Ultrasurf

[Monseigneur Stroganoff]

something similar to TOR but easier and alot faster......

http://www.ultrareach.com/

----------------------- Security -----------------------
1. Is it safe to use UltraSurf to visit any websites? Can third party software monitor what websites are being opened?
A: UltraReach uses advanced technology for encryption. All the contents are encrypted. No third party can detect what websites you are visiting. Privacy is our first priority.

2. If I use UltraSurf to post on forums or visit web sites, does the forum or web site know my real IP?
A: No. UltraSurf uses advance proxy technology. It will hide your real IP from all websites.

3. After using UltraSurf, are there any web history records on my computer?
A: No. After you quit the program, UltraSurf will clean all web history.




it also work on messengers

[DOZEE]

Sweet. tor is really slow and a pain in the ass at times.

[guest]

Hey guys,

Ultrasurf is not similar to Tor at all, sorry to say. Ultrasurf, like all other "one hop proxy solutions" is very weak in terms of user security and anonymity. Sure it will hide your real IP from a web site but ultrasurf itself can see everything you are doing and where you are going because they control the proxies you are using. Adversaries watching traffic (reading packets) entering and exiting a single-hop Ultrasurf server (proxy) can use statistics and heuristics to link your encrypted and anonymized data stream to a data stream exiting the server, they can also link your data stream to it's final destination (e.g. web site). Ultrasurf or an adversary could steal website login info such as llogin/passwords to C-W, email, banks, etc if you do not use HTTPS (the same goes for Tor). This is what makes those types of proxies untrustworthy...yes it is faster than Tor but the security and anonymity offered by Ultrasurf is nearly non-existent.

What makes Tor so powerful is it uses 3 hops (nodes) which can not link to one another, no one (Tor devs or node operators included) can link your real IP address to your Tor usage (if you follow proper guidelines). With Tor there is no "single point of failure", it would take collusion by many, many rouge nodes to 'break' Tor's anonymity. But there are scanners used on the Tor network to look for 'bad', 'rouge' or 'nefarious' nodes, when they are found they are shutdown. Also, anonymity loves company. For example, if you are the only person, or part of a small group who use most powerful anonymity system in the world your not gaining much anonymity at all. You need "cover traffic" to hide your data streams, without cover traffic it's trivial to identity the data stream to the source (you). Tor has hundreds of thousands of people on the network at any given time.

Worth noting is that the Tor web site has improved there presentation of the program downloads. The download page is very sleek and nice.. And installing Tor is easier than ever.

I would suggest you guys download the Zero-Install package (TorBrowserBundle). It can be run from a USB stick, it is not installed and it includes the latest unstable Tor, Vidalia AND Polipo which will increase your surfing speeds. I find the development (unstable) version of Tor to be MUCH faster than the stable version of Tor. The great thing about TBB is everything works as is, "out of the box". All you do is extract the programs and run the program via a single .exe. All the programs are pre-configured to use Tor so you don't have to change anything. Firefox is included and it is set to use Tor, as is Pidgin. I use TBB when I'm not on my home computer~! TBB uses the latest unstable Tor/vidalia and it includes:
Tor
Vidalia
Polipo
TorButton
Firefox
Pidgin


Here is the new easy download page, download the zero-install package:
https://www.torproject.org/easy-download.html.en

Extract the files and run the program:
1. download 7zip to extract files: http://www.7-zip.org/
2. extraction pictorial: https://www.torproject.org/torbrowser/index.html.en#Extraction

Read this small blurb for important info on how to use Tor correctly (this info is relevant for use with ANY anonymity system):
https://www.torproject.org/download.html.en#Warning


Ultrasurf like other 'weak' proxy systems (anonymizer, anonymouse, etc) use encryption from your computer to their servers (proxies). Then the data goes onto the Internet IN THE CLEAR (un-encrypted) if you do not use HTTPS when it is offered by the destination site (which is why I always suggest HTTPS especially on Tor). Countless people have been busted for various crimes while using a one-hope proxy like Ultrasurf...

The biggest problem IMO with ultrasurf is the servers and company are located in the US. Which means it is under US jurisdiction...Not to mention there are no documents explaining how Ultrasurf anonymises traffic...

Ultrasurf does not lock down the browser and that is pretty dangerous. There are many ways to break the anonymity offered by any system, Tor and Ultrasurf included. These vary from JavaScript attacks to Quicktime, CSS, reading your computers time zone, etc, etc, etc. The strongest anonymity system can be broken by a 'insecure' browser, it's that simple. This is where TorButton comes in. TorButton makes Firefox 'safe' to use with Tor, or another anonymity system but 'locking down' Firefox. Without use of TorButton and Firefox it is hard to stay anonymous against rouge sites.

Here is a nice TorButton FAQ with important info, like other Firefox extensions worth using (RefControl, QuickJava and ForceHTTPS):
https://www.torproject.org/torbutton/faq.html.en#securityissues

And here is a laundry list of attacks TorButton protects you from by hacking Firefox:
https://www.torproject.org/torbutton/options.html.en

Another issue is that Ultrasurf is closed source. That is a majorly bad sign. When the German police made J.A.P. code in a backdoor to catch pedophiles it worked well and the police arrested many people. It was not until someonre read the code (JAP is open-source) that the backdoor was noticed and removed. I'm not trying to say the pedophiles should be free, they should not be. It is just an example of how easy it is to 'fool' people even with open-source software. Close-source is WAYYYY more suspect IMO :ninja:

Another issue is Ultrasurf seems the use IP packet transfers, not TCP/IP. This seems obvious due to their claims they can anonymise UDP traffic and other types of traffic. They might be using TCP/IP but if they are I hope they are routing DNS quarries as they route traffic transparently. The big problem with IP level anonymization is the often used method of "traffic shaping" and scrubbing of IP level data. For example, if you use a P2P client or IRC client over Ultrasurf there is nothing stopping those clients from broadcasting your real IP address from WITHIN the Ultrasurf data streams!!! :( Not to mention if Ultrasurf is traffic shaping they are breaking US digital privacy laws and could be subject to courts...These are just some of the issues when using IP level anonymization. There are BIG issues to consider and no one in acidamia claims to understand all the variables, that is why it is VERY rare to find IP level anonymization. I2P uses it, and the old ZeroKnowledge Systems used it. Tor is going to move from anonymizing TCP/IP traffic to anonymizing IP traffic but the issues I mentioned need to be studied and there are other issues I didn't mention. Right now IP level anonymization is considered rather unsafe, academia needs more time to study and evaluate the pros and cons.

There are ways to speed up Tor. One is by using Polipo instead of Privoxy, its VERY easy to install and use Polipo. I will post how to do that in my Tor thread later today. Or just use TBB as it uses Polipo not Privoxy. While it is debatable if Polipo does in fact speed up browsing it does make browsing 'seem' faster by loading data in a different order than Privoxy. Another is to use the unstable version of Tor, I find it to be MUCH faster than the stable version. There is another way to speed up Tor which would make a large difference, but it also will lower your level of anonymity and security. I am hesitant to tell people how to speed up Tor while lowering the anonymity offered...the BEST way to speed up Tor is to operate a node (preferable an exit) which helps load balance the network and offers increased data transfer (throughput) throughout the whole network...and to donate to the Tor Project ;)

To me the MAJOR drawback of Tor is it's Hidden Services which is often used to spread child pornography :(, which is NOT the intended purpose of Hidden Services...but that's is an inherent problem with 'real' anonymity systems, no one can control what a user does with the anonymity system, the Tor devs included. That is not to say CP (Child porn) is only on Tor. It is not. It is very sad how prevalent CP is on the internet: Freenet, I2P, P2P, Tor, IRC, websites, etc, etc, etc. It's very sad and disturbing how much is out there...

C-ya :)