The FBI Identified a Tor User • Hacker News Board

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#21

Post by kmeisthax » Tue, Jan 17, 2023, 2:19 PM UTC

generalizations wrote: post #4

I wonder if this is going to be confirmation that a large fraction of Tor nodes are in fact run by the FBI.

I would not be surprised given that Tor was specifically created to anonymize the traffic of US spies. It was released to the public to give plausible deniability to the spies. A new protocol that ONLY spies used would be obvious to track down, no matter how much encryption it had. But if everyone is using it for different purposes then you have to actually have to break the encryption to know if someone's using Tor to check in with the CIA or if they're just so paranoid that they insist on surfing Wikipedia with it.

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#22

Post by DoItToMe81 » Tue, Jan 17, 2023, 2:19 PM UTC

I wouldn't get so excited about this. There have been tons of javascript exploits to leak IP addresses in the past, it's more likely that than the FBI running thousands of servers.

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#23

Post by dncornholio » Tue, Jan 17, 2023, 2:25 PM UTC

Tepix wrote: post #12

It could also be that they had backdoored his PC earlier, right?

It could also be they just checked his browsing history..

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#24

Post by chopin » Tue, Jan 17, 2023, 2:25 PM UTC

SamoyedFurFluff wrote: post #20

donkeyd wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it isn't. That's not what he was charged for, it's just one piece of evidence in the case: > “From Mr. Al-Azhari’s attempt to acquire firearms through unlawful channels to his desire to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, it was clear Mr. Al-Azhari’s intention was to carry out an act of violence,” > According to the complaint, Al-Azhari was an ISIS supporter who planned and at…

I’m interested what the case law is for arresting someone for intent to perform a heinous act. I’ve heard a lot from stalking victims and the like that often times police will refuse to do anything until the stalker has assaulted or murdered the victim in question, despite clear indications the stalker is actively planning to do harm.

Wait until the victim is someone powerful.

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#25

Post by flotzam » Tue, Jan 17, 2023, 2:28 PM UTC

takoid wrote: post #3

Original article this is referencing: https://www.vice.com/en/article/z34dx3/fbi-wont-say-hacked-d... And the relevant court document: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23569961-motion-to-r...

Direct link to the PDF (because DocumentCloud's web viewer appears to be down): https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23569961/motion-to-re...

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#26

Post by causi » Tue, Jan 17, 2023, 2:29 PM UTC

I will never understand people who do illegal things over their own IP. Is it really that hard to find an open access point? Way back in the day when I torrented all my content I used a long-range wifi antenna connected to a public AP and a dedicated PC with a scrubbed drive that never connected to my home network.

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#27

Post by nibbleshifter » Tue, Jan 17, 2023, 2:31 PM UTC

Sounds like his box was compromised, possibly by owning the site he visited first.

The FBI has done this before - inject a browser exploit into a site they compromised to identify its users.

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#28

Post by Miner49er » Tue, Jan 17, 2023, 2:34 PM UTC

Tepix wrote: post #12

It could also be that they had backdoored his PC earlier, right?

Could be a lot of things. Could be the FBI runs the site and specifically targeted him.

Or they run the site and it has some sort of browser exploit.

I'm guessing the first though. That they set up the site specifically to target him. The rest of the investigation involves them running eBay accounts to sell him weapons and such. Seems like the whole investigation was borderline entrapment to be able to arrest him on something.

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#29

Post by 0xbadcafebee » Tue, Jan 17, 2023, 2:35 PM UTC

Isn't all propaganda unofficial? It's not like there's a stamp on it ("This Propaganda was Approved by the Secretary of Media for the Islamic State"). Don't be fooled by that counterfit propaganda! Only buy the real deal!

Re: The FBI Identified a Tor User

#30

Post by paulluuk » Tue, Jan 17, 2023, 2:35 PM UTC

kmeisthax wrote: post #21

generalizations wrote: post #4

I wonder if this is going to be confirmation that a large fraction of Tor nodes are in fact run by the FBI.

I would not be surprised given that Tor was specifically created to anonymize the traffic of US spies. It was released to the public to give plausible deniability to the spies. A new protocol that ONLY spies used would be obvious to track down, no matter how much encryption it had. But if everyone is using it for different purposes then you have to actually have to break the encryption to know if someone's using Tor…

After reading Edward Snowden's autobiography (Permanent Record, great read), I feel like Tor, end-to-end encryption and similar solutions/products are basically a dagger through the heart of intelligence services. As such, I find it hard to believe that they knowingly gave the public such tools. And if they did, it sure as hell backfired on them.