DOJ’s Ovie Carroll: “Tor Helps Protect Sensitive User Information”

Tor has been the subject of a lot of scrutiny over the years. Various government officials frown upon anonymity software for Internet usage. At the same time, the DOJ’s Ovie Carroll is a strong advocate of using Tor to protect personal information. An exciting clash of visions,  but also a positive sign for the Tor project.

Using Tor Against Data Breaches and Identity Theft

For quite some time now, there has been a debate on whether or not Tor is used in a positive manner. While there is nothing wrong with protecting privacy and anonymity on the internet, various US government officials seem to feel otherwise. In fact, there have been several attacks against the Tor network already, one of which saw the FBI collude with Carnegie Mellon.

But Ovie Carroll, director of the Cyber Crime Lab and an official of the Department of Justice, strongly feels there are good reasons to use Tor. Protecting sensitive personal information should be a top priority for consumers all over the world. Anonymity software such as Tor provides that capability and much more to boot.

Most people are well aware of how the FBI is using different Tor vulnerabilities to track down criminals. There is nothing preventing law enforcement from doing the same to consumers, assuming they would have a valid reason – and warrant – to do so. But despite these potential risks, Tor remains our best chance to protect information and “hedge” against data breaches.

Speaking of which, there are a lot of questions as to how the FBI manipulates these vulnerabilities to get the information they want. So far, no details regarding their hacking tactics have been revealed. This raises a lot of questions relating to the legality of their methods, which may backfire on them at any given moment.

It is positive to see a Department of Justice official recommend Tor to safeguard user information. While “Big Brother” FBI will find a way to obtain sensitive information if they want to, Tor presents the most robust solution to avoid data being leaked. However no software solution is 100% foolproof, and Tor is no exception to that rule.

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