted data being accessed from watched sites may not be able to be hidden, and the fact that there is traffic may not be hidden, but sorting through that traffic and associating specific streams to specific IP's is probably very difficult with encrypted traffic running through multiple different nodes.

Probably eventually, they'll be able to identify patterns in encrypted traffic to associate that to specific individual IP's without having to watch both entry and exit nodes, after all, that's what Net Neutrality was probably really all about, giving government the power to regulate the internet to a point that they can reliably track everyone's activities, no matter what they do to disguise their traffic.

Ever wondered if fate was determined to create an American Hitler? All of these things that are happening that Hitler would have used very brutally are just now happening for us right at a time when our government is managing increase exponentially its unnaccountability. If it's not fate, then some corrupt group of people pulling these strings must be unrealistically intelligent to be orchestrating this.

[booleanenator]

I am glad to see someone in the IT industry that advocates for the little guy. Warning people about the dangers of Tor and VPN software in general. I believe that the best way to get the internet to give us our anonymity, is for people to know what they are doing. There was a time when installing a network was a "big deal", people thought about how a wire to the outside world could be used. Now, for some people, it's an afternoon project, with no thought of the consequence of "clicking next to continue" from the Windows EULA to the Tor disclaimer.