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In September 2024, the Germany’s federal criminal police (BKA) and the public prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt, Germany were able to report a success: The suspected operators of the darknet platform Boystown, formerly one of the largest websites for child pornography with around 400,000 members, were identified and arrested after years of research. The special thing about this is that the suspects were identified via the TOR network, which to this day stands for security and anonymity on the internet. Has TOR now been cracked? If criminals can be stopped, this is of course good news. But the TOR network is not only used by criminals. Many press representatives and opposition members in totalitarian states also use TOR to gain access to information, disseminate news, or communicate with each other without being identified by the state authorities. See also: What is the Darknet? How the web’s secretive, hidden underbelly works Major international media outlets such as the BBC, the New York Times, and the NDR maintain mailboxes in the TOR network, through which they can be reached anonymously by informants. And the darknet is not all evil either. Deutsche Welle, for example, operates a website there to give the inhabitants of some heavily monitored countries free access to information. Are all these services no longer secure? And what other options are there for remaining anonymous on the internet? Internet connection via a proxy server The little brother of the TOR network is the proxy server. The word proxy means a representative, and this is how you could actually describe the function of a proxy server: It surfs the internet on behalf of the user. In technical terms, this means that you connect your PC to a proxy server, which forwards your website calls, entries, and commands to the internet and returns the responses to you. Only the IP address of the server is visible to the outside world; your own address remains hidden. Websites such as Raid.Rush maintain constantly updated lists of free proxy servers. There are hundreds of these servers in countries all over the world, so the user can fake any location.Foundry You can find dozens of lists of free proxy servers on the internet, many of which also provide data on current utilization and accessibility. Examples include Raidrush and Hidemyname. Instead of configuring the proxy server in the Windows settings (Windows icon > Settings > Network and Internet > Manual proxy setup > Setup), you can also use proxy websites such as Proxysite.com, Croxyproxy, or the free online web proxy from Steganos. The disadvantage of free proxies is that the data transfer rates are often rather low. In addition, these services often do not offer any real anonymity, but instead name the country in which the user is based, for example, or sell the collected user data to advertising networks. You should also be aware that many proxy servers write the data of the connections that run through them in log files, which they pass on to government agencies on request. You can get more anonymity and higher speeds with paid proxy services. You can find a list here, for example. Proxysite is one of many free proxy websites that provide a private way to browse.IDG VPN: Good and cheap services If you have decided to pay for an anonymizing internet connection, you should consider a VPN service as the means. VPN stands for virtual private network. Like proxy webites, these services also redirect your data traffic via a server on the internet, but go one step further when it comes to anonymization. In contrast to a proxy service, the connection between your PC and the VPN server is securely encrypted, while the proxy server forwards the data unencrypted. Further reading: The best VPN services In addition, a proxy service works at application level, i.e. it only conceals your IP address when using the browser, for example, but not when working with an FTP client or a mail program. A VPN service, on the other hand, works at operating system level and protects all data traffic via the internet. There is a whole range of free VPN services. However, with these providers you always have to live with restrictions, either the monthly data volume is limited, or the number of VPN servers is only in the single-digit range, or the speed is limited. There is also a risk that these services will transmit user data to the advertising industry or government agencies. our favorite vpn for ultimate privacy Mullvad Read our review Paid VPN services such as NordVPN, Mullvad VPN, or ExpressVPN offer high speeds and thousands of servers around the world at prices of around $3 to $5 per month. The services advertise a no-log policy, i.e. they promise not to store any user data. This has also been confirmed in the past by independent institutions for the three services mentioned. Blurring fingerprints As IP addresses can change from time to time and computers from networks access the internet under a shared IP address, the advertising industry has been relying less and less on IP addresses to identify website visitors for years, and instead increasingly on fingerprinting methods. Firefox and some other browsers contain defences against fingerprinting and provide incorrect or nonsensical data in response to such requests.Foundry Fingerprinting does not (only) record the IP address of a website visitor, but also the configuration of their computer. Which browser is she using, which version, with which extensions, which screen resolution is set, which graphics card is installed, which driver version, which operating system …? The browser willingly provides all this and much more data to the web server after a Javascript request. You can make fingerprinting impossible by deactivating Javascript, but this also means that many websites can no longer be used. Firefox, Brave, and Avast browsers contain functions that either deliver incorrect data in response to Javascript requests or generally block companies that are known to use fingerprinting. Classic tracking with cookies, etc. When you browse the web with a browser, the websites you visit place cookies on your computer. These are small text files which, on the one hand, are a prerequisite for online shops to function at all. On the other hand, so-called third-party cookies are used by specialized tracking companies to track visitors to a website as they move around the internet. These companies generate a profile from the data collected in this way, which they sell to advertisers who use it to display adverts tailored to you on the websites you visit. You can switch off the acceptance of third-party cookies in any browser. In Edge and Firefox, it is also possible to automatically delete all cookies when you close the browser, and there is a corresponding extension for Chrome called Click & Clean. You will also find a do-not-track switch in every browser, which prevents the websites you visit from tracking you as you browse the internet. However, this is nothing more than a request. Switch the function on anyway. In Chrome, as in other browsers, there is a do-not-track switch that you can use to ask websites not to track your movements on the internet.Foundry Why TOR is still the best solution The TOR network protects its users by redirecting connections via three randomly selected servers (the so-called nodes) and encrypting them at least three times. The second node only knows the location of the first server, but not the user. The third only knows the second server, but neither the incoming server nor the user. After 10 minutes at the latest, the TOR browser — a customized version of Firefox — swaps the second and third servers for other locations. Connections via TOR are therefore highly secure and anonymous. The TOR browser is a slightly modified version of Firefox that offers preconfigured access to the TOR network. The TOR network, in turn, is a prerequisite for access to the Darknet.Primakov / Shutterstock.com In the case of the darknet platform Boystown, the investigators had probably exchanged messages with the suspect via a messenger. This meant they knew exactly when which data packet was sent and only had to wait until one of them was forwarded via the nodes they were monitoring. The BKA officials presumably configured a large number of high-performance and well-connected servers as TOR nodes for this purpose. As the TOR network looks for fast servers with low latency when switching nodes, it was only a matter of time before a chat with the suspect was registered there. However, correspondingly extensive investigations can only take place in individual cases. For the vast majority of users, currently around 2 million every day, TOR is still the safest way to remain unrecognized on the internet. Anonymizing search queries Both Google and Bing save their users’ search queries. Google and Microsoft use this data to create user profiles and sell them to the advertising industry. If you have a Google account, you can see what queries and other activities you have saved there after logging in online. You can also deactivate this tracking at the same place. Bing provides this information directly via the browser: Open the menu with the three dashes at the top right and go to “Search history.” There you can delete the search history, deactivating it is not possible. To remain anonymous during your web searches, you must switch to other search engines. Although the Dutch search engine Startpage uses Google’s search results, it does not record your search history, does not save IP addresses, and does not display personalized advertising. The U.S. service Duck Duck Go obtains its results from over 400 sources, including Bing, Wikipedia, and Yahoo. Like Startpage, it does not store IP addresses or information about users. However, due to the U.S. Patriot Act, Duck Duck Go must grant the U.S. authorities access to its servers on request. Anonymous with the smartphone Almost all smartphones work with either Android from Google or Apple’s iOS. In both cases, large amounts of user data flow to Google and Apple, but also to the app manufacturers and advertising companies. There are two ways to switch off this data flow: by optimizing the privacy settings and installing special data protection apps or — in the case of Android devices — by installing alternative operating systems, so-called custom ROMs. Lineage OS is an alternative operating system for Android smartphones. The manufacturer promises a higher level of data protection than the Google system. IDG The two best-known custom ROMs are Lineage-OS and /e/OS. Please note: These operating systems are not suitable for every Android smartphone. First check the compatibility lists to see if your model is listed. Please also note that although the custom ROMs are based on Android, not every app will run on them. These systems are well suited for older smartphones that are no longer needed, which you can convert into secondary devices with a high level of data protection. Read...

Vista Group International Limited (NZX & ASX:VGL) is delighted to announce the signing of a new agreement with existing client, Odeon Cinemas Group, to transition their UK and European circuits to Operational Excellence, the full Vista Cloud offering Read...

If you haven’t been paying attention to the news, heads up—prices for tech gear are shooting up. Tariffs are now in effect for goods imported from China, and they’ve doubled since their original announcement. The U.S. government is now imposing an additional 20 percent tax, instead of 10 percent. Name any kind of tech device, and it’s affected: laptops, desktop computers, PC components, monitors, smartphones, e-readers, and much more. An overwhelming majority of electronics are produced in China. Big retailers have already warned about imminent price hikes, with the CEOs of both Best Buy and Target commenting on the breadth and immediacy of the tariff effects. Here at PCWorld, I’ve been wondering specifically about the impact on computers (surprise!)—laptops and desktop PCs are both major interests of our readers. To answer my own questions—as well as those of readers, friends, and family—I reached out to industry contacts to better understand what these tariffs mean for the cost of PCs…and what to expect in the coming days. Those who responded manufacture laptops, prebuilt desktop machines, and PC components. Much of this information is generally applicable to electronics overall. The short answer: Expect pain at the cash register. Businesses won’t be able to shield customers from these increases. As Falcon Northwest CEO Kelt Reeves said to me, “[The] PC industry is infamously low margin, so no one can afford to ‘cushion’ 20 percent. Prices already went up incredibly fast on almost every component we buy to build a PC. Stock that was already here vanished, as anything new will be minimum 20% more.” Ouch. For a fuller grasp of the situation, read on. I’ve broken things down into a series of questions and answers, so you can more quickly find the info you most want to know. Also, if you’re Canadian, I’m sorry to inform you—this affects you too. What is a tariff? First, a quick recap so we’re all on the same page. A tariff is a type of tax that governments impose on goods either entering (import) or leaving (export) the country. They can be fixed or variable, and they apply when goods enter the U.S. Essentially, the tariff must be paid in order for the shipment to be released by customs to the business. On their face, import tariffs are meant to help protect a country’s domestic industries. Let’s say a country wants to nurture its almond production. It could impose a tariff on imports of almonds from other countries, so that they become more expensive to buy—thus encouraging the purchase of domestically grown almonds instead. In practice, tariffs can become complicated. Other countries can respond with their own tariffs, kicking off what’s known as a trade war. Economists widely view tariffs as problematic, as they can cause slowed economic growth, damage to domestic industries, and rising costs for consumers without much return benefit. What are these tariffs? On February 1, 2025, the executive branch of the United States government announced tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China, to take effect on February 4. The tax was set at 25 percent for Canada and Mexico, with a lower 10 percent levy on Canadian energy resources (e.g., gas). For China, the rate was set at 10 percent. On February 4, the import tariff for China began. Those for Canada and Mexico were delayed to March 4. On February 27, the U.S. government announced an intention to raise the tariffs on Chinese imports to 20 percent. On March 4, the higher tariffs for Chinese imports kicked in, as did the original tariffs for Canada and Mexico. However, the levies on Canadian and Mexican goods were later delayed again (and remain so at this article’s publishing). You can read this ABC News overview to see the full timeline for these tariffs, but the basic takeaway here is that tariffs started affecting Chinese products on schedule. Accordingly, prices already began rising on tech gear a month ago, but will jump even higher now. Which tech devices are affected by these tariffs? These tariffs are particularly unusual in that they broadly apply to all imports from the named countries. Previous tariffs during the last Trump administration hit more selectively. When I spoke with SilverStone, a Taiwanese vendor that manufactures an array of hardware for PC building, a representative from their U.S. office emphasized this point, saying, “Almost everything we sell are affected: cases, power supplies, coolers, fans, cables, expansion cards, adapters, etc.” Last time, the impact fell primarily on power supplies. So a overwhelming majority of electronics are affected—most companies have their devices and/or hardware produced in China. Those imports are all subject to the additional 20 percent tariff. Additionally, products made in the United States could be affected as well. If a domestic company can’t find an alternative source for materials or components made in China, the cost of those items will rise now, too. These days, most things we buy are global products—far fewer are made top to bottom within a single country. That’s especially so for anything related to tech. Are only U.S. residents affected by these tariffs? Nope. If you live in another country, but are purchasing through U.S., the cost increases will spread to you, too. For example—SilverStone’s U.S. office said to me that because Canadian customers buy through its U.S. office, they have to pay the higher price as well. (Sorry, Canada.) However, some companies may be able to still keep costs down for other international customers, so long as they can export directly to their other offices across the globe. If you live outside of the U.S. and know (or suspect) what you’re purchasing could route through the U.S., you may want to look at alternative territories you could buy from. Are the price hikes equal to the size of the tariffs? Not necessarily.  When the tariffs first were announced, Acer’s CEO described their effect as “straightforward” on the retail price of laptops—a direct 10 percent jump.  In contrast, just a month later, I couldn’t get a precise percentage from most people I spoke with. Many avoided naming any figure. For example, a source who asked to remain anonymous said only, “Price changes will vary based on components and market demand, but we’re doing our best to minimize the impact and are exploring strategies to mitigate these effects.” The ones who did give numbers generally used a range, because the calculus is so variable. The spokesperson from SilverStone’s U.S. office told me Chinese-made products will “increase on average of 12 to 18 percent” from their current selling prices. (The company plans to raise prices starting next Monday, March 10.) Meanwhile, as I noted at the start of this article, U.S.-based Falcon Northwest believes that the hardware it buys for its custom PCs will start at a minimum of 20 percent more. Why the differences in response? SilverStone sells its computer components primarily to partners, like retailers. Falcon Northwest sells fully built PCs (both laptops and desktops) to consumers. Basically, the ultimate price effects we’ll see as consumers is a mix of: How much of the product is made in China The relationships the vendors have with their partners The retailer’s ability to absorb part of the tariffs Why can’t the companies absorb these costs? As mentioned above, the PC industry is considered “low margin.” For consumer gear, profit made on components can be as low as single-digit percentages, and often don’t extend above 20 percent.  Think under 10 percent for motherboards, and 10 to 15 percent for power supplies. These numbers climb a bit for premium hardware, but not enough to ever rival the margins seen in, say, software. There, you can see as much as 70 to 80 percent. Without a big cushion, companies can’t cut deeply into their profits to shield customers (be they consumers or fellow businesses) from the tariff hikes. The higher costs get passed on more directly. That said, multiple industry contacts said they’re working to spread the hit and lighten the load on consumers. Tech vendors know that increased prices mean fewer sales. My anonymous source told me they’ve already seeing sales slow and are trying not to pass on more any costs than necessary, saying, “We only raised prices to cover the tariffs we’ve paid.” That’s another important detail—these companies must pay these tariffs to get their products onto U.S. shores. They can’t sell anything otherwise. The same anonymous contact said to me, “As importers ourselves, we have to pay the tariffs upfront.” They can’t float the cost until sales happen. As for the retailers we buy from, you may see some variation in price due to their operating costs and margins. But it doesn’t sound like consumers can expect much help on that front, given those stark warnings made by Best Buy and Target’s CEOs about price increases. When do prices increase? Will it happen all at once? The first round of tariffs on Chinese goods went into effect on February 4, at 10 percent. The leap to 20 percent began this past Tuesday, on March 4. How fast that’ll be felt depends on the product. If a retailer has a decent amount of stock brought to the U.S. before the tariffs started, then their prices may not rise just yet. Most industry contacts I spoke with avoided naming an exact timeline, but SilverStone’s U.S. office estimated the ramp-up period could extend until April. However if there’s little stock left in the channel, then the price jump may be immediate. Are there any other price increases coming? Potentially. In mid-February, President Trump announced an intention to impose a 25 percent tariff on semiconductors as soon as April 2, with the intent to continue to raise the rate “substantially higher over a course of a year.” Such a move would impact PC CPUs and GPUs. Specific countries subject to this import fee have not yet been revealed. But if the tariff becomes applied broadly, chips shipped from fabrication plants in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and other locations will be subject to that hefty new tax—not just those from China. Will prices come down if the tariffs are dropped? Costs often stay higher once tariffs are enacted. My SilverStone contact confirmed this when asked about any price reversals should tariffs end, saying, “As to your question on reversing prices, that’ll happen more slowly than it is to raise prices. As a business, we have to be careful with reducing prices across our product line.” Remember, even after a tariff lifts, any stock that arrived in the U.S. during the tariff still carries a higher cost to a manufacturer or vendor. And due to the lower margins of PC hardware, they are still limited in how much of said cost they can absorb on behalf of the consumer.Basically, costs can come down, but don’t expect to see any shift until the channels clear of previous stock. Even then, if the chance of future tariffs looms, companies will have less logistical and financial incentive to cut prices. How big is the impact on laptops and desktop PCs? Between the comments made by the CEOs of Acer and Falcon Northwest, you could assume a 20 percent increase at minimum.  Such an even application would put a serious dent in consumer buying power. If you apply that 20 percent as a straight increase, here’s what the prices would look like for laptops that PCWorld has reviewed just before the tariffs: Original MSRP10% tariff increase20% tariff increaseLenovo Legion 5i$1,399$1,539$1,779Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition$2,519$2,771$3,023Lenovo LOQ 15$799$879$959Asus Vivobook S 14$1,199$1,319$1,439Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360$1,699$1,869$2,039Lenovo Chromebook Duet$399$439$479 You’ll pay $100 more now for a previously $500 laptop after this new tariff. In that price range, that’s a sizable increase and can push a machine out of someone’s budget. On the flip side, other sources declined to state a figure, and I’ve yet to receive comment from large corporations like Dell. We likely have to wait for time to tell—much is up in the air, as I was repeatedly told. How big is the impact on PC components? The answer to this question is more complicated than for laptops and prebuilt desktop PCs. Component vendors sit more in the middle of the chain that leads to a computer you can sit down and use. As I covered above when discussing price, the specific impact will vary. Besides cost, consumers should also be prepared for less availability of parts. One contact told me that a “pressing concern is that several major AIB partners are reducing shipments to prevent costly overstock.” Basically, higher prices on hardware often means less interest, and no one wants to be left with excess stock they can’t sell. What hidden effects will the tariffs have? Besides ongoing price chaos, DIY builders should prepare for possible longer wait times to acquire parts. Likewise, those buying a prebuilt desktop PC made from off-the-shelf components may need more patience as well. Also, as Falcon Northwest said to me, list prices (MSRP) for components will likely become even more aspirational. Street prices will fluctuate as businesses continue to respond to unpredictable changes to U.S. economic policy—and if availability reduces, demand could cause even higher leaps in cost. Why can’t companies give more concrete answers? More than one person I spoke with referenced the tariff situation using words like “uncertainty,” and “unpredictability.” The short of it is, businesses are scrambling to react to these policy changes. Remember, the 20 percent tariff on Chinese-made goods was only announced on February 27th, just three days before it took effect. The tax’s size and its abruptness caused a lot of disruption. So right now, companies are still working out their responses to the tariffs. Discussions with partners and reassessing both financial and logistical impact takes time. An additional wrinkle is that vendors don’t know what to expect in the future, which complicates planning. Kelt Reeves, the Falcon Northwest CEO, says, “This is just a chaotic climate to try and run a business in.” Will vendors stop producing goods in China? Some companies intend to shift production across borders. AsRock, which produces PC components like motherboards and graphics cards, has gone on record with its intention to move manufacturing to other countries.  But that production may not go very far. My contact at SilverStone’s U.S. office said that a couple of its power supplies are made in Vietnam, and the company “will continue to transition more in the future.” However, the extent of the transfer won’t become apparent for a while—with the sheer amount of manufacturing China does, ramping up in alternative nations can’t happen overnight. For example, 90 percent of SilverStone’s products are made in China. Facilities that can handle the capacity for a wide-scale switch will take time. Can’t the U.S. just produce electronics on domestic soil? In a word, no. The infrastructure doesn’t exist—for now. The Biden administration did begin the U.S.’s attempt to reduce its dependence on China for production of key electronics, namely processors. The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 set aside $280 billion to facilitate the building of new chip foundries on U.S. soil.  However, building such facilities takes time, and their ability to ramp up output also can’t happen immediately. TSMC’s new Arizona fabrication plant is already booked out until 2027. And more importantly, domestic production may never get a chance to take off—President Trump just proposed killing the CHIPS act, which would gut its funding. That could delay or even suspend the overall effort to ramp up the US’s self-sufficiency. Editor’s note: This article originally published on March 7, but was updated with additional info and clarifications. Read...

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