HideMyAss provides FBI with logs for LulzSec

A few days ago AirVPN made a post about the HideMyAss issue. They talk about using the Bitcoin client via Tor to avoid leaving a payment trail and the advantages of using Tor to connect to your VPN. They even know about Telecomix.

https://airvpn.org/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=55&func=view&catid=2&id=891#891

 

i would just like to add my piece, if someone wants to remain totally anonymous on the internet then it is very much possible (although very inconvenient).

all you do is buy a prepaid 3G dongle from a shop using CASH, buy a laptop/netbook from a shop using CASH and then head to a field with a nice view and then use your favored proxy/anonymizer and then your good to go, destroy and throw away the devices once done.

impossible to be traced, no matter how illegal the thing you just did was

now i know this is way too much effort/cost, but for those that are adamant that the internet is not anonymous, it can be with alot of effort. PM me for other ways aswel.

 

I know this works in the movies, perhaps because they have large enough budgets to throw everything away after each use :ROTFL! On a more serious note the folks at WikiLeaks are somehow managing to stay ahead of serious law enforcement efforts. I don't know how invested they are in hiding their activity though.

 

Since when has HMA really hidden your actual IP address? Last I knew it only fooled sites like whatsmyip.

 

What about the SIM card used in it?

 

its built into the the pre paid dongle

 

U need to get an official SIM here BTW.

 

ah it must vary by country then, in the UK anyone can just walk into a shop and buy (with cash) the dongle with a built in SIM with no personal details needed.

 

It depends on which country you have your business in.
We have had requests from various governments, but since we do not store IP addresses, we could not give them any. We have no law in Sweden that forces us to store the IP numbers.

 

Worked on bypassing filters and accessing many geographically-limited sites.

 

And if you did would you comply?

 

No doubt. But this is an extreme example. They had a hard on for these guys, and it was destined to end badly for them. But for the other 99.99% of us that aren't giving the feds reason to kick in doors & physically raid servers, VPN's provide anonymity and privacy. And one could even get a way with a certain level of criminal activity... in moderation, like with all things. Not that I condone such things, just sayin.

I don't think it's fair to use this extreme example as a basis to argue against the usefulness of VPN's, and that seems to me to be a theme in this thread.

 

Very, very well said. Too many black and white thinkers. A good, solid, reliable VPN has a lot to offer.

 

From a link by MrBrian in here https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=308726

Not so Lulz to use HMA

 

Au contraire, Cody will be providing us with lulz galore for many years

 

Using a commercially available VPN to commit a crime such as that undertaken by Lulzsec means only one thing.

They are skiddies, not hackers.

 

Rather skilled for skiddies aren't they? Just because one uses it, doesn't in any way mean all of them does as well. Clearly evidenced by only one arrest of this kind.

Do hackers need to know excellent privacy practices in order to be hackers? I think not.

 

Disagree.

To commit a crime, using a commercially available product that keeps logs and states that it will cooperate with the law when required to do so is just nuts.

 

Sigh, another case of overgeneralizing.

What part of word hacker has anything about excellent privacy protection?

 

Sigh indeed.

I'll see your sigh, and raise you a Yawn.

 

Well, think about it JL. If you're going to be a hacker, rule number 1 is CYA. For hackers as skilled as these guys think they are, you'd think they'd have Hacking 101 pretty well covered. It's things like this that are ending Anon and company. Far too many soldiers, not enough commanders overseeing and directing the troops. They all aren't together for the same fight either

 

Bingo. Seems pretty basic to me. A bank robber isn't going to drive away in a rental car registered to them(!)

 

Lmao Actually, I hate to tell you this, but that has actually happened.

 

You misunderstood what I was saying. I never said TOR was immune. My main response was that TOR doesn't let any one know who you are so, unlike HMA, one server can't be subpoenaed to give over that info. An attack has to be mounted or you have to leak data.

That said the best way is to use TOR on public WiFi with a faked MAC address and that way even IF they track you back they have no evidence it was you. They would be dead ended at the public WiFi. and if they suspected you a simple Check would show your MAC Address doesn't match. (and hopefully you use FDE or a live disk.)


Perfect? No. TOR alone isn't perfect. Nothing is. But layered is better.