[tor-talk] Operation Onymous against hidden services, most DarkNet markets are down

[Derric Atzrott]

> "The BBC understands that the raid represented both a technological
> breakthrough - with police using new techniques to track down the
> physical location of dark net servers - as well as seeing an
> unprecedented level of international co-operation among law enforcement
> agencies."
>
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29950946
>
> There you have it: An admission that Yes, they really can locate the
> Tor hidden services now and Yes, that is how they shut these sites down.
>
> I look forward to the cointelpro shills trying to explain that
> statement away. Go!

Could be BBC misunderstanding things.  That does happen pretty regularly.

Of course, I'm not saying that someone hasn't broken Tor Hidden Services,
it would be an awful idea to categorically rule that out, but so far we
haven't seen any real evidence of it.  I just read through the arrest
warrant request for Benthall and didn't see anything in that besides
Benthall being stupid and the police being clever.

We'll have to wait for the charging documents to come out for those that
just got arrested to see how police allege to have found their hidden
services.  While parallel construction is certainly a possibility, and
one that I wouldn't rule out, I don't think it is likely.  And if they
are using parallel construction then what do you suggest that we do?
Without an understanding of how hidden services may be broken, there
is not much that can be done to fix the issue.

My recommendation, don't do stupid or illegal things using Tor or if
you do do them, make sure that your op-sec is top notch.  It only takes
one mistake to have your cover blown.  Law enforcement, particularly
US Law enforcement is a greater adversary than I think that most Tor
users will ever face being that they have absurd amounts of funding
and the time to do targeted attacks.

Thank you,
Derric Atzrott