The most widely used and generally trusted anonymity network on the web, Tor, has issued a warning to users that it has reason to believe there is a possible cyber attack coming against its servers. Tor Project officials did not say whom they suspect, but did say that users would still be hidden.
Tor gives its users a way to browse the internet without their activity being monitored. It’s a preferred tool for activists, journalists and citizens of countries with restrictive internet regulations. Narrowing down who would want to harm the organization would be difficult because it has a lot of enemies. Edward Snowden is a prime supporter and advocate for the service, so you can definitely include the U.S. government on the list of people that would want to take Tor down.
Tor works by relaying a user’s IP address around the world so that anyone snooping can’t pin down the user’s location. While that network of relays is decentralized, there are still key servers that serve as directories for the relays. Those servers are believed to be a target.
This wouldn’t be the first time Tor has been compromised but the Tor Project officially maintains that its users are safe and they are working to insure that any kind of attack in the near future would have no impact. While it’s still the most secure way to cloak internet surfing activity, it’s becoming all too clear that something stronger is going to be needed soon.
(Photo: Wikipedia)
