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Comment by jpwright | Hacker News Reader

This basically adds no new information about Tor, except what we already knew -- that you should really have a private bridge, and that Tor traffic is readily discernible from normal traffic (hence, avoid using it on networks where authorization is linked to your identity!). The affidavit doesn't say how they linked the GuerillaMail address to Tor, presumably they used a subpoena.

He could have easily avoided detection (not to say that would have been a good thing) by using something like SkypeMorph (https://crysp.uwaterloo.ca/software/CodeTalkerTunnel.html)

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The GuerrillaMail to Tor link is explained by the last line in GuerrillaMail's TOS (https://www.guerrillamail.com/tos), which says that they inject your IP address into the email's headers. So there was no subpoena required. The use of GM was a no-op in this case.

Or just not confessed; him using TOR around the same time is not going to be enough to convict him.

This. It sounds like he folded as soon as he was interviewed by law enforcement. Don't underestimate the power of the $5 wrench. http://xkcd.com/538/

Yeah, and they didn't even need the wrench.

Seriously, enough with the XKCD 538 fallacy. That is not how interrogations work. It just isn't. Violent torture is not how you get people to provide information.

Actual interrogations are far more cunning and complex, involving psychological tricks and play against weaknesses in the human mind. Perpetuating this "they'll hit you until you confess" bullshit stops people from learning actually useful information about how to resist interrogations.

The comic is not literally suggesting that interrogations imply violence any more than it is literally suggesting that any violence must be done specifically with a wrench.

Pedantism and comics do not go well together. The format is not meant for conveying exactingly precise information. Interpretation is required.

The comic does actually suggest that, and the comment I replied to specifically suggested that.

This sort of interrogation typically starts with "we know you did it, so why don't you make things easy for yourself...", not "break his finger so he knows we're serious".

The XKCD 538 fallacy is the delusional belief that torture and threats of violence are how people are coerced into confession during an interrogation. That is not the case. Perpetuating that fallacy actually helps interrogators, since the fear of "confess or else you'll get the wrench" is implanted in people's minds. Since that is not how things actually work, it is counter productive. It does not help anyone except the authorities. This is why I say stop perpetuating the fallacy. Seriously.

The person who posted that comic was not literally suggesting that a $5 wrench was used. The FBI asked the guy some questions, and he folded. The XKCD comic was referenced because he rightly understood the comic to be making a general statement about the worth of cryptography when you consider the human element.

Seriously, you are not telling anybody here anything they did not already know.

I think you're reading into the $5 wrench a bit too literally. It's not about perpetuating the idea (false or not) that torture is an effective means of procuring intelligence. The point of the comic—at least to me—is about tunnel vision w/r/t security. Someone might invest a great amount of time and effort on encryption, but then look past the fact that the encryption is only as strong as the password that protects it...or that the password is only as secure as the place it is stored (lastpass, 1password, or even your brain).

There are many creative ways to circumvent encryption, and one of those ways could be something sinister like a wrench-torture, but it could also be through social engineering or psychological craft. The wrench is just an extreme example, maybe even a metaphor.

Interesting. Isn't Skype owned by M$ though.. ?

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