iTnews

Carnegie Mellon denies taking money from FBI to hack TOR

By Juha Saarinen on Nov 20, 2015 6:28AM
Carnegie Mellon denies taking money from FBI to hack TOR

Says it was forced to help feds through subpoena.

Carnegie Mellon University has denied it was paid US$1 million by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to break into The Onion Router (TOR) anonymising network.

In a statement, the university said it had received no money from law enforcement, suggesting instead it was compelled to do the work through a subpoena.

"In the course of its work, the university from time to time is served with subpoenas requesting information about research it has performed. The university abides by the rule of law, complies with lawfully issued subpoenas, and receives no funding for its compliance," Carnegie Mellon said.

Last week, Motherboard alleged Carnegie Mellon had helped the FBI to attack and enable surveillance of the underground Silk Road 2.0 marketplace to uncover illegal activities.

Two Carnegie Mellon researchers were supposed to present fndings on how to break TOR last year at the Black Hat security conference.

However, the presentation was pulled from Black Hat by the university, leading to speculation that the work by the researchers was used by the FBI to unmask TOR users.

Roger Dingledine, director of the TOR Project, said he had been told CMU had been paid US$1 million to engineer the attack. Dingledine did not produce any evidence of the payment.

Carnegie Mellon denied it had been paid money, but did not deny it had been working with the FBI on hacking Silk Road 2.0. The FBI investigation led to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht being sentenced to life in prison and forfeiting US$183.9 million in May this year.

The university said its software engineering institute is a federally funded research and development centre, established to focus on IT security and engineering. Funding comes mostly from the US Department of Defence.

Among the tasks of its computer emergency response team (CERT) is to research and identify software and network vulnerabilities.

Got a news tip for our journalists? Share it with us anonymously here.
Copyright © iTnews.com.au . All rights reserved.
Tags:
carnegie mellon universitycmufbisecuritythe onion routertor

Partner Content

Top 5 Benefits of Managed IT Services
Promoted Content Top 5 Benefits of Managed IT Services
5 essential digital transformation ideas
Promoted Content 5 essential digital transformation ideas
Security "mindset shift" needed to protect organisations
Promoted Content Security "mindset shift" needed to protect organisations
Alienated from your own data? You’re not alone
Promoted Content Alienated from your own data? You’re not alone

Sponsored Whitepapers

Planning before the breach: You can’t protect what you can’t see
Planning before the breach: You can’t protect what you can’t see
Beyond FTP: Securing and Managing File Transfers
Beyond FTP: Securing and Managing File Transfers
NextGen Security Operations: A Roadmap for the Future
NextGen Security Operations: A Roadmap for the Future
Video: Watch Juniper talk about its Aston Martin partnership
Video: Watch Juniper talk about its Aston Martin partnership
Don’t pay the ransom: A three-step guide to ransomware protection
Don’t pay the ransom: A three-step guide to ransomware protection

Events

  • iTnews Benchmark Awards 2022 - Finalist Showcase
  • 11th Annual Fraud Prevention Summit 2022
  • IoT Impact Conference
  • Cyber Security for Government Summit
By Juha Saarinen
Nov 20 2015
6:28AM
0 Comments

Related Articles

  • Careful you don't unwittingly hire North Korean IT freelancers
  • Victorians lost $31.9 million to business email compromise in 2021
  • Microsoft Exchange Server bugs top 2021 most-exploited list
  • FBI Cyclops Blink operation disinfected thousands of WatchGuard appliances
Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Email A Friend

Most Read Articles

NSW digital driver's licences 'easily forgeable'

NSW digital driver's licences 'easily forgeable'

NBN Co's 250Mbps and gigabit growth is finally clear

NBN Co's 250Mbps and gigabit growth is finally clear

Kmart Australia re-platforms ecommerce site to AWS

Kmart Australia re-platforms ecommerce site to AWS

NBN Co sizes up six-figure customer exodus a year to fixed wireless

NBN Co sizes up six-figure customer exodus a year to fixed wireless

Digital Nation

Why do DeFi and DAOs matter to business?
Why do DeFi and DAOs matter to business?
COVER STORY: A Year in the Metaverse
COVER STORY: A Year in the Metaverse
CTO Juergen Mueller offers a glimpse into SAP's metaverse play
CTO Juergen Mueller offers a glimpse into SAP's metaverse play
Lendlease launches its own metaverse in Milan
Lendlease launches its own metaverse in Milan
COVER STORY: Data and IoT set digital agriculture on a sustainable future
COVER STORY: Data and IoT set digital agriculture on a sustainable future
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form without prior authorisation.
Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of nextmedia's Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.