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AnonGuard. Is it legit? (f-droid.org)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I saw this app had been added recently. It claims that "ANONguard anonymises the Internet connection. In the process, the IP address of the smartphone is hidden with the help of the AN.ON anonymisation service (https://anon.inf.tu-dresden.de/)." Is this real and does what it says? The "anonymisation service" link gives an error to me.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The website works for me and seems legit (looks like a regular uni website...). It reads:

JAP (called JonDo in the scope of the commercial JonDonym anonymous proxy servers - AN.ON remains free of charge) makes it possible to surf the internet anonymously and unobservably.

Without Anonymization, every computer in the internet communicates using a traceable Address. That means:

the website visited,

the internet service provider (ISP),

and any eavesdropper on the internet connection

can determine which websites the user of a specific computer visits. Even the information which the user calls up can be intercepted and seen if encryption is not used. JAP uses a single static address which is shared by many JAP users. That way neither the visited website, nor an eavesdropper can determine which user visited which website. How it works

Instead of connecting directly to a webserver, users take a detour, connecting with encryption through several intermediaries, so-called Mixes. JAP uses a predetermined sequence for the mixes. Such a sequence of linked mixes is called a Mix Cascade. Users can choose between different mix cascades.

Since many users use these intermediaries at the same time, the internet connection of any one single user is hidden among the connections of all the other users. No one, not anyone from outside, not any of the other users, not even the provider of the intermediary service can determine which connection belongs to which user. A relationship between a connection and its user could only be determined if all intermediaries worked together to sabotage the anonymization. more...

The intermediaries (mix providers) are generally provided by independent institutions which officially declare, that they do not keep connection log files or exchange such data with other mix providers. JAP shows the identity and number of organisations in each Mix cascade in detail, and verifies this information by cryptographic means. The users are thus able to selectively choose trustable mix cascades.

Seems like a fun research project. But not sure how much I would personally trust it.

Also, no idea about the app but at least the project seems legit.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Thanks! It seems similiar to tor

[–] plague_sapiens 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Jon-Do-Nym is a paid proxy provider with a similar structure to Tor. But nodes aren't hosted by volunteers, they are hosted by themselves. There was one free server the last time I've tested it and it was a German IP in Dresden. Speed was slow. And afaik they do log user IPs.

Wouldn't recommend them. I would use a VPN like Mullvad combined with Tor. But maybe a VPN or Tor alone is sufficent in your case.

Edit: Looks like there was an option to selfhost nodes (link doesn't work anymore), the whole project looks dead too (old website, old entries). And no info about the AN.ON app...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Ohh ok. Thanks for the vpn recommendation