Uh oh. Lizard Patrol, the hacking group claiming responsibility for the Christmas attacks on PlayStation and Xbox Live, has announced a new target: Tor, the anonymous internet service. The hacker group appears to be attempting to dominate Tor’s relays to the point where it can comprise anonymity. Tor keeps you anonymous by bouncing your communications around a network of volunteer nodes.
There are a lot of tools online that claim to offer you total privacy. But when dealing with something like Internet anonymity, it’s hard to be sure. One that’s widely agreed to be among the best available is Tor. If used correctly, the Tor browser and network cloaks online activity in anonymity; your online traffic isn’t traceable back to you. It’s less about keeping credit card numbers secure and more about allowing you to browse the web and communicate with others without revealing who and where you are. But Tor was attacked on Friday. The hacker group known as Lizard Squad — or at least a Twitter account claiming to be involved with the collective — said that it was going after Tor.
