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Tor over VPN vs VPN over Tor: which is better?
Many users who seek anonymity are wondering which bundle is better: TOR over VPN or VPN over TOR. There is no unequivocal answer to this question, because in certain situations one bundle is better, and the other is worse. In this article, you will learn the pros and cons of each method and understand in which situations it is better to use TOR over VPN, and in which VPNs over TOR.First, let's define what TOR and VPN are for and what role they play in data privacy and anonymity.Tor: for anonymityTor provides higher anonymity than...
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Masking Tor Traffic
What are the general options for masking Tor traffic? Let's consider three options: Tor bridges, VPN and dVPN.Tor BridgesTor bridges were created primarily for gaining access to the Tor network if it is blocked in a particular country. It is logical to assume that if the connection through bridges can bypass the blocking, then the traffic is wrapped in such a way that the provider cannot recognize Tor there.First you need to figure out how a providers recognizing Tor traffic. Everything is quite simple, the list of all nodes is public and constantly updated. Anyone...
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Chainalysis Acquires Cybercrime Investigation Company
Blockchain analytics company Chainalysis announced the purchase of Excygent, a firm that provides government agencies with services related to cybercrime investigations and data processing. The parties did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. According to the press release, Chainalysis has worked with Excygent's team on several high-profile investigations, including those involving the now-defunct Silk Road darknet marketplace and the 2020 cascade of hacks of verified Twitter accounts. Excygent employees will join the Chainalysis investigation team, which analyzes online data for government agencies. Specifically, they will help track payments to ransomware operators."Tracking ransomware payment...
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U.S. calls for global fight against cybercrime
An official at the U.S. Treasury Department is calling for a «global effort» to combat cyberattacks and prevent criminals from using computer systems for ransom, according France24.«It's going to be critical that we not only do this in the United States, but that we have a global effort because many of these cyber criminals are domiciled outside of our country,» Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said.Adeyemo made the remarks during a speech before the Senate Banking Committee. The official said that governments, companies and individuals should focus on cybersecurity to prevent criminals from hacking into...
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Australian Police Smashed Criminal Ring that Laundered $ 62 Million via Cryptocurrency
Australian police have exposed one of the country's largest crime syndicates suspected of laundering tens of millions of dollars.The investigation has been ongoing since October 2020. According to investigators, over the past 12 months, the group has laundered at least $ 62 million in cash using dormant bank accounts of 250 Chinese students who left Australia long ago.Police allege the ring laundered at least $62 million of cash using the dormant bank accounts of 250 students who have returned to China after studying in Australia. Law enforcers also suggest that some of the student's accounts...
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Hacker who exposed UPMC employee data sentenced to 20 years in prison
A U.S. court sentenced 30-year-old Justin Shawn Johnson of Michigan to 20 years in prison for hacking into a UPMC database and spreading information about the firm's employees on the darknet. That's the maximum sentence the hacker could receive for his misdemeanor. Justin Sean Johnson is known on the darknet as «TheDeathStar» and «Dearthy Star». In 2013 and 2014, he infiltrated and hacked into the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's server databases. The man sold the stolen information on more than 65,000 employees on the dark web. The data was bought on forums for use...
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Qubes OS: general characteristics and installation
There are many operating systems belonging to the Linux family and each of them is designed for highly specialized tasks. Qubes OS is a free software that is focused on maximum security, and its goal is to create the most secure distribution kit through virtualization. In this guide, we shall consider what are the main features of this operating system and how to install it. How does Qubes OS work?The architecture of this system is built on separate blocks ("cubes"), each of which provides the user with different levels of privacy. This means that each...
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How to Keep Up Anonymous Correspondence Every time. Is that Possible?
Today we're going to talk about how to set up cross-functional protected messenger with XMPP+OTR.Disclaimer! The author doesn't take the responsibility about methods written below. This article is made only for information puproses! Do at your own peril and risk!Why is it important to have encrypted messenger for the PC?The usage of both XMPP and OTR allows you to maintain up-to-date and reliable communication encryption and it is cross-functional as you can use a lot of different applications for different platforms. This time we're going to talk about Pidgin for the Windows OS.First of all,...
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How to Install Tails
Tails is a Linux-based operating system whose main purpose is user anonymity. Tails is designed to boot from removable media - from a USB flash drive or CD. During its work, it connects to the Internet only through the Tor network, and also does not interact in any way with other computer storages (hard and SSD disks) unless you explicitly indicate this. Thanks to this, Tails:provides increased anonymityleaves no tracesAdditionally, this operating system has several accompanying programs installed: program for anonymous instant messaging, program for anonymous file distribution, Tor browser, mail client, Bitcoin wallet, as...
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What is the Deep Web and how to access it?
Is it true that DeepWeb is around us? Today we're going to answer this question and show you how it is easily accessible by everyone.Disclaimer! The author doesn't take the responsibility about methods written below. This article is made only for information puproses! Do at your own peril and risk!At first, Let's break down the "Deep Web" meaning.Media outlets gave the Deep Web the standing of an illegal activities void which causes their high concern. The place they talk about is a "DarkNet" and it is only 0,01% of Deep Web. These collocations are commonly...
