How Did the FBI Get a Tor User’s IP Address?

poll the net : what is the best agency to de - anonymize a Tor user ? Somebody over at the FBI definitely has a method acting , but they clearly are n’t plan on telling anybody anytime before long .

Motherboard originallyreportedthat the bureau has somehow deal to cop the IP reference of a guy using The Onion Router as part of an on-going anti - terrorism case . The guy in question , Muhammed Momtaz Al - Azhari , of Tampa , Florida , waschargedin 2020 with essay to provide material financial support to ISIS . According to thegovernment , Al - Azhari is “ an ISIS supporter who planned and attempted to carry out an flack on behalf of that terrorist organisation . ” Part of the government ’s case against Al - Azhari orb around his habit of Tor to make multiple visit to an ISI - related website prior to the planned attack .

The net ’s well - known portal tothe dark internet , Tor is supposed to protect your IP address and keep you anonymous as you breaker . The web browser app cipher a web user ’s traffic and then bounce it around through a series of “ electrical relay ” ( also called nodes ) to cover up the lead of activity . Still , Tor has been known to havevulnerabilitiesthat can lead to First State - anonymization .

Photo: Ralf Liebhold (Shutterstock)

All that said , it ’s not incisively absolved what happened here . Somehow , the government ascertained Al - Azhari ’s real IP address — which actually turned out to be his grannie ’s IP address because he was detain with her in Riverside , California at the clip of his arrest , court documents state . Since Tor should have protected Azhari ’s existent location and IP address , the question remains : how did the feds get this information ?

Motherboard report that Al - Azhari ’s denial has enquire the feds to reveal more details about their digital examine methods , technically known asnetwork investigative technique , or nit , but that the FBI ’s lawyers are being pretty cagey . In fact , regime attorney seem to be doing everything in their power to make certain that the point of the NIT do n’t enter the public docket . In many way , this is n’t all that surprising , since federal cops lean to drop a lot of time examine to verify that their method and procedures stay on secret and , therefore , efficacious against malefactor .

That said , this also is n’t the first time that the bureau ’s nit have show knotty during judicial proceedings . In 2015 , the agency notoriously used its cyber accomplishment to take over and temporarilyrun a fry porn website , “ Playpen , ” in an effort to uncloak its visitors . The mental process , which go more than a calendar week and was cringingly dub “ Operation Pacifier , ” led to the arrest and conviction of the website ’s creator but provoke a repercussion for its methods . A cause against one of the situation ’s memberswas later droppedwhen the suspect ’s defense similarly call for the bureau to give away the nature of the NIT that had been used . Rather than comply , the FBI affect to dismiss the showcase , preferring to keep its methods secret rather than successfully pursue the land site user .

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