The hacker group Anonymous said Wednesday that published the IP addresses of visitors to 190 child pornography sites, marking its latest effort to eliminate the digital Internet pedophilia.
In recent weeks, anonymous, which has become famous for disrupting online operations of large corporations like Sony, has led to child pornography sites and their visitors on a mission called "Operation Darknet."
The ultimate goal has been the freedom of hosting, a server hosting Anonymous accused of more than 40 child pornography websites, and visitors to these sites to protect their identities using Tor, a software that allows users to communicate anonymously Internet.
In a statement last month, the hackers behind "Operation Darknet" gave a warning to free hosting: "Our demands are simple to remove all the content of child pornography from their servers .. Refusing to hosting services to any web site dealing with child pornography. This statement is not only directed to free accommodation, but everyone on the Internet. No matter who you are, if we find that to be the host, promoting or supporting child pornography, which will become a target. "
When freedom of housing sites were not removed, Anonymous said temporarily lowered last month by an overwhelming your server with Internet traffic, a technique known as "denial of service". The hacker group said it also posted information about 1. 600 visitors from those sites, including those visiting the "city of Lolita," the hackers said one of the largest sites of child pornography.
According to the group of hackers, "99 percent" of Tor users are journalists in Iran and China, the intelligence agencies of government in a secret war with al-Qaida, and members of Anonymous. However, the group said it found some users to access sites like Lolita Tor and the City "Site Hurt," a website dedicated to Anonymous said child rape.
"The only purpose of Operation Darknet was to demonstrate that a service like the" Tor Project 'has been ruined by 1 percent its use of child pornography, "the group said in a Wednesday after sharing site Pastebin of.
In its latest sting, which took place on October 27 and the so called "Paw Print" Anonymous set a trap embedded in the latest version of Tor. The trick to fool visitors to click on a link that contains the malware that tracked their movements online for 24 hours, the group of hackers, he said. It also allowed the hackers to verify IP addresses of visitors to the sites, which launched to the public on Wednesday.
"This is so that the police may have probable cause to arrest these individuals, who are clearly as access to sites containing child pornography TOR," the group said.
Although Anonymous said it has received worldwide praise for their cyberwar against child pornography, some have said that the group should leave this work to the authorities. In a blog last week, Graham Cluley, a security expert at Sophos Labs, who wrote Anonymous could be doing more harm than good by potentially jeopardizing existing research.
"Take-downs of illegal websites and networks of exchange must be made by the authorities, Internet vigilantes," wrote Cluley. "The anonymous hackers may feel they have done the right thing, but actually may have inadvertently more children at risk through their actions."
However, Cluley most readers have felt differently. After asking, "Do you think Anonymous was right by the closure of child pornography web sites?" 1440 readers, or 82 percent, voted "yes."