Don't Fear Internet Anonymity Tools

Hmm...the point I was trying to make was that the back door was discovered because the JAP client was open source. Making modifications to the client was obviously the only way for the JAP developers to be able to comply with the court order - and this means that any future modifications can also be detected (and doubtless will become public also - the JAP team didn't exactly make the previous backdoor hard to find...).

Of course your ID can be snooped - if you login to any website your username/password is fair game. If that website includes your personal details (like an online bank or store might) then these are also vulnerable. Of course you can avoid this by never using a login ID - but how many typical cafe patrons would consider this an issue?

 

Thanks, iceni. It appears the way it's configured that all traffic first goes through the Proxomitron proxy, then then through the JAP proxy. Interesting.

I've been doing some searching to see if I really need Proxomitron, or if I already have my bases covered. Their web site did not seem to give much guidance.

 

This thead is getting so many posts I can't keep up. Iceni60's post does cover all the bases though. Using Proxomitron is an excellent idea - even if you do not use its filtering capabilities to the full, it's ability to filter HTTPS traffic (only if you have installed the OpenSSL libraries as mentioned in the Dangers of HTTPS post) will alert you to all HTTPS sites your browser tries connecting to (the browser will complain since Proxomitron's SSL certificate does not match that of the site itself).

Without it you would never know that reading any page at Wired caused your browser to connect to https://track.did-it.com/n/...

 

here's a link
http://computercops.biz/proxomitron-Intro.html

 

Now that's some good info. Thanks, iceni60.

 

Hi Mr. Burns, I mean P2k ,

Could you tell me, are the files you speak of, "OpenSSL files libeay32.dll and SSLeay32.dll" from the opening post, "Dangers of HTTPS?"

I'm getting interested in this Proxomitron, though still need more reading...
Do you have a version preference (excuse me if I missed this)?

TIA
GlobalForce

 

The OpenSSL DLLs are in the "SSL Add-Ons" section of the Proxomitron Files page (as mentioned in the "Dangers..." thread or you can use this direct link).

 

Thanks P2k for the reply.

Now about that version preference? Keep in mind there's only so much time in the day to read,
though I will take a looksee at their version difference page.

I was just curious you're pref...

GF

 

It seems to me that Proxo is really not needed because many pro firewalls (usually not the freebies) will block java/javascript and other info if you want. So i really don't see a need for it if your firewall is configured properly. Also a browser like Firefox allows you to disable java/javascript too. So what's the big deal about using Proxo?

 

If you're asking about Proxomitron version, the only one I've used is the latest 4.5j. The previous 4.5m version has some bugs and features that can cause problems (see the May-vs-June overview for details).

 

Dr Know - Hello.

The only advantage I can see is the SSL issue that P2K mentioned above.

 

Hi Dr. Know,

Most firewalls do not offer granularity for mobile code. For example, ZAP only lets you block mobile code for all websites. Outpost Pro is better because you can specify whether each website has mobile code blocked or not. Proxomitron offers granularity so you could allow Javascript, but filter out the potentially dangerous parts.

 

A good point to make - also check out Proxomitron's default web filter list to see what level of control it can give you over web pages.

Also I have started to see an increase in the use of advertising within HTML tables - these don't tend seem to get picked up by ad filters and Proxomitron appears to be the only option for dealing with these (for example the Hardware Central comparison box at www.sharkyextreme.com).

 

Yes, i'm starting to see why there is so much interest in this great little program. It appears that you could get away with using just a free firewall, along with Proxo, and often times end up with more protection than many pro firewalls.

 

That;s because "mobile code" protection is just a afterthought in most firewalls. It's not it's main job after all, a completely different thing.

 

Well JAP is doing some strange things tomy PC. It's probably something to do with some type of configuration, but it's having Java leaving a lot of ports open. Does anyone know what is causing this and how I can get around it? It's really slowing my browing experience.

 

That's normal - any local proxy will have multiple connections to its listening port (4001 in JAP's case) to handle the multiple connections your browser makes when retrieving a web page. Assuming that you have not changed JAP's default configuration of only accepting connections from localhost (127.0.0.1) only (under Config/Portlistener), port 4001 should not be visible to the outside world. Since JAP is a Java program, all activity will be reported as being by the Java Runtime Environment (javaw.exe).

Your browsing speed will be principally affected by which mix you are using and how many others you are sharing with - try a less busy one (Dresden-ULD seems to be performing well at the moment, with only 55 users). Be aware that different mixes use different ports (Dresden-Dresden uses port 6544, Dresden-ULD 26544, and Regensburg 3000) so you may need to create new firewall rules for them (depending on how strict your settings are).

 

I have "Activate Anonymous Web Access" unchecked, which means (I think) that my traffic is not going through the mixes, and it's still really slow. I just changed my browser LAN settings back (not using port 4001), and things are back to normal.

 

If unchecked, then the JAP client should just pass requests unencrypted to the web servers in question - bypassing the mixes. This should not result in any slowdown so if performance is a problem, then maybe some of the other software you are running is having an effect - I'd suggest checking Task Manager to see if any of them is showing high CPU utilisation (possibilities include NOD32's IMON HTTP scanner, any port-monitoring by the DiamondCS trio or ZoneAlarm).

 

VSMON (Zone Alarm) does show a high CPU utilization. That's probably because so many ports are opened by JAP. Any way around this?

 

Aside from configuring your browser to open fewer connections, no. Does Vsmon's utilisation drop to normal levels when you don't use port 4001? Does it drop if you don't use Proxomitron? (Proxomitron and JAP combined will double the number of local network connections on your system - browser->Proxomitron->JAP).

 

Yes. VSMON's utilization is MUCH lower after I reconfigured my brower to NOT use 4001. And I have not installed Proxo yet.

 

Try disabling any ZoneAlarm feature that involves scanning the contents of network traffic (mobile code protection, private data filter, etc) - this could be the cause.

 

Will do. But should I be concerned with all these "OPEN" ports? Can't someone hack into my PC via these ports?

 

In addition you can (and should as a general point) restrict JAP's network access with a firewall. In ZoneAlarm's case, JAP will need Server privileges (to accept incoming connections from your browser) but you should (using advanced settings) be able to limit these to the 127.0.0.1 address.