[tor-talk] Many more Tor users in the past week?

[Sebastian G. <bastik.tor>]

30.08.2013 10:49, Mike Perry:
> Georg Koppen:
>> On 30.08.2013 09:14, Mike Perry wrote:
>>> 2. If this was Pirate Browser: 
>>
>> They are using FoxyProxy, right? Let's assume the PirateBrowser folks
>> did not deactivate update checks. Then, there should be a similar spike
>> visible on AMO where FoxyProxy is hosted. But there is no such spike in
>> the FoxyProxy user statistics.
> 
> Nice. So it would appear** we're solidly in botnet territory then? Good
> thing I didn't bother to proofread the Pirate Browser section of my
> email for typos then.
> 
> ** The key assumption here is that the PB folks did not disable addon
> updates or pings. Since I can't reproduce their bundles, there's no way
> in hell I'll be the one to confirm this. Any braver souls want to
> confirm/deny?
> 

Since I did not know what files (probably .ini's) I had to look at I
fired up that thing.

(I looked at update-settings.ini, which contained:

; If you modify this file updates may fail.
; Do not modify this file.

[Settings]
ACCEPTED_MAR_CHANNEL_IDS=firefox-mozilla-release

while I don't know what it is supposed to look like.)

Well PirateBrowser connects to the Tor network at launch.

Preferences (Options) > Advanced > [Update] say
x Never check for updates
Automatically update:
[] Search Engines

(There's no option for add-ons, so one could guess Firefox would apply
the setting for its own to its add-ons.)

If Mozilla would be sane, Firefox would not check for updates for
anything, but when I navigated to the add-ons manager it told me that
FoxyProxy will be updated on restart.

Yes, "Update add-ons automatically" is enabled.
(GUI option in the add-ons manager, but not in the preference, where it
would make sense, too)

In
about:wherewehidedragons(config)
extensions.update.autoUpdateDefault is set to true

So it should not be the PirateBrowser (the other [fake] TorBrowser
doesn't seem to have gotten popular either) that is solely responsible
for this.

BTW: Windows if useful to execute things Mike Perry (read you if your
are him) can't. (I wonder if Wine would work)

Best,
Sebastian G.