Homeland Security Busts Child Abuse Ring That Relied on Tor

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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Chalk one up for the Department of Homeland Security for making a huge bust of a child exploitation ring operation using Darknet’s Tor Network as the base of operations. Not exactly what you would imagine Homeland security doing since their purview is mainly terrorist based and counter-terrorism, but children being terrorized certainly fits the spirit of the organization.

These indictments represent a strong coordinated strike - by Homeland Security, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and several U.S. Attorney's Office around the country - against child pornography and those who allegedly seek to harm our most vulnerable citizens, our young children
 
those DHS officers probably just like to look at such images so they shift investigations to that instead of what they usually claim to do.
 
DHS covers several agencies to include the Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Secret Service. Child exploitation would probably fall into thier purview viven the generally International and cross state nature of it, that being said DHS probably already had coverage in Tor and the other agencies probably piggybacked on the info.
 
those DHS officers probably just like to look at such images so they shift investigations to that instead of what they usually claim to do.

Wow, the first post is a government hating, poorly informed rant that tries to negatively spin a good thing. Do you want there to be more child porn in the world or something? :(
 
Wow, the first post is a government hating, poorly informed rant that tries to negatively spin a good thing. Do you want there to be more child porn in the world or something? :(

what they do is say "we are the good guys" by stating "CP is bad, we do something about it, therefore we are the good guys". it takes any thoughtful discussion out of context by adding a lot of emotion to it because if you question surveillance, you must be a supporter of child absue (and i put the dhs and nsa in the same category of government entities that have a weird understanding of the constitiution).

government wants to install filters to block certain servers? "ooh, it's because of all the CP on the internet (and not about censorship)!" that rationale is complete BS because, to be honest, the scope of surveillance goes way beyond the search for a few people that need serious therapy. an analogy would be "let's discuss immigration policies" => "wtf ur a nazi!!!1".
 
the site contained more than 2,000 videos and had more than 27,000 members
Uh... So fourteen arrested. Have they accepted the impossibility of catching all the consumers and relegated to cutting the head off the snake? I think at this point it's safe to say that people will be sick whatever this or any other government does. The internet didn't create pedophiles, it just facilitates them. They've always existed and until we understand what genetic and/or environmental factors create them, the whack-a-mole will continue.
 
DHS covers several agencies to include the Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Secret Service. Child exploitation would probably fall into thier purview viven the generally International and cross state nature of it, that being said DHS probably already had coverage in Tor and the other agencies probably piggybacked on the info.

I thought the FBI handled interstate crimes.
 
I thought the FBI handled interstate crimes.

The FBI has jurisdiction over Federal Criminal Law plus some special coverage in other areas.

In my experience I have seen USPIS (Postal Inspection) and USSS (Secret Service) work interstate crimes more then the the FBI. Interstate crimes are not necessarily breaking Federal Law, just crimes that cover multiple States.
 
Saw tv shows that says FBI deals with child related cases. Not sure how true it is, but it was in at least two shows. SO either it's real, they had similar ideas, or one ripped off the other.
 
The real reason why they have not moved to the code cause its really is expensive for whatcha get. Elastic cloud compute sounds great till you get the bill...:D
 
Hey kids, that teenage girl you're sending your naked snaps to isn't really a teenage girl. This is why my kids access the internet in a public area and not their bedroom.
 
Good for them, another reason to show that TOR is not as "anonymous" as people like to think...
 
Criminals like these keep me in support of things like capital punishment. Some sicknesses are far beyond rehabilitation, let alone the "rehabilitation" offered by the penal system.

If it were up to me, male sexual predators of any type would be punished by castration. Females would get circumcised, and possibly receive a hysterectomy. A subsequent offense would mean a needle.

If nothing else, it's fun to dream about.
 
what they do is say "we are the good guys" by stating "CP is bad, we do something about it, therefore we are the good guys". it takes any thoughtful discussion out of context by adding a lot of emotion to it because if you question surveillance, you must be a supporter of child absue (and i put the dhs and nsa in the same category of government entities that have a weird understanding of the constitiution).

government wants to install filters to block certain servers? "ooh, it's because of all the CP on the internet (and not about censorship)!" that rationale is complete BS because, to be honest, the scope of surveillance goes way beyond the search for a few people that need serious therapy. an analogy would be "let's discuss immigration policies" => "wtf ur a nazi!!!1".

The post I quoted last time seemed emo enough to be devoid of thoughtful discussion which makes it sort of strange that you're taking the rational/voice of reason approach now that you're having to defend your previous statement. I think you're just upset at the government because you've bought into the usual old guy who hates everything grumbling that targets US activities because it's currently popular to do so thanks to news outlets. It seems sort of thought-controlled and drone-ish if you ask me.
 
The post I quoted last time seemed emo enough to be devoid of thoughtful discussion which makes it sort of strange that you're taking the rational/voice of reason approach now that you're having to defend your previous statement. I think you're just upset at the government because you've bought into the usual old guy who hates everything grumbling that targets US activities because it's currently popular to do so thanks to news outlets. It seems sort of thought-controlled and drone-ish if you ask me.

There is no monopoly on blind ideology--it's ironic that people who complain about "government shills" can be just as bad, if not worse.
 
and i put the dhs and nsa in the same category of government entities that have a weird understanding of the constitiution

And I put you into the same category as those that have a weird understanding of how our government functions.

Understanding the Constitution is purview of the judicial Branch, creating Law is done by the Legislative Branch. NSA falls under the DoD and isn't really concerned with enforcing laws, they only have to operate according to law. DHS does have Law Enforcement responsibilities but has nothing to do with creating laws, understanding the constitution, or the DoD.

I hope this helps you get a better handle on how to categorize properly in the future.
 
Sovereign, you realize that it's guys like Creepy and myself that usually GET accused of being a government shill and not the other way around?
 
Hang em high.

I'd vote for crucifixion. 2 guys want to throw fists, whatever. People trolling people on the internet, whatever. Kids on the other hand? You don't fuck with the helpless/innocent.

Child molesters/ child porn peddlers should at very least be castrated.
 
I think in this regard, you have to give credit where it's due. CP'ers and their ilk are sub-human vermin that need to be eliminated on the spot frankly.
 
Why castrated? Really, what does having or not having a pair of balls have to do with a person's ability to continue to defile and abuse the innocent? To do these things they must have messed up heads, don't remove their nuts, remove their lives.
 
Why castrated? Really, what does having or not having a pair of balls have to do with a person's ability to continue to defile and abuse the innocent? To do these things they must have messed up heads, don't remove their nuts, remove their lives.

Castration in men induces significant behavioral changes due to the loss of testosterone. It could very well free some sick individuals from some uncontrollable impulses.

Not a cure per se, but it could work for some people. And of course if it doesn't, then bring out the needle.
 
All this talk about how bad child abuse is, and no questions about how the bust occurred. I'm surprised, for a tech site. Tor's a simple concept - Bounce your traffic through 3 other computers running Tor, then route to the destination. In theory, the only way to tell who requested the IP is to own all three other computers that you bounced through. With the huge number of people running Tor (around 3M, IIRC), the feasibility of that occurring is highly improbable. So... How'd they do it?

Or maybe I'm just looking at the wrong part of the picture, and they didn't "crack Tor". They caught the guys despite Tor, not because of it.

(Also, " Darknet's Onion Router" makes me giggle. Darknet = GNUnet or FreeNet or similar. It's not some company that "made Tor" like they seem to be implying.)
 
Why castrated? Really, what does having or not having a pair of balls have to do with a person's ability to continue to defile and abuse the innocent? To do these things they must have messed up heads, don't remove their nuts, remove their lives.

It is pretty cool to demand castration though, especially against the sun of the earth.
 
TOR is not a Darknet. It is available to the public by the means of software that connects to it.

A darknet is private in nature. For instance, WASTE.

Shoddy writing.
 
If it were up to me, male sexual predators of any type would be punished by castration. Females would get circumcised, and possibly receive a hysterectomy. A subsequent offense would mean a needle.
Great, so then the government will be forced to pay the medical bills for the newly-created condition your idea just caused :rolleyes:

Castration = extremely low testosterone levels. That causes all kinds of health issues, including osteoporosis. Yay for burdening the tax system!
 
Why castrated? Really, what does having or not having a pair of balls have to do with a person's ability to continue to defile and abuse the innocent? To do these things they must have messed up heads, don't remove their nuts, remove their lives.

I think he is suggesting that the punishment fit the crime type of deal.

I am curious as to how the government found this out also, but I am a nub when it comes to computers. I only know a little bit, and that is usually from what I had to learn after breaking something. My guess is they got the lead from a different source, and figured the rest out after warrants were served.
 
I think he is suggesting that the punishment fit the crime type of deal.

I am curious as to how the government found this out also, but I am a nub when it comes to computers. I only know a little bit, and that is usually from what I had to learn after breaking something. My guess is they got the lead from a different source, and figured the rest out after warrants were served.

Yea, as in, I can't think of anything bad enough for someone who preys on children. But losing your nuts is a good start I suppose (along with the supposed change in behavior that comes with it, as others have mentioned.)

Crucifixion is the cost-effective way to go though. 2 boards, 2 nails, post hole diggers and some open space in the desert.
 
Too much testosterone makes people into pervs does it?

I thought it was why I started losing my hair when I was 21, too much testosterone :eek:

I have no interest in fixing the broken, not after they have done these things. If someone is broke then by all means render aid. But if someone is broken and has done horrible things, just end them and put your energy into helping the people he hurt.
 
Good for them, another reason to show that TOR is not as "anonymous" as people like to think...

I've never used it, but it's my understanding that TOR is only anonymous if it's set up correctly and man (most?) don't do that.
 
Castration in men induces significant behavioral changes due to the loss of testosterone. It could very well free some sick individuals from some uncontrollable impulses.

Not a cure per se, but it could work for some people. And of course if it doesn't, then bring out the needle.

I'm not going to look it up, but I'm almost certain that this wouldn't work on a pedophile. I'm not sure about someone who likes 15-17 year old kids. Frankly, sex with 15-17 year olds isn't necessarily illegal, and I can remember guys in their mid 20's openly dating a 15-16 year old and the parents didn't care. And obviously there was sex (whether that was obvious to mom and dad, I have no idea, but it wasn't a secret.
 
those DHS officers probably just like to look at such images so they shift investigations to that instead of what they usually claim to do.

Seriously man, think a little bit further next time you talk/write stuff online.
We all hate the government, but this is one thing they do right. You probably don't have kids. I do and I can tell you if someone did this kinda if crap to them Id spend the rest of my life finding the mofos. Lets just say Id be the one playing doctor with those bastards.

Dont mess with our kids :mad:
 
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