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BREAKING: Half of TOR sites compromised, including TORMail.

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wraith808:
And in the I'm-not-surprised department:

Researchers say Tor-targeted malware phoned home to NSA

I still say that what I'm surprised about is that it was this easy to track.  Unlike what people may thing, this isn't a good sign.

And I'm not the only one that thinks so.  From the article:

The use of a hard-coded IP address traceable back to the NSA is either a strange and epic screw-up on the part of someone associated with the agency (possibly a contractor at SAIC) or an intentional calling card as some analyzing the attack have suggested. One poster on Cryptocloud's discussion board wrote, "It's psyops—a fear campaign... They want to scare folks off Tor, scare folks off all privacy services."

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And a very cynical, very devious comment:
Considering the target was suspected to be outside the US, the NSA would be the correct spying agency to use. They and the FBI refer things back and forth all the time. They also have all the hardware required to do this kind of thing.

Making everyone think twice about using a more secure system is a nasty psyop move. But if you have access to the raw traffic data, watching how the stream of packets from a single IP changes over time can be a good way to flag individuals as "suspect" and move to deeper surveillance techniques. If this announcement made you change your behavior, you're now a suspect. Congrats.

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And another very devious angle:
Whistleblowers are NSA's (and its friends) biggest threats. This will cause potential whistleblowers shying away from leaking (not all whistleblowers are ready to forsake anonymity.) I often suspect there are even more damaging stuff waiting to be leaked than what has been leaked so far.

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TaoPhoenix:
Damn you prophet boy.  :D
-Stoic Joker (August 05, 2013, 06:43 AM)
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Not a prophet by any means. Just an avid student of history and human psychology who read The Foundation Trilogy when still a young and highly impressionable child. :(

 ;D
-40hz (August 05, 2013, 07:14 AM)
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So where is the Mule to blow this all to hell and free us?
8)

x16wda:
So where is the Mule to blow this all to hell and free us?
-TaoPhoenix (August 05, 2013, 06:48 PM)
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Doesn't matter, a few hundred years and we'll be back on track... :D

40hz:
I guess I'm cynical.

I don't see the revelation as an oversight or screw up.

I think a very pointed message is being sent to the cyber-counterculture and digital separatists.

The message is: We own your ass, kiddies. And we can collect on it any time we feel like.

40hz:
So where is the Mule to blow this all to hell and free us?
-TaoPhoenix (August 05, 2013, 06:48 PM)
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Doesn't matter, a few hundred years and we'll be back on track... :D
-x16wda (August 05, 2013, 06:54 PM)
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Yup. When the stars are right and the Great Old Ones return.  ;D :Thmbsup:

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