German Authorities Infiltrate Tor Network to Identify Darknet Users

Law enforcement agencies have reportedly begun infiltrating the Tor network, successfully deanonymizing users in certain criminal investigations. According to reporters from ARD political magazine Panorama and STRG_F, German authorities have been monitoring Tor servers for extended periods, enabling them to trace anonymous users through a technique known as “timing analysis.”

The research revealed that German law enforcement successfully identified users in at least one case by using timing analysis to link individuals to specific Tor nodes. This method involves monitoring data packets and their transmission timing through different Tor network nodes. The longer the surveillance of individual nodes, the greater the chance of matching connections back to users. The data obtained during this process allows the authorities to break through the layers of encryption that typically protect users’ anonymity.

Investigation of Darknet Platforms

The report shows that this method was used in an investigation against the pedo-criminal darknet platform “Boystown.” The German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) was able to deanonymize Andreas G., one of the platform’s administrators. By monitoring the Tor nodes and entry servers used by Andreas G. to access the Ricochet chat service, investigators traced his connection and identified his physical location.

Panorama and STRG_F said that this breakthrough came after the district court of Frankfurt compelled the service provider Telefónica to disclose which customers had accessed the identified Tor nodes. This information led to Andreas G.’s arrest in North Rhine-Westphalia. In December 2022, he was imprisoned for several years, though a final verdict is yet to be made.

The investigation into “Boystown” benefited from international cooperation, with crucial information supplied by authorities in the Netherlands. Germany, the Netherlands, and the USA operate some of the highest numbers of Tor nodes globally, making them central to investigations involving the network.

Authorities in Germany reportedly increased their surveillance of Tor servers in recent years. Documents obtained by Panorama and STRG_F suggest that the number of monitored nodes has risen, with many of these being used for timing analysis.

Independent experts who reviewed the data confirmed the research findings, indicating that this strategy was successfully deployed in multiple cases. However, those familiar with the case and the research documents verified that such methods have been used effectively to deanonymize Tor users.

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