Researchers make bittorrent anonymous and impossible to shut down

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**TheDraconicLord**

Source: http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-anonymous-and-impossible-to-shut-down-141218/

While the BitTorrent ecosystem is filled with uncertainty and doubt, researchers at Delft University of Technology have released the first version of their anonymous and decentralized BitTorrent network. "Tribler makes BitTorrent anonymous and impossible to shut down," lead researcher Prof. Pouwelse says.
The Pirate Bay shutdown has once again shows how vulnerable the BitTorrent ‘landscape’ is to disruptions.
With a single raid the largest torrent site on the Internet was pulled offline, dragging down several other popular BitTorrent services with it.
A team of researchers at Delft University of Technology has found a way to address this problem. With Tribler they’ve developed a robust BitTorrent client that doesn’t rely on central servers. Instead, it’s designed to keep BitTorrent alive, even when all torrent search engines, indexes and trackers are pulled offline.

“Tribler makes BitTorrent anonymous and impossible to shut down,” Tribler’s lead researcher Dr. Pouwelse tells TF.
“Recent events show that governments do not hesitate to block Twitter, raid websites, confiscate servers and steal domain names. The Tribler team has been working for 10 years to prepare for the age of server-less solutions and aggressive suppressors.”

To top that, the most recent version of Tribler that was released today also offers anonymity to its users through a custom-built in Tor network. This allows users to share and publish files without broadcasting their IP-addresses to the rest of the world.

“The public was beginning to lose the battle for Internet freedom, but today we are proud to be able to present an attack-resilient and censorship-resilient infrastructure for publishing,” Dr. Pouwelse says.

After thorough tests of the anonymity feature earlier this year, it’s now built into the latest release with end-to-end encryption. Tribler implemented a Tor-like onion routing network which hides who is seeding or sharing files. Users can vary the number of “hops” the client uses to increase anonymity.

“Tribler creates a new dedicated network for anonymity that is in no way connected to the main Tor network. By using Tribler you become part of a Tor-like network and help others become anonymous,” Dr. Pouwelse says.
“That means you no longer have any exposure in any swarm, either downloading or seeding,” he adds.

The downside to the increase in privacy is higher bandwidth usage. After all, users themselves also become proxies and have to relay the transfers of others. In addition, the anonymity feature may also slow down transfer speeds depending on how much other users are willing to share.

“We are very curious to see how fast anonymous downloads will be. It all depends on how social people are, meaning, if they leave Tribler running and help others automatically to become anonymous. If a lot of Tribler users turn out to be sharing and caring, the speed will be sufficient for a nice downloading experience,” Pouwelse says.

Another key feature of Tribler is decentralization. Users can search for files from within the application, which finds torrents through other peers instead of a central server. And if a tracker goes offline, the torrent will continue to download with the help of other users too.
The same decentralization principle applies to spam control. Where most torrent sites have a team of moderators to delete viruses, malware and fake files, Tribler uses user-generated “channels” which can be “liked” by others. If more people like a channel, the associated torrents get a boost in search results.
Overall the main goal of the University project is to offer a counterweight to the increased suppression and privacy violations the Internet is facing. Supported by million of euros in taxpayer money, the Tribler team is confident that it can make the Internet a bit safer for torrent users.

“The Internet is turning into a privacy nightmare. There are very few initiatives that use strong encryption and onion routing to offer real privacy. Even fewer teams have the resources, the energy, technical skills and scientific know-how to take on the Big and Powerful for a few years,” Pouwelse says.

After the Pirate Bay raid last week Tribler enjoyed a 30% increase in users and they hope that this will continue to grow during the weeks to come.

Those who want to give it a spin are welcome to download Tribler here. It’s completely Open Source and with a version for Windows, Mac and Linux. In addition, the Tribler team also invites researchers to join the project.

And if you are curious about the Tor thing: https://www.torproject.org/

Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security.

**mitch_rifle**

Good

**Jimsolo**

It's a victory for criminals everywhere! Yay!

**daedalus**

Personally, it smells like a honeypot to me. There's also much speculation to whether Tor itself is also one.

Jimsolo wrote:
It's a victory for criminals everywhere! Yay!

As someone who earns a livelihood from copyright encumbered software, I still emphatically must say: Oh, stop that.

**Ouze**

As long as one device has to tell another device what it wants and where to send it, there will be no anonymous protocol.

**Sigvatr**

Free software for everyone!

**Ouze**

daedalus wrote:
Personally, it smells like a honeypot to me. There's also much speculation to whether Tor itself is also one.

I don't believe Tor is actually anonymous, but it's certainly not a honeypot either. If it were, the FBI wouldn't have to exploit flash vulnerabilities to get IP addresses.

**TheDraconicLord**

Jimsolo wrote:
It's a victory for criminals everywhere! Yay!

I understand your POV and I'd be 100% like that a few years ago, but, considering how the trend seems to be "censorship is fun!", I'll take any "weapon" that'll help.

**Sigvatr**

Yeah...Bittorrent is about a "weapon" to "censorship" as dry paper is a weapon to fire.

**LordofHats**

Sigvatr wrote:
Yeah...Bittorrent is about a "weapon" to "censorship" as dry paper is a weapon to fire.

Hey man. Enough dry paper will stop anything

But yes do explain how bittorrent is a weapon against censorship? Censorship today is predominantly done by the makers of a work, not anyone else. Bit torrent offers nothing to halt that.

**daedalus**

Ouze wrote:

I don't believe Tor is actually anonymous, but it's certainly not a honeypot either. If it were, the FBI wouldn't have to exploit flash vulnerabilities to get IP addresses.

Well, I'm no subject matter expert on it, personally, so I don't really know as I have much of an opinion outside of detail-light articles I've read, but I think it wouldn't strain credibility to suggest that, were it a honeypot, whichever organization responsible wouldn't want to let the cat out of the bag on it any sooner than they could avoid if some other method would get the job done.

**TheDraconicLord**

LordofHats wrote:
Sigvatr wrote:
Yeah...Bittorrent is about a "weapon" to "censorship" as dry paper is a weapon to fire.

Hey man. Enough dry paper will stop anything

But yes do explain how bittorrent is a weapon against censorship? Censorship today is predominantly done by the makers of a work, not anyone else. Bit torrent offers nothing to halt that.

What I thought about were those cases where something is not allowed to the people of one country because of that country's rules. This way at least they could potentially remain anonymous. But then again, I have no idea if this is even a valid scenario.

**LordofHats**

No I do see what you mean in that sense. Hadn't considered that. China I know bans a lot of games and movies.

**dementedwombat**

TheDraconicLord wrote:
What I thought about were those cases where something is not allowed to the people of one country because of that country's rules. This way at least they could potentially remain anonymous. But then again, I have no idea if this is even a valid scenario.

I can assure you that it is. I spent a couple months in China. A VPN is pretty much the first thing any Chinese person puts on their computer.

**Talizvar**

Ouze wrote:
As long as one device has to tell another device what it wants and where to send it, there will be no anonymous protocol.

Ah, just a whole bunch of hops which makes tracking it all kinda difficult as each hop is wrapped in another layer of encrypted "onion".
Seeding a few man-in-the-middle machines may help get lucky with a few casual communications but it would not be good for anything specific except when exiting the Tor network.

I guess I like this, I still see too much of it's use appealing to my darker side than legitimate keeping "the man" in the dark of what I am doing for privacy "just because".

What is that quote?: "You can have freedom or security but you cannot have both."

**Peregrine**

daedalus wrote:
Well, I'm no subject matter expert on it, personally, so I don't really know as I have much of an opinion outside of detail-light articles I've read, but I think it wouldn't strain credibility to suggest that, were it a honeypot, whichever organization responsible wouldn't want to let the cat out of the bag on it any sooner than they could avoid if some other method would get the job done.

Exactly, and this is why the average person has nothing to worry about in this case. If someone has the ability to break the security on this they're not going to waste it on punishing someone for downloading a few movies, they're going to save it for terrorism/large-scale bank fraud/etc.

**Shadow Captain Edithae**

Talizvar wrote:
Ouze wrote:
As long as one device has to tell another device what it wants and where to send it, there will be no anonymous protocol.
Ah, just a whole bunch of hops which makes tracking it all kinda difficult as each hop is wrapped in another layer of encrypted "onion".
Seeding a few man-in-the-middle machines may help get lucky with a few casual communications but it would not be good for anything specific except when exiting the Tor network.

I guess I like this, I still see too much of it's use appealing to my darker side than legitimate keeping "the man" in the dark of what I am doing for privacy "just because".

What is that quote?: "You can have freedom or security but you cannot have both."

Theres another quote that I like.

“Those who give up liberty for security deserve neither.”

(And yes, I'm aware that its actually a misquote, Benjamin Franklin didn't really say this, but the sentiment is valid).

**dementedwombat**

Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
Talizvar wrote:
What is that quote?: "You can have freedom or security but you cannot have both."

Theres another quote that I like.

“Those who give up liberty for security deserve neither.”

(And yes, I'm aware that its actually a misquote, Benjamin Franklin didn't really say this, but the sentiment is valid).

Both those quotes actually mean the exact same thing, one is just written for a more logical mindset

**Shadow Captain Edithae**

Not really.

Talizvar's quote strikes me as somewhat neutral. Mine is not.

**dementedwombat**

Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
Not really.

Talizvar's quote strikes me as somewhat neutral. Mine is not.

Fair. Although I don't really see the dichotomy between privacy and liberty. You can still do whatever you want regardless of what people know you do.

Then again, my stance on privacy is kind of strange. I personally think that if you're too concerned about it then you probably have a guilty conscience. I don't really care how much people know about me, I just don't want people bothering me.

**Peregrine**

dementedwombat wrote:
You can still do whatever you want regardless of what people know you do.

No you can't, because social pressure is a thing. Imagine you're gay and you live in a very conservative area. If everyone knows what you do you could lose your job, get disowned by your family, etc. Your ability to live your life as you want depends on having some degree of privacy.

Then again, my stance on privacy is kind of strange. I personally think that if you're too concerned about it then you probably have a guilty conscience. I don't really care how much people know about me, I just don't want people bothering me.

Ok, prove it. Post your email/facebook/etc passwords here so that everyone who wants to can read all of your private conversations. Oh, and put cameras everywhere in your house (including the bathroom) so that people can watch everything you do.

**dementedwombat**

Peregrine wrote:
dementedwombat wrote:
You can still do whatever you want regardless of what people know you do.

No you can't, because social pressure is a thing. Imagine you're gay and you live in a very conservative area. If everyone knows what you do you could lose your job, get disowned by your family, etc. Your ability to live your life as you want depends on having some degree of privacy.

Then again, my stance on privacy is kind of strange. I personally think that if you're too concerned about it then you probably have a guilty conscience. I don't really care how much people know about me, I just don't want people bothering me.

Ok, prove it. Post your email/facebook/etc passwords here so that everyone who wants to can read all of your private conversations. Oh, and put cameras everywhere in your house (including the bathroom) so that people can watch everything you do.

In your situation it's social pressure that is the problem, not privacy. If internet trolls didn't exist (i.e. the"nobody bothering me" part of my statement) then I would gladly let you have my passwords to everything up to and including my bank account. As it is, I can't do this because people would post links to shock sites on my Facebook timeline and use my credit card numbers to buy miscellaneous stuff.

A certain degree of privacy is necessary in life, but that's because people suck, not because I want to have it.

**Shadow Captain Edithae**

Ok, I'll bite.

What are your sexual fetishes?

**dementedwombat**

Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
Ok, I'll bite.

What are your sexual fetishes?

Anything that is safe, sane, and consensual and does not involve two gay men could interest me. So what? What are yours?

**Shadow Captain Edithae**

dementedwombat wrote:
Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
Ok, I'll bite.

What are your sexual fetishes?
Anything that is safe, sane, and consensual and does not involve two gay men could interest me. So what? What are yours?

Unlike you, I value my privacy.

**Desubot**

Yar Har Fiddle Dee Dee and such

**Albatross**

daedalus wrote:

Jimsolo wrote:
It's a victory for criminals everywhere! Yay!

As someone who earns a livelihood from copyright encumbered software, I still emphatically must say: Oh, stop that.

It is though. Or, rather, that's one of the things it is. It's other things too, but the point deserves to be made. Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't this be a pretty tremendous boon for online paedophile rings wishing to exchange material?

**Peregrine**

Albatross wrote:
Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't this be a pretty tremendous boon for online paedophile rings wishing to exchange material

Not really, because one of the most important parts of getting away with breaking the law is not broadcasting to the whole world that you're doing it. And it sounds like that's exactly what the search part of this would be doing. And then once you've posted your giant "here I am, come and find me" sign the police can focus on you specifically, either by breaking the security on your file sharing or by waiting for you to make a mistake and leak some identifying information. The people who really benefit from this are the people who are only guilty of "normal" piracy, since the anonymity features keep the copyright lawyers from picking you as an easy target and nobody is going to invest NSA-level resources into preventing people from stealing a $50 game.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

dementedwombat wrote:
A certain degree of privacy is necessary in life, but that's because people suck, not because I want to have it.

IOW, "as long as we live in a magical fantasy world where nobody wants to do anything to violate my privacy I don't need to put up an explicit fence to keep them out".

**dogma**

The same decentralization principle applies to spam control. Where most torrent sites have a team of moderators to delete viruses, malware and fake files, Tribler uses user-generated “channels” which can be “liked” by others. If more people like a channel, the associated torrents get a boost in search results.

Ah, the social media model. There couldn't possibly be any problems there.

Peregrine wrote:

Not really, because one of the most important parts of getting away with breaking the law is not broadcasting to the whole world that you're doing it.

But that's exactly what you would be doing by searching for anything using Tribler.

Yes, all that data wouldn't necessarily end up in one place, but it would be stupid to pretend it wasn't likely to do so; especially given the "like" system.

**daedalus**

Albatross wrote:

It is though. Or, rather, that's one of the things it is. It's other things too, but the point deserves to be made. Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't this be a pretty tremendous boon for online paedophile rings wishing to exchange material?

My argument is that people who infringe on a person's copyright are not necessarily breaking criminal code. To blanketly suggest otherwise is unfair.

To your paedophile comment, to a particular extreme, the same could be said about opaque walls. Biggest difference is that they're not new tech.

On a more serious note, I find the claims of the software a little magical. I cannot think of a way that a significantly powerful enough governing body could not be able to shut down said traffic, even if they could not intercept and target individual users, and given enough resources, I think that even that would be possible. I've not done a full audit of the code. I'm honestly probably not qualified. I wish there was something describing technically how this worked that was somewhere between the crap article and trying to tear apart the code itself.

From what little I can glean, I feel like they still don't solve the "trust" issue. Even if you know your distributed network is 100% secure, how do you know all nodes are 100% secure? Most of their magic appears to be based around the idea that the more peer nodes you insert between you and what you're trying to get at, the less everyone immediately knows about what any one person is doing. That alone makes sense, but these nodes aren't restricted to just handling this data. What happens when parties (Microsoft/NSA/SIS) start listening in at a node through a different attack vector? Probably nothing. What happens when they do it to a number of nodes several orders of magnitude greater? Well, then you route murky stuff through five proxies, but when all five of those proxies are compromised, things become much less murky. You almost need a dedicated OS and a computer that uses nothing but this network, and even then, you need hardware you can 100% trust to not have anything malicious burned into an IC somewhere. And before it gets to that point, if the traffic actually looks like anything other than straight-up HTTP/HTTPS traffic to anything looking at it at an ISP, the whole network can likely be shut down completely within days.

I don't do criminal things with computers, but if I did and they required people shifting files around, either sneaker-net or an anonymous wireless network with attached hard drive would be the way to go. 2600 had a fun story a couple issues ago about setting up a raspberry pi some place public in a hard to find location with a couple wireless cards, and then using that as a proxy to do questionable things. That'd be a better start than using anything located in your home.

Network security is a rabbit hole of paranoia and fear, and if someone powerful enough wants you, odds are they'll find a way.