FBI suspected of cyber-attack on anonymous web-hosting and email services
By
Mark Blackwood
12 August 2013
On August 5 malicious software (malware) in the form of a Java
Script (JS) attack code was discovered embedded in multiple websites
hosted by the anonymous hosting company Freedom Hosting (FH), the
largest hosting company on the anonymous Tor network. Initial research
into the malware by experts suggests that it originated from and
returned private data back to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
or other US government agencies.
The malicious script was
specifically designed to attack and exploit vulnerabilities within the
Firefox 17 web browser, included within older versions of the Tor
Browser Bundle (TBB), which allows for anonymous Internet access.
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An
announcement of the attack was made by the Tor Anonymity project, which
stated, “An attack that exploits Firefox vulnerability in JavaScript
has been observed in the wild. Specifically, Windows users using the Tor
Browser Bundle (which includes Firefox plus privacy patches) appear to
have been targeted.” It advised anyone using an older version of the Tor
Browser Bundle (TBB) to update to the latest August 9 release
immediately.
The detection of the malicious code coincided with
the arrest of Eric Eoin Marques, the alleged administrator of FH, on
suspicion that the company, which hosts a vast array of servers, had
been hosting sites linked to child pornography. Shortly after Marques’
arrest every website hosted by FH was taken offline simultaneously,
including the anonymous email service Tor Mail.
Owing to the fact
that the TBB can inhibit the collection of data on a person’s online
activities and connect it to his or her name, address, age, phone
number, etc., the software has become increasingly popular, as has the
free anonymous means of online communication offered by Tor Mail.
This
is especially the case in the wake of the US government’s persecution
of whistleblower Edward Snowden. The former intelligence contractor
exposed mass internet surveillance by the US government’s National
Security Agency (NSA) and its allies internationally. For disclosing
these activities, Snowden has been subjected to an unprecedented
international manhunt, stripped off his passport, and forced to seek
temporary asylum in Russia.
TBB is used to access services on the
“deep net” (servers not indexed by standard search engines) such as Tor
Mail, which until August 5 had the capacity to enable anyone to safely
leak information relating to government corruption, oppression and human
rights abuses, without fear of being detected or having their anonymity
compromised.
The goal of Tor Mail was to provide for free a
completely anonymous means of email communication to anyone who needed
it. As such, it had earned a reputation as being the most anonymous
email operation online.
The servers accessed by Tor, now portrayed
as an arena inhabited solely by criminal elements, have been used
widely by human rights groups, journalists, whistle-blowers, protesters
and political dissidents worldwide, as well as members of the wider
public who value their right to privacy.
That is why the
circulation of a malicious code that has the capacity to unmask and
compromise a person’s anonymity is of great concern to those who have
relied on the TBB and Tor Mail as a means of anonymous communication.
Claims that the attack only affects, or should be of concern to, those engaged in criminal activities online is false.
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/08/12/torm-a12.html
