Thursday, March 13, 2014

A Hacker Scrubbed Child Porn Links from the Dark Web's Most Popular Site

Accessible only with anonymizing Tor software, the deep web is an important bastion for private communication, as well as those looking to hock drugs, theoccasional rhino horn, and other things too offensive or illegal for the surface web. It's one of the last places where the internet still feels like an uncensored Wild West.

But the recent hack of the Hidden Wiki, a site long known as the essential start page for anyone first visiting the deep web, has brought an intrinsic tension in the fight against censorship to the fore. Along with anarchist message boards and merchants selling counterfeit bills, the Hidden Wiki also once linked to sites purporting to provide child pornography.

Hidden Wiki was hijacked by a hacker known as Intangir, who runs Doxbin, a site that describes itself as "as judge, jury, and executioner for all matters relating to Onionland." In a message on the Doxbin site, Intangir wrote that he'd support Hidden Wiki mirror sites that "A. Don't link to child porn site and B. Allow community editing."

In an email, Intangir said of the hack that "the opportunity presented itself, so it was taken. Doxbin has always been about owning and exposing people with poor opsec." (Side note: Intangir actually wouldn't reveal his or her gender, but I'll go with "he.")


Posted by