The FBI Used the Web’s Favorite Hacking Tool to Unmask Tor Users

Anonymity on the Tor network may be compromised: “FBI agents relied on Flash code from an abandoned Metasploit side project called the ‘Decloaking Engine’ to stage its first known effort to successfully identify a multitude of suspects hiding behind the Tor anonymity network,” reports Kevin Poulson for Wired. “Tor, a free, open-source project originally funded by the US Navy, is sophisticated anonymity software that protects users by routing traffic through a labyrinthine delta of encrypted connections.” Poulson reminds that not only criminals rely on encryption and other privacy systems – so do journalists, activists, dissidents, attorneys and technology experts. The open-source Metasploit tool is designed to find systems’ vulnerable entry points. For years, Tor advised its users to avoid Flash. Only users of older versions of Tor were nabbed. Poulson points to two trends: Investigators monitor all visitors to a website rather than just suspects, and FBI capability on tracking Tor users is improving. – YaleGlobal

The FBI Used the Web’s Favorite Hacking Tool to Unmask Tor Users

FBI agents used hacking tool Metasploit to infiltrate old versions of Tor – and the investigators’ skill is advancing fast, according to Wired report
Kevin Poulson
Monday, December 29, 2014
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