How to Create a Tor Exit Node (2015)

EEridanus2 about 5 hours ago 18 commentsRead Article on madpsy.uk

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Discussion (18 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

amiga386•about 2 hours ago

Oh boy. The first line of any blog post on how to create a Tor Exit Node should be: DON'T.

If you really want to, first do a metric shitload of legal and commercial prep work, including picking a specific ISP for the exit node, registering an LLC or equivalent to be the legal entity that owns the exit node, and all sorts of steps that mean when the inevitable deluge of traffic from hackers, bittorrenters and so on come through your exit node, you're at least somewhat insulated from the blowback you'll get. Prepare for answering legal queries about your exit node being your full time job.

Read https://blog.torproject.org/tips-running-exit-node/ first, and note that even that post is 8 years old.

If you merely want there to be more Tor exit nodes in the world, I recommend you donate to an existing operator of them, like https://torservers.net/ -- if you read their blog, https://torservers.net/blog/ , you'll see the latest entries (also from 8 years ago) are about seized servers and arrested operators.

If you want to donate your ISP bandwidth for improving the Tor network, do it by running a guard relay or middle relay, that is relatively straightforward.

braiamp•about 4 hours ago

Wow....

> I’ll go with Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty)

This is extremely old. I am aware that the Tor project tries to keeps their defaults sane for any use, but someone has checked that the configuration here is still valid for this use?

Also, running tor as a root is bad idea, I don't think the client allows you to anymore (or at least warns you)

2legit2quit•about 3 hours ago

> This is extremely old. I am aware that the Tor project tries to keeps their defaults sane for any use, but someone has checked that the configuration here is still valid for this use?

Article was published in 2015. Seems 14.04 was the LTS, as the time of writing.

Fergusonb•about 3 hours ago

I got in huge trouble hosting one of these when I was a kid.

I saw some call-to-arms post that got me excited for the free internet and set it up on my parents' residential service.

You can imagine the fallout. No permanent damage though.

WarOnPrivacy•about 3 hours ago

I ran an exit node about 15y ago on a free IP. After a few weeks, I found malware files (not deployed) on the desktop. They reappeared after deletion a few times. I concluded the experiment and wiped the system.

Some time later I tried running a middle relay (VM non-persistent live distro) but Dan List (then) didn't differentiate between between exit and other node types and my public IP kept getting blacklisted. I eventually gave up.

jandrese•about 2 hours ago

There are still blacklists that don't differentiate. They'll even list it as "verified malicious activity originating from the host", and security products that gather all IP blacklist services and take them at face value will block your IP.

p0w3n3d•about 4 hours ago

I wonder, according to law, what are the outcomes of maintaining an exit node, apart from having, I quote, _balls of steel_

parl_match•about 4 hours ago

depends on the jurisdiction

in the us, entirely legal. you may get law enforcement knocking on your door with questions, from time to time.

best to do it as part of a non profit or other organization, and being open about running a node, so that law enforcement/etc knows what they're dealing with

p4bl0•about 4 hours ago

> you may get law enforcement knocking on your door with questions

If you host an exit node on your home internet connection, the daily thing you will struggle with is not law enforcement, but rather the fact that your public IP will be blocked by most big websites to the point that simply browsing the web will become a pain.

kevinpacheco•about 3 hours ago

Then whoever did this experiment will likely shut down the node and reset their router to pull a new IP, which could be reassigned in short order, thereby causing trouble for an innocent neighbor.

Cider9986•about 3 hours ago

Use a VPN on your router to avoid this issue.

a34729t•about 4 hours ago

So let me ask this: How hard is it to create a temporary exit node that is basically a rasberry pi with a sim card or wifi connection say from a cafe, or any other public wifi, ans are online for say na hour or two? If we had enough of these scattered around, would it matter?

noident•about 3 hours ago

> So let me ask this: How hard is it to create a temporary exit node that is basically a rasberry pi with a sim card or wifi connection say from a cafe, or any other public wifi, ans are online for say na hour or two?

It's not hard at all.

> If we had enough of these scattered around, would it matter?

No. Your relays won't be trusted with significant amounts of traffic until they've been up for a few weeks.

r3trohack3r•about 3 hours ago

The last time I looked into it, exit nodes have a long “ramp up” period of many days. If this is still true, you’re not going to be serving much purpose with a collection of transient nodes.

leni536•about 3 hours ago

How is that trust anchored? To public IPs or to public keys?

thcipriani•about 2 hours ago

I note that Linode will still let you run exit nodes on their infra (though they may ask you to respond to specific complaints to reduce the exit policy).

functionmouse•about 4 hours ago

best not, lads

tamimio•about 4 hours ago

>harrased by ISP

Or the FBI setting you up and jail you for 3 years

https://rockenhaus.com/

Not to fear monger, in fact, the more people run exit node the harder it will be to go after individuals.