How do I tell if tor is working ....

[RW]

On Wed, 19 Nov 2014 14:21:00 -0600
William A. Mahaffey III wrote:


> >> $B035D07FB91EF419D00B0E2CEFEDD9A163EC4E1B~fuckGCHQslashNSA at 
> >> 95.211.60.34. Retrying on a new circuit.
> >> Wed Nov 19 10:39:08 CST 2014
> >> [root at kabini1, /etc, 10:39:08am] 389 %
> >>
> >>
> >> Those last 2, w/ the last 8 letters in the server name, worries me 
> >> slightly :-/ ....

You should really be looking at the last 16 letters.

> >
> > That's normal for that exit node :) The have set fuckGCHQslashNSA
> > as the nodes nickname. Mine used to say ThanksForTheFish42 there :)
> > _______________________________________________

> Very well, just checking. The IP checked out as in the Netherlands,
> no hotbed of U.S.Gov't misbehavior, just verifying ....

One of the Snowden leaks indicated that GCHQ run a lot of Tor nodes. I
don't recall what it said about the NSA, but it would be surprising if
they don't. That's not really important given the subsequent success of
the FBI and the UK  National Crime Agency against Tor users accessing
child porn.

Most Tor users only use it as an affectation or gesture, in which case
it doesn't really matter - they might just as well be using an ordinary
VPN. I suspect that proper anonymity on Tor is not compatible with
normal modern web browsing because disabling javascript would be a bare
minimum.