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abuse.html       1) <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
abuse.html       2) "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
abuse.html       3) 
abuse.html       4) <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en">
abuse.html       5) <head>
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faq-abuse.html   6)  <title>Abuse FAQ for Tor Server Operators</title>
faq-abuse.html   7)  <meta name="Author" content="Roger Dingledine" />
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faq-abuse.html   8)  <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" />
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faq-abuse.html   9)  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css" />
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faq-abuse.html  10)  <link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon" href="/favicon.ico" />
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abuse.html      11) </head>
abuse.html      12) <body>
abuse.html      13) 
abuse.html      14) <!-- TITLE BAR & NAVIGATION -->
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faq-abuse.html  15) <div class="center">
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abuse.html      16) 
abuse.html      17) <table class="banner" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
abuse.html      18)     <tr>
abuse.html      19)         <td class="banner-left"></td>
abuse.html      20)         <td class="banner-middle">
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faq-abuse.html  21)             <a href="index.html">Home</a>
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faq-abuse.html  22)           | <a href="overview.html">Overview</a>
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faq-abuse.html  23)           | <a href="download.html">Download</a>
faq-abuse.html  24)           | <a href="documentation.html">Docs</a>
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faq-abuse.html  25)           | <a href="support.html">Support</a>
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faq-abuse.html  26)           | <a href="faq.html">FAQs</a>
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faq-abuse.html  27)           | <a href="volunteer.html">Volunteer</a>
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faq-abuse.html  28)           | <a href="developers.html">Developers</a>
faq-abuse.html  29)           | <a href="research.html">Research</a>
faq-abuse.html  30)           | <a href="people.html">People</a>
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abuse.html      31)         </td>
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faq-abuse.html  32)         <td class="banner-right">
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faq-abuse.html  33)               <a href="/"><img src="/images/en.png" alt="English" /></a>
faq-abuse.html  34)               <a href="/index.it.html"><img src="/images/it.png" alt="Italiano" /></a>
faq-abuse.html  35)               <a href="/index.de.html"><img src="/images/de.png" alt="Deutsch" /></a>
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faq-abuse.html  36)         </td>
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abuse.html      37)     </tr>
abuse.html      38) </table>
abuse.html      39) 
abuse.html      40) <!-- END TITLE BAR & NAVIGATION -->
abuse.html      41) 
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faq-abuse.html  42) 
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abuse.html      43) <div class="main-column">
abuse.html      44) 
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faq-abuse.html  45) <!-- PUT CONTENT AFTER THIS TAG -->
faq-abuse.html  46) 
faq-abuse.html  47) <h2>Abuse FAQ for Tor Server Operators</h2>
faq-abuse.html  48) <hr />
faq-abuse.html  49) 
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faq-abuse.html  50) <a id="WhatAboutCriminals"></a>
faq-abuse.html  51) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#WhatAboutCriminals">Doesn't Tor enable criminals to do bad things?</a></h3>
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faq-abuse.html  53) <p>Criminals can already do bad things. Since they're willing to
faq-abuse.html  54) break laws, they already have lots of options available that provide
faq-abuse.html  55) <em>better</em> privacy than Tor provides. They can steal cell phones,
faq-abuse.html  56) use them, and throw them in a ditch; they can crack into computers
faq-abuse.html  57) in Korea or Brazil and use them to launch abusive activities; they
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faq-abuse.html  58) can use spyware, viruses, and other techniques to take control of
faq-abuse.html  59) literally millions of Windows machines around the world. </p>
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faq-abuse.html  61) <p>Tor aims to provide protection for ordinary people who want to follow
faq-abuse.html  62) the law. Only criminals have privacy right now; we need to fix that. </p>
faq-abuse.html  63) 
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faq-abuse.html  64) <p>Some advocates of anonymity explain that it's just a tradeoff &mdash;
faq-abuse.html  65) accepting the bad uses for the good ones &mdash; but we don't think that's
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faq-abuse.html  66) how it works in the case of Tor.
faq-abuse.html  67) Criminals and other bad people have the motivation to learn how to
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faq-abuse.html  68) get good anonymity, and many have the motivation to pay well to achieve
faq-abuse.html  69) it. Being able to steal and reuse the identities of innocent victims
faq-abuse.html  70) (identify theft) makes it even easier. Normal people, on the other hand,
faq-abuse.html  71) don't typically have the time or money to spend figuring out how to get
faq-abuse.html  72) privacy online. This is the worst of all possible worlds. </p>
faq-abuse.html  73) 
faq-abuse.html  74) <p>So yes, criminals could in theory use Tor, but they already have
faq-abuse.html  75) better options, and it seems unlikely that taking Tor away from the
faq-abuse.html  76) world will stop them from doing their bad things. At the same time, Tor
faq-abuse.html  77) and other privacy measures can <em>fight</em> identity theft, physical
faq-abuse.html  78) crimes like stalking, and so on. </p>
faq-abuse.html  79) 
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faq-abuse.html  80) <a id="DDoS"></a>
faq-abuse.html  81) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#DDoS">What about distributed denial of service attacks?</a></h3>
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abuse.html      82) 
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faq-abuse.html  83) <p>Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks typically rely on having a group
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faq-abuse.html  84) of thousands of computers all sending floods of traffic to a victim. Since
faq-abuse.html  85) the goal is to overpower the bandwidth of the victim, they typically send
faq-abuse.html  86) UDP packets since those don't require handshakes or coordination. </p>
faq-abuse.html  87) 
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faq-abuse.html  88) <p>But because Tor only transports correctly formed TCP streams, not
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faq-abuse.html  89) all IP packets, you cannot send UDP packets over Tor. (You can't do
faq-abuse.html  90) specialized forms of this attack like SYN flooding either.) So ordinary
faq-abuse.html  91) DDoS attacks are not possible over Tor. Tor also doesn't allow bandwidth
faq-abuse.html  92) amplification attacks against external sites: you need to send in a byte
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faq-abuse.html  93) for every byte that the Tor network will send to your destination. So
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faq-abuse.html  94) in general, attackers who control enough bandwidth to launch an effective
faq-abuse.html  95) DDoS attack can do it just fine without Tor. </p>
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faq-abuse.html  97) <a id="WhatAboutSpammers"></a>
faq-abuse.html  98) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#WhatAboutSpammers">What about spammers?</a></h3>
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abuse.html      99) 
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faq-abuse.html 100) <p>First of all, the default Tor exit policy rejects all outgoing
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faq-abuse.html 101) port 25 (SMTP) traffic. So sending spam mail through Tor isn't going to
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faq-abuse.html 102) work by default. It's possible that some server operators will enable
faq-abuse.html 103) port 25 on their particular exit node, in which case that computer will
faq-abuse.html 104) allow outgoing mails; but that individual could just set up an open mail
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faq-abuse.html 105) relay too, independent of Tor. In short, Tor isn't useful for spamming,
faq-abuse.html 106) because nearly all Tor servers refuse to deliver the mail. </p>
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faq-abuse.html 107) 
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faq-abuse.html 108) <p>Of course, it's not all about delivering the mail. Spammers can use
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faq-abuse.html 109) Tor to connect to open HTTP proxies (and from there to SMTP servers); to
faq-abuse.html 110) connect to badly written mail-sending CGI scripts; and to control their
faq-abuse.html 111) botnets &mdash; that is, to covertly communicate with armies of
faq-abuse.html 112) compromised computers that deliver the spam.
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faq-abuse.html 113) </p>
faq-abuse.html 114) 
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faq-abuse.html 115) <p>
faq-abuse.html 116) This is a shame, but notice that spammers are already doing great
faq-abuse.html 117) without Tor. Also, remember that many of their more subtle communication
faq-abuse.html 118) mechanisms (like spoofed UDP packets) can't be used over Tor, because
faq-abuse.html 119) it only transports correctly-formed TCP connections.
faq-abuse.html 120) </p>
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faq-abuse.html 122) <a id="ExitPolicies"></a>
faq-abuse.html 123) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#ExitPolicies">How do Tor exit policies work?</a></h3>
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abuse.html     124) 
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faq-abuse.html 125) <p>Each Tor server has an exit policy that specifies what sort of
faq-abuse.html 126) outbound connections are allowed or refused from that server. The exit
faq-abuse.html 127) policies are propagated to the client via the directory, so clients
faq-abuse.html 128) will automatically avoid picking exit nodes that would refuse to exit
faq-abuse.html 129) to their intended destination. </p>
faq-abuse.html 130) 
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faq-abuse.html 131) <p>This way each server can decide the services, hosts, and networks
faq-abuse.html 132) he wants to allow connections to, based on abuse potential and his own
faq-abuse.html 133) situation. </p>
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faq-abuse.html 135) <a id="HowMuchAbuse"></a>
faq-abuse.html 136) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#HowMuchAbuse">Does Tor get much abuse?</a></h3>
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abuse.html     137) 
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faq-abuse.html 138) <p>Not much, in the grand scheme of things. We've been running the network
faq-abuse.html 139) since October 2003, and it's only generated a handful of complaints. Of
faq-abuse.html 140) course, like all privacy-oriented networks on the net, we attract our
faq-abuse.html 141) share of jerks. Tor's exit policies help separate the role of "willing
faq-abuse.html 142) to donate resources to the network" from the role of "willing to deal
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faq-abuse.html 143) with exit abuse complaints," so we hope our network is more sustainable
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faq-abuse.html 144) than past attempts at anonymity networks. </p>
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abuse.html     145) 
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faq-abuse.html 146) <p>Since Tor has <a
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faq-abuse.html 147) href="/cvs/tor/doc/tor-doc.html">many good uses as
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faq-abuse.html 148) well</a>, we feel that we're doing pretty well at striking a balance
faq-abuse.html 149) currently. </p>
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faq-abuse.html 151) <a id="TypicalAbuses"></a>
faq-abuse.html 152) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#TypicalAbuses">So what should I expect if I run a server?</a></h3>
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abuse.html     153) 
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faq-abuse.html 154) <p>If you run a Tor server that allows exit connections (such as the
faq-abuse.html 155) default exit policy), it's probably safe to say that you will eventually
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faq-abuse.html 156) hear from somebody. Abuse
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faq-abuse.html 157) complaints may come in a variety of forms. For example: </p>
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abuse.html     158) <ul>
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faq-abuse.html 159) <li>Somebody connects to Hotmail, and sends a ransom note to a
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faq-abuse.html 160) company. The
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faq-abuse.html 161) FBI sends you a polite email, you explain that you run a Tor server,
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faq-abuse.html 162) and they say "oh well" and leave you alone. [Port 80]</li>
faq-abuse.html 163) <li>Somebody tries to get you shut down by using Tor to connect to Google
faq-abuse.html 164) groups and post spam to Usenet, and then sends an angry mail to
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faq-abuse.html 165) your ISP about how you're destroying the world. [Port 80]</li>
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faq-abuse.html 166) <li>Somebody connects to an IRC network and makes a nuisance of
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faq-abuse.html 167) himself. Your ISP gets polite mail about how your computer has been
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faq-abuse.html 168) compromised; and/or your computer gets DDoSed. [Port 6667]</li>
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faq-abuse.html 169) <li>Somebody uses Tor to download a Vin Diesel movie, and
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faq-abuse.html 170) your ISP gets a DMCA takedown notice. See EFF's <a
faq-abuse.html 171) href="http://tor.eff.org/eff/tor-dmca-response.html">Tor DMCA Response
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faq-abuse.html 172) Template</a>, which explains to your ISP why it can probably ignore
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faq-abuse.html 173) the notice without any liability. [Arbitrary ports]</li>
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abuse.html     174) </ul>
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faq-abuse.html 175) 
faq-abuse.html 176) <p>You might also find that your Tor server's IP is blocked from accessing
faq-abuse.html 177) some Internet sites/services. This might happen regardless of your exit
faq-abuse.html 178) policy, because some groups don't seem to know or care that Tor has
faq-abuse.html 179) exit policies. (If you have a spare IP not used for other activities,
faq-abuse.html 180) you might consider running your Tor server on it.) For example, </p>
faq-abuse.html 181) 
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abuse.html     182) <ul>
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faq-abuse.html 183) <li>Because of a few cases of anonymous jerks messing with its web
faq-abuse.html 184) pages, Wikipedia is currently blocking many Tor server IPs from writing
faq-abuse.html 185) (reading still works). We're talking to Wikipedia about how they might
faq-abuse.html 186) control abuse while still providing access to anonymous contributors,
faq-abuse.html 187) who often have hot news or inside info on a topic but don't want to risk
faq-abuse.html 188) revealing their identities when publishing it (or don't want to reveal
faq-abuse.html 189) to local observers that they're accessing Wikipedia). Slashdot is also
faq-abuse.html 190) in the same boat.</li>
faq-abuse.html 191) <li>SORBS is putting some Tor server IPs on their email
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faq-abuse.html 192) blacklist as well. They do this because they passively detect whether your
faq-abuse.html 193) server connects to certain IRC networks, and they conclude from this that
faq-abuse.html 194) your server is capable of spamming. We're working with them to teach them
faq-abuse.html 195) that not all software works this way. Until then, we recommend you avoid
faq-abuse.html 196) them, and teach your friends (if they use them) to avoid them too.</li>
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abuse.html     197) </ul>
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faq-abuse.html 199) <a id="IrcBans"></a>
faq-abuse.html 200) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#IrcBans">Tor is banned from the IRC network I want to use.</a></h3>
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abuse.html     201) 
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faq-abuse.html 202) <p>Sometimes jerks make use of Tor to troll IRC channels. This abuse
faq-abuse.html 203) results in IP-specific temporary bans ("klines" in IRC lingo), as the
faq-abuse.html 204) network operators try to keep the troll off of their network. </p>
faq-abuse.html 205) 
faq-abuse.html 206) <p>This response underscores a fundamental flaw in IRC's security model:
faq-abuse.html 207) they assume that IP addresses equate to humans, and by banning the
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faq-abuse.html 208) IP address they can ban the human. In reality this is not the case &mdash;
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faq-abuse.html 209) many such trolls routinely make use of the literally millions of open
faq-abuse.html 210) proxies and compromised computers around the Internet. The IRC networks
faq-abuse.html 211) are fighting a losing battle of trying to block all these nodes,
faq-abuse.html 212) and an entire cottage industry of blacklists and counter-trolls has
faq-abuse.html 213) sprung up based on this flawed security model (not unlike the antivirus
faq-abuse.html 214) industry). The Tor network is just a drop in the bucket here. </p>
faq-abuse.html 215) 
faq-abuse.html 216) <p>On the other hand, from the viewpoint of IRC server operators, security
faq-abuse.html 217) is not an all-or-nothing thing.  By responding quickly to trolls or
faq-abuse.html 218) any other social attack, it may be possible to make the attack scenario
faq-abuse.html 219) less attractive to the attacker.  And most individual IP addresses do
faq-abuse.html 220) equate to individual humans, on any given IRC network at any given time.
faq-abuse.html 221) The exceptions include NAT gateways which may be allocated access as
faq-abuse.html 222) special cases. While it's a losing battle to try to stop the use of open
faq-abuse.html 223) proxies, it's not generally a losing battle to keep klining a single
faq-abuse.html 224) ill-behaved IRC user until that user gets bored and goes away. </p>
faq-abuse.html 225) 
faq-abuse.html 226) <p>But the real answer is to implement application-level auth systems,
faq-abuse.html 227) to let in well-behaving users and keep out badly-behaving users. This
faq-abuse.html 228) needs to be based on some property of the human (such as a password he
faq-abuse.html 229) knows), not some property of the way his packets are transported. </p>
faq-abuse.html 230) 
faq-abuse.html 231) <p>Of course, not all IRC networks are trying to ban Tor nodes. After
faq-abuse.html 232) all, quite a few people use Tor to IRC in privacy in order to carry
faq-abuse.html 233) on legitimate communications without tying them to their real-world
faq-abuse.html 234) identity. Each IRC network needs to decide for itself if blocking a few
faq-abuse.html 235) more of the millions of IPs that bad people can use is worth losing the
faq-abuse.html 236) contributions from the well-behaved Tor users. </p>
faq-abuse.html 237) 
faq-abuse.html 238) <p>If you're being blocked, have a discussion with the network operators
faq-abuse.html 239) and explain the issues to them. They may not be aware of the existence of
faq-abuse.html 240) Tor at all, or they may not be aware that the hostnames they're klining
faq-abuse.html 241) are Tor exit nodes.  If you explain the problem, and they conclude that
faq-abuse.html 242) Tor ought to be blocked, you may want to consider moving to a network that
faq-abuse.html 243) is more open to free speech.  Maybe inviting them to #tor on irc.oftc.net
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faq-abuse.html 244) will help show them that we are not all evil people. </p>
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faq-abuse.html 245) 
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faq-abuse.html 246) <p>Finally, if you become aware of an IRC network that seems to be
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faq-abuse.html 247) blocking Tor, or a single Tor exit node, please put that information on <a
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faq-abuse.html 248) href="http://wiki.noreply.org/wiki/TheOnionRouter/BlockingIrc">The Tor
faq-abuse.html 249) IRC block tracker</a>
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faq-abuse.html 250) so that others can share.  At least one IRC network consults that page
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faq-abuse.html 251) to unblock exit nodes that have been blocked inadvertently. </p>
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faq-abuse.html 253) <a id="SMTPBans"></a>
faq-abuse.html 254) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#SMTPBans">Your nodes are banned from the mail server I want to use.</a></h3>
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abuse.html     255) 
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faq-abuse.html 256) <p>Even though <a href="#WhatAboutSpammers">Tor isn't useful for
faq-abuse.html 257) spamming</a>, some over-zealous blacklisters seem to think that all
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faq-abuse.html 258) open networks like Tor are evil &mdash; they attempt to strong-arm network
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faq-abuse.html 259) administrators on policy, service, and routing issues, and then extract
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faq-abuse.html 260) ransoms from victims. </p>
faq-abuse.html 261) 
faq-abuse.html 262) <p>If your server administrators decide to make use of these
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faq-abuse.html 263) blacklists to refuse incoming mail, you should have a conversation with
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faq-abuse.html 264) them and explain about Tor and Tor's exit policies. </p>
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faq-abuse.html 266) <a id="Bans"></a>
faq-abuse.html 267) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#Bans">I want to ban the Tor network from my service.</a></h3>
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faq-abuse.html 269) <p>First, ask yourself if there's a way to do application-level decisions
faq-abuse.html 270) to separate the legitimate users from the jerks. For example, you might
faq-abuse.html 271) have certain areas of the site, or certain privileges like posting,
faq-abuse.html 272) available only to people who are registered. You could set up this
faq-abuse.html 273) distinction only for certain IP addresses such as Tor exit nodes. This
faq-abuse.html 274) way you can have multi-tiered access and not have to ban everything. </p>
faq-abuse.html 275) 
faq-abuse.html 276) <p>Second, consider that thousands of people use Tor every day to protect
faq-abuse.html 277) against data-gathering corporations like Doubleclick while going about
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faq-abuse.html 278) their normal activities. Others use Tor because it's their only
faq-abuse.html 279) way to get past the restrictive firewalls at their school or other
faq-abuse.html 280) organization. Some Tor users may be legitimately connecting
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faq-abuse.html 281) to your service right now to carry on normal activities. You need to
faq-abuse.html 282) decide whether banning the Tor network is worth losing the contributions
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faq-abuse.html 283) of these users, as well as potential future legitimate users. </p>
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faq-abuse.html 284) 
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faq-abuse.html 285) <p>At this point, you should also ask yourself what you do about other
faq-abuse.html 286) services that aggregate many users behind a few IP addresses. Tor is
faq-abuse.html 287) not so different from AOL in this respect.</p>
faq-abuse.html 288) 
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faq-abuse.html 289) <p>Lastly, please remember that Tor servers have individual exit
faq-abuse.html 290) policies. Many Tor servers do not allow exiting connections at
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faq-abuse.html 291) all. Many of those that do allow some exit connections might already
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faq-abuse.html 292) disallow connections to
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faq-abuse.html 293) your service. When you go about banning nodes, you should parse the
faq-abuse.html 294) exit policies and only block the ones that allow these connections;
faq-abuse.html 295) and you should keep in mind that exit policies can change (as well as
faq-abuse.html 296) the overall list of nodes in the network). </p>
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faq-abuse.html 298) <p>If you really want to do this, we provide a
faq-abuse.html 299) <a href="/cvs/tor/contrib/exitlist">Python script to parse the Tor
faq-abuse.html 300) directory</a>.
faq-abuse.html 301) </p>
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faq-abuse.html 303) <a id="TracingUsers"></a>
faq-abuse.html 304) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#TracingUsers">I have a compelling reason to trace a Tor user. Can you help?</a></h3>
faq-abuse.html 305) 
faq-abuse.html 306) <p>
faq-abuse.html 307) There is nothing the Tor developers can do to trace Tor users. The same
faq-abuse.html 308) protections that keep bad people from breaking Tor's anonymity also
faq-abuse.html 309) prevent us from figuring out what's going on.
faq-abuse.html 310) </p>
faq-abuse.html 311) 
faq-abuse.html 312) <p>
faq-abuse.html 313) Some fans have suggested that we redesign Tor to include a <a
faq-abuse.html 314) href="http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#Backdoor">backdoor</a>.
faq-abuse.html 315) There are two problems with this idea. First, it technically weakens the
faq-abuse.html 316) system too far. Having a central way to link users to their activities
faq-abuse.html 317) is a gaping hole for all sorts of attackers; and the policy mechanisms
faq-abuse.html 318) needed to ensure correct handling of this responsibility are enormous
faq-abuse.html 319) and unsolved. Second, the bad people <a href="#WhatAboutCriminals">aren't
faq-abuse.html 320) going to get caught by this anyway</a>, since they will use other means
faq-abuse.html 321) to ensure their anonymity (identity theft, compromising computers and
faq-abuse.html 322) using them as bounce points, etc).
faq-abuse.html 323) </p>
faq-abuse.html 324) 
faq-abuse.html 325) <p>
faq-abuse.html 326) But remember that this doesn't mean that Tor is invulnerable. Traditional
faq-abuse.html 327) police techniques can still be very effective against Tor, such as
faq-abuse.html 328) interviewing suspects, surveillance and keyboard taps, writing style
faq-abuse.html 329) analysis, sting operations, and other physical investigations.
faq-abuse.html 330) </p>
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faq-abuse.html 332) <a id="LegalQuestions"></a>
faq-abuse.html 333) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#LegalQuestions">I have legal questions about Tor abuse.</a></h3>
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abuse.html     334) 
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faq-abuse.html 335) <p>We're only the developers. We can answer technical questions, but
faq-abuse.html 336) we're not the ones to talk to about legal questions or concerns. </p>
faq-abuse.html 337) 
faq-abuse.html 338) <p>Please take a look at the <a
faq-abuse.html 339) href="http://tor.eff.org//eff/tor-legal-faq.html">Tor Legal FAQ</a>,
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faq-abuse.html 340) and contact EFF directly if you have any further legal questions. </p>
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faq-abuse.html 342)   </div><!-- #main -->
faq-abuse.html 343)   </div>
faq-abuse.html 344)     <div class="bottom" id="bottom">
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faq-abuse.html 345)       <i><a href="mailto:tor-webmaster@freehaven.net" class="smalllink">Webmaster</a></i> - $Id$
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faq-abuse.html 346)     </div>