The Tor Project team explained their recent decision to remove many nodes by saying that they posed a threat to the security of all users of the Tor network. It turned out that the operators of some relays participated in a "high-risk cryptocurrency scheme that promises monetary benefits" and did not receive approval from the Tor Project.
Relays on the Tor network are routing nodes that help anonymize traffic on the Tor network by receiving and transmitting encrypted data to the next node. They are mostly run by volunteers and enthusiasts who are not indifferent to the issues of privacy, security, anonymity and freedom of information on the Internet.
The recent removal of many nodes from the network has caused heated discussions in the community about the rules for using repeaters and what is a violation and what is not. So the developers decided to explain their solution.
According to representatives of the Tor Project, it was recently discovered that some relay operators were associated with a certain high-risk cryptocurrency scheme. And the use of repeaters for profit contradicts the voluntary principles of volunteers who fight censorship and surveillance on the Internet.
It is also noted that if the commercial component takes on a serious scale and consumes a significant part of the relays in the Tor network, power will pass from the hands of the community to the hands of dubious individuals, and the security of the entire network will be undermined by aggressive centralization.
"We consider such relays harmful to the Tor network for a number of reasons, including because some of them do not meet our requirements, as well as because such financial schemes pose a significant threat to the integrity of the network and the reputation of our project, since they can attract attackers, put users at risk or disrupt the spirit of volunteering. supporting the Tor community, " the developers write.
It is also reported that many of the operators of disconnected nodes put themselves at risk, even without knowing about the project to which they contribute. Others launched repeaters in unsafe or high-risk regions.
Tor developers do not provide any specifics about the potentially dangerous commercial scheme, but in the comments to the post, you can find information that the blocked nodes were associated with the ATor (AirTor) project, and there were about a thousand of them. However, this information has not been officially confirmed.
The creators of ATor claim that the goal of the project is to improve the Tor network through rewards paid in ATOR cryptocurrency to relay operators. The price of ATOR fell sharply after the publication of the Tor developers ' statement, dropping below $ 1.
Relays on the Tor network are routing nodes that help anonymize traffic on the Tor network by receiving and transmitting encrypted data to the next node. They are mostly run by volunteers and enthusiasts who are not indifferent to the issues of privacy, security, anonymity and freedom of information on the Internet.
The recent removal of many nodes from the network has caused heated discussions in the community about the rules for using repeaters and what is a violation and what is not. So the developers decided to explain their solution.
According to representatives of the Tor Project, it was recently discovered that some relay operators were associated with a certain high-risk cryptocurrency scheme. And the use of repeaters for profit contradicts the voluntary principles of volunteers who fight censorship and surveillance on the Internet.
It is also noted that if the commercial component takes on a serious scale and consumes a significant part of the relays in the Tor network, power will pass from the hands of the community to the hands of dubious individuals, and the security of the entire network will be undermined by aggressive centralization.
"We consider such relays harmful to the Tor network for a number of reasons, including because some of them do not meet our requirements, as well as because such financial schemes pose a significant threat to the integrity of the network and the reputation of our project, since they can attract attackers, put users at risk or disrupt the spirit of volunteering. supporting the Tor community, " the developers write.
It is also reported that many of the operators of disconnected nodes put themselves at risk, even without knowing about the project to which they contribute. Others launched repeaters in unsafe or high-risk regions.
Tor developers do not provide any specifics about the potentially dangerous commercial scheme, but in the comments to the post, you can find information that the blocked nodes were associated with the ATor (AirTor) project, and there were about a thousand of them. However, this information has not been officially confirmed.
The creators of ATor claim that the goal of the project is to improve the Tor network through rewards paid in ATOR cryptocurrency to relay operators. The price of ATOR fell sharply after the publication of the Tor developers ' statement, dropping below $ 1.
