Does Windows 7 have a backdoor which allows it to track ALL your Tor usage?

I recently heard Windows 7 has a backdoor which allows it to track EVERYTHING you do on Tor and send it over to Microsoft. Which essentially negates any anonymity Tor provides. So anyone using Windows 7 and expects ANY anonymity on the Internet is sorely mistaken. I must ditch my shitty Windows 7 (which is the Big Brother OS or OS for Losers) and install Linux as my Host and Guest OS. Windows is the bane of all privacy and the epitome of slavery.

Apparently there are serious privacy complaints about Windows 8. These problems were present in Windows 7 and were amplified by Windows 8. After all Microsoft works for Big Brother.

 

LOL. Take off the tin foil hat brother. Do you know how much damage it would bring MS if there was such a back door and it was found? Honestly it won't happen, they would be ruined.

Don't get me wrong big data is a huge privacy concern but you can turn off many of the features and use adblock + or do not track me browser extensions to negate big data.

 

The original linux developers have been cloned and replaced by lookalikes from space , so no help there I'm afraid.

 

yep, not to mention large parts of windows source codes like BitLocker are under heavy scrutiny by Microsoft key partners and some governments, under no disclosure agreements of course.

 

How does that negate big data?

 

Actually it would actually improve MS's reputation. Tor is notorious for its illegal uses , so people will passively accept any outrageous privacy violations in order to completely deanonymous Tor and catch certain criminals. Yes, this will be disastrous for whistleblowers and political activists (especially those in oppressive regimes like China and Iran) and everyone who uses Tor, but who cares about them if it is used to fight you know what.

I don't want a few perverts using tor to ruin any anonymity I could benefit from tor.

How does that negate big data?

 

Do you have any kind of proof for this?

 

Sorry but the horse has bolted. Tor was a great idea, it still is to some degree. But time has changed from it's honest and well meaning start, and what Tor has morphed into is nothing but the illegal dumping ground of dogsh*t that you can find on the web.

I'm sick of browsing Tor sites (which I really don't do often honestly) , specifically message boards but really all sites and seeing pedophilia crap posted everywhere. Now it's obvious some of these posts are pedo baiting by LEA but still I don't want to see that crap on my screen when I'm browsing a privacy forum.

So the perverts have already undid a lot of the great work that the Tor developers do. I can't see something like Tor lasting 20 more years, there comes a point and time when you have to say it's doing more harm than good.

 

This is imho an essential problem of our society. There were and will be always criminals. Fighting crime and protect lifes (and money) will always lead to more and sophisticated security measures. That can be the backdoor in Win7 or an increasing number of video cameras in our cities. It's a catch22.
And the point of view about privacy, freedom and security may change if you become a father.

Another law, we know best, will never change. The race between criminals and those who fight it. Doesn't matter if it's the door to your house or any IT security app. It's only a matter of time.

There'll never be a total security in any part of our lifes.

 

Besides the NSA can pwn Tor whenever they like.

I bet you they can passively monitor all traffic on the Tor network with ease. If the NSA wants to send these people into jail, they can do so with uttermost ease, but I doubt the NSA has any interest in these scumbags. Less powerful agencies like the FBI and ICE are more than sufficient for catching them.

It is safe to assume everyone on those Tor sites are LEA.

Keep in mind any perfectly legal tool can be abused by criminals; just don't be one of those criminals. Unfortunately the few bad apples (actually there are MANY) will ruin Tor for everyone else. Like me. The best option is JonDo because it doesn't have the exit node problems of Tor. In order to be anonymous on Tor you must avoid using exit nodes. Means you must only use onion sites which are full of disgusting crap, so I should probably stop using Tor. Wait. I am posting on this site with Tor (using SSL) but the exit node still sees the site I am browsing.

Besides even if I switch to JonDo, it doesn't make a difference if Windows 7 sends all my activities over to Microsoft. Maybe using a Ubuntu virtual machine might make a difference but I doubt given that my host OS is Big Brother OS.

It is safe to assume everything you do on Windows 8 is secretly sent over to Microsoft. Even if you DON'T send any data over the Internet, the moment you connect to the Internet whatever private information you saved on Windows 8 will probably be sent over to Microsoft. Analogous to government cameras in your home spying on you 24-7. A completely outrageous violation of privacy.

If this surveillance was limited to what you send over the Internet that would be OK since it should be OK for the government to have surveillance cameras in certain areas of public domain (like the Internet). However constant surveillance of everything you do within the privacy of your home (which is not sent over the Internet) is insane.

Imagine this scenario:

Save some personal photos of your fiance or kids on Windows 8. Chances are it will be sent over to Microsoft even though you always keep it inside your computer (your own home) and never send it over to the Internet. Of course most people are oblivious to this and would even completely approve of it as long as it used to "fight certain forms of crime". No matter how hideous the crime they are fighting, since the state definitely doesn't require this form of disgusting survellience for fighting such crimes, they definitely have an alter motive.

The government is using "fighting crime" as an excuse for having complete surveillance of EVERYTHING you do on your computer and NOT just the Internet. Then anyone with a dissenting option the government doesn't like could become a "terrorist" and therefore thrown in jail.

tl;dr Windows 7 and above Microsoft OSes probably secretly send everything you do on them over to Microsoft, so no matter how anonymous your Internet connection is, the fact your host OS is Windows 7 or above negates any anonymity you have.

Not sure Macs are such outrageous violators of privacy.

 

I use TOR as a conduit to browse the "normal" web, when I feel the need for anonymity. There is nothing wrong or bad about using TOR this way.

 

I don't consider NSA an important risk for my security policy/setup. Sure they are a very powerful adversary, but when you do a security risk management you must take into account the probability that an adversary will attack you.

Again, do you have any proof for that? Because from my (superficial) analysis of what Windows 7 is sending out, this doesn't happen.

 

Well I doubt any of us are NSA worthy unless we are Osama Bin Laden or Iran. Besides I doubt anyone here is capable of evading detection if the FBI were after them. Let alone the NSA.

No but my gut feelings tell me this could be possible with Microsoft.

What kind of analysis did you do?

I would like to know because it sounds very interesting to me.

 

I can't believe and strongly doubt that a backdoor wouldn't be detected in a short time. Even if some individual network experts or security companies would be paid by MS, they can't "silence" everybody. Even if all the data from any Windows User would go to MS, who or what should be capable of analysing it ?

 

Yeah but none of us are able to detect it since we don't have the source code.

And there are always ways Microsoft could analysis this data.

 

The OP has a case of FUD itis..... no evidence for wild claims.

Waste of forum space

 

More sad than what Tor has become is that it cannot be shutdown, it will require a hunt of every single tor node anywhere in the world, virtually impossible task as always.

thats where you are wrong, I say that several backdoor was already detected and microsoft was "forced" to close it by a vulnerability bulletin.

 

If it is possible, then it can be a risk to anonymity.

 

The NSA assisted Microsoft in designing Windows 7. If the NSA wants in they will likely get in. Also Windows update feature itself could potentially be misused in theory. I read an article on security certificates once being a possible means for backdooring Windows. You may want to research that.

 

Then that means security certificates are not "secure" at all. How do we get these security certificates so that we can learn to avoid their dangers?

The thing is NONE of us are wanted by the NSA so we don't need to worry about them.

 

Whether or not Windows has a hidden back door has never been proven, not that it really needs one. It's had enough known vulnerabilities over the years that could be used as one, and probably still does. Even if someone find a back door, they'll call it a vulnerability and patch it, like a thousand time before.

An operating system doesn't need a back door to track you and log your every move, which Windows does and has for a long time. There's no need for Windows to send that data or to make it remotely accessible. They can seize it without needing any probable cause. All they have to do is say terrorist suspect and your right are gone.

 

That may be and there are always vulnerabilities that get patched sooner or later, like noone_particular wrote. But the point is, they get detected and any network traffic gets detected too. And again, anything more needs evidence.

 

Thanks to all who added some common sense to this non subject best left to some other places on the net.