German investigators successfully tracked suspects inside the Tor network - There's no perfect anonymity

[koolkat]

Tor is an overlay network designed to provide a fully anonymous way to browse the web and exchange messages or data over the internet. The "darknet" is supposed to be free from eavesdropping and surveillance, but resourceful agencies can still breach its many onion-like layers to go and get a suspect's true identity.

German news outlet Tagesschau reports that local law enforcement agencies have successfully targeted, tracked, and arrested four suspects in a single investigation. The outlaws used Tor to hide their identities and activities in managing a ransomware operation and hosting child sex abuse material on their servers.

Investigators identified the suspects using a "timing analysis" attack. The officers directly monitored many Tor nodes over time, looking for a specific connection between the servers hidden within the darknet and local internet connections. The story confirms that law enforcement agencies are actively monitoring web servers hidden in Tor.

Successfully uncovering who's behind a darknet service is no easy feat, and authorities haven't revealed significant details about their timing analysis attack.

The Tor programmer said, "Like many of you, we are still left with more questions than answers. But one thing is clear: Tor users can continue to use Tor Browser to access the web securely and anonymously."