Hacklog Volume 1 Anonymity: it security & Ethical Hacking Handbook

Internet  Project)  is  a  de-centered  network,  totally  based  on  peer-to-peer
technology. It’s still in beta, but is consistently updated, with releases every 6/8
weeks; furthermore, developers consider it as a stable network, due to the high
improbability  of  bugs.  I2P  is  available  and  pre-installed  in  many  GNU/Linux
distros,  including  iPrediaOS,  Liberté  Linux,  Whonix  or  the  most  popular  Tails.
Its worth mentioning that, unlike TOR, I2P won’t force users to use the HTTPS
protocol.  The  reason  is  that  I2P  already  encrypts  the  connection,  even  before
reaching the HTTP.
4.2.1 Using I2P
Being  written  in  Java,  I2P  requires  the  Java  Runtime  Environment
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,
available  for  the  most  popular  Operating  Systems.  Once  installed,  you  have  to
launch a software executing the entire process, in order to connect to the peer-to-
peer network. In most cases, you will only see one terminal, or nothing at all.
4.2.1.1 Installing I2P
Like  TOR  Browser,  I2P  can  be  easily  installed  on  Windows  and  macOS,
using the pre-compiled binaries. On GNU/Linux (Debian 8 “Jessie” in our case),
instead, you have to add the official repositories from the i2p2.de site. To do this,
edit the sources.list file:
$ su
$ nano /etc/apt/sources.list
Then,  paste  the  provided  sources  in  the  file  (if  you  use  a  different  Debian
version, paste the part with the proper codename, in this case “Jessie”):
deb https://deb.i2p2.de/ jessie main
deb-src https://deb.i2p2.de/ jessie main
Now you can update your repositories.
$ apt-get update
Something  will  go  wrong,  however.  The  reason  is  that  you  used  the  https

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protocol, which is not in apt by default, as you can see in the above repositories.
Before updating your software pool, install the apt-transport-https pack (as also
suggested by the terminal):
$ apt-get install apt-transport-https
Now you can launch the update:
$ apt-get update
Here is coming another problem: you need certificates! Download them with
the command:
$ apt-get install i2p-keyring && apt-get update
You  will  be  prompted  to  confirm  your  choices  in  two  moments;  in  both
cases, press Y and confirm with Enter. Finally, install i2p:
$ apt-get install i2p
Like TOR, I suggest you not to use I2P as root. Logout from root:
$ exit
then, launch the service by using the command:
$ i2prouter start
4.2.1.2 First launch of I2P
Actually,  the  I2P  is  already  100%  running;  to  verify,  visit  the  I2P  Router
Console  (Figure  20)  at  this  address:
http://127.0.0.1:7657
.  If  you  get  a  screen
like  the  following,  the  I2P  service  is  already  running  or,  at  least,  the  deamon
managed  to  create  a  local  web  server,  allowing  you  to  use  the  I2P  Router
Console.  The  latter  allows  you  to  configure  and  monitor  the  status  of  the
network.  When  I2P  is  running  correctly,  the  Internet  connection  is  “relatively”
free,  e.g.,  inbound  and  outbound  rules,  if  any,  must  not  be  too  restrictive.  A
generic  firewall  in  the  router  is  not  a  problem,  but  users  in  NAT  will  be
negatively impacted (as for Fastweb users in Italy). Besides RTFM, I2P requires
a couple of minutes to stabilize the p2p network pairing.

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Figure 20: management console of I2P Network
4.2.1.3 Configuring a Browser with I2P
Once  the  I2P  service  started,  you  can  configure  your  preferred  browser  to
connect to services. To do this, point your browser to the following addresses: