Browsing by Author "Lindner, Andrew M."

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    Extremism, Malware Markets, and Public Use of Tor
    Lindner, Andrew M.; Hawdon, James E.; Nunes, Eric (Virginia Tech, 2018-05-18)
    This panel includes three presentations: “When the Public Seeks Anonymity Online” by Andrew M. Lindner; “Online Extremism in the U.S.” by James Hawdon; and “Malicious Markets and Forums: An Overview” by Eric Nunes. The presentations were given as part of the conference "Understanding the Dark Web and Its Implications for Policy" held on May 18, 2018 at the Virginia Tech Executive Briefing Center in Arlington, Virginia.
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    The potential harms of the Tor anonymity network cluster disproportionately in free countries
    Jardine, Eric; Lindner, Andrew M.; Owenson, Gareth (National Academy of Sciences, 2020-11-30)
    The Tor anonymity network allows users to protect their privacy and circumvent censorship restrictions but also shields those distributing child abuse content, selling or buying illicit drugs, or sharing malware online. Using data collected from Tor entry nodes, we provide an estimation of the proportion of Tor network users that likely employ the network in putatively good or bad ways. Overall, on an average country/day, ∼6.7% of Tor network users connect to Onion/Hidden Services that are disproportionately used for illicit purposes. We also show that the likely balance of beneficial and malicious use of Tor is unevenly spread globally and systematically varies based upon a country’s political conditions. In particular, using Freedom House’s coding and terminological classifications, the proportion of often illicit Onion/Hidden Services use is more prevalent (∼7.8%) in “free” countries than in either “partially free” (∼6.7%) or “not free” regimes (∼4.8%).