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The FBI Is Infecting Tor Users With Malware With Drive-By Downloads

Advocatus Diaboli (1627651) writes For the last two years, the FBI has been quietly experimenting with drive-by hacks as a solution to one of law enforcement's knottiest Internet problems: how to identify and prosecute users of criminal websites hiding behind the powerful Tor anonymity system. The approach has borne fruit—over a dozen alleged users of Tor-based child porn sites are now headed for trial as a result. But it's also engendering controversy, with charges that the Justice Department has glossed over the bulk-hacking technique when describing it to judges, while concealing its use from defendants.

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  1. Mostly harmless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    If you had Javascript disabled, you were safe. Even though TOR has it enabled by default, almost all pedo sites has a javascript pop-up to tell you that you're not surfing safe and to turn it off. Also you had to turn TOR off and use the same browser on the regular web to deliver the data to the FBI, also not recommended. And if you'd set it to not store cache, history, cookies etc. as recommended you'd also be immune. They caught what, two dozen? There's literally thousands of active members on TLZ and *lol*IB, which is where everybody went after OPVA and Lolita City (both hosted on Freedom Hosting) went down. And smart people don't rely on TOR alone, always have at least two layers of defense. Well, three if you count my full disk crypto as a last resort if the police do knock down my door - there'll still be no proof to find here.