[url=http://article.gmane.org/gmane.network.tor.user/34619]The operator of a major cluster of tor exit nodes has lost control of his servers.[/url]
[url]http://pando.com/2014/12/21/so-it-begins-operator-of-large-tor-exit-node-cluster-reports-he-has-lost-control-of-his-servers/[/url]
[url=https://blog.torproject.org/blog/possible-upcoming-attempts-disable-tor-network]This is happening two days after the tor project warned of potential attacks.[/url]
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l4OEJ38aLY][Thread theme][/url]
For those of you who usually aren't interested in this sort of thing, Tor is a special network which allows users to send their traffic through multiple nodes in order to bypass government blocks and maintain anonymity online. It is a vital tool for reporters and activists in totalitarian countries to communicate with each other and the outside world. Tor is one of the most important tools that countless people use to protect themselves and to protect free speech all over the world. Naturally, it is hated by the government. [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)] More information here.[/url]
tl;dr for those who won't follow the links:
Two days ago, the tor project warned that the government may soon be launching attacks to try to compromise the network. Today, an operator of a large cluster of exit nodes (a key part of the tor network) reported this:
[quote]Tonight there has been some unusual activity taking place and I have
now lost control of all servers under the ISP and my account has been
suspended. Having reviewed the last available information of the
sensors, the chassis of the servers was opened and an unknown USB
device was plugged in only 30-60 seconds before the connection was
broken. From experience I know this trend of activity is similar to
the protocol of sophisticated law enforcement who carry out a search
and seizure of running servers.
Until I have had the time and information available to review the
situation, I am strongly recommending my mirrors are not used under
any circumstances. If they come back online without a PGP signed
message from myself to further explain the situation, exercise extreme
caution and treat even any items delivered over TLS to be potentially
hostile.[/quote]
[url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/86093832/0/0/1]I TOLD YOU IT WAS HAPPENING YESTERDAY AND YOU DIDN'T LISTEN[/url]
UPDATE:
[url=https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-talk/2014-December/036078.html]The situation has been updated.[/url] It is not known with certainty if this was done by the government (at this time still my main suspicion) or some other actor. Tor is still operational, and the affected servers have been blacklisted until further notice. Be wary. Someone is trying something bad.
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Not exactly unheard of, NSA and GCHQ to my understanding have targeted it multiple time with little success. Could be an attempt to find information linked to that Sony hack, but that's the only reason I see for a operation like this to take place now. Personally I think it was a entity not linked to the United States government, at least with the lack of clear information at this present time.