Experiences and Recommendations from Operating a Tor Exit Node at a University

Michael Sonntag, René Mayrhofer

2021

Abstract

We report on a multi-year operation of a Tor exit node at a public university and provide recommendations for running other instances. These include legal issues, such as permissions perhaps required in advance, and where potential pitfalls are, like blocking content/DNS resolution or monitoring/logging requirements. We also discuss organizational aspects including preparations for inquiries and problem reports, how to avoid issues with potential legal enforcement, or who should have access to which systems. Technical issues are discussed in detail, including lessons learnt from DoS attacks both on the university as well as the exit node in particular. Finally, we provide technical and organizational recommendations on longitudinal data collection and other research on exit node traffic without compromising anonymity.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Sonntag M. and Mayrhofer R. (2021). Experiences and Recommendations from Operating a Tor Exit Node at a University.In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy - Volume 1: ICISSP, ISBN 978-989-758-491-6, pages 283-290. DOI: 10.5220/0010156802830290

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icissp21,
author={Michael Sonntag and René Mayrhofer},
title={Experiences and Recommendations from Operating a Tor Exit Node at a University},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy - Volume 1: ICISSP,},
year={2021},
pages={283-290},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0010156802830290},
isbn={978-989-758-491-6},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy - Volume 1: ICISSP,
TI - Experiences and Recommendations from Operating a Tor Exit Node at a University
SN - 978-989-758-491-6
AU - Sonntag M.
AU - Mayrhofer R.
PY - 2021
SP - 283
EP - 290
DO - 10.5220/0010156802830290