Since you refer to the darkweb. The gov has extensivley studied Tor and likely has zero day exploits for the Tor browser and operates a bunch of Tor relays. Given enough time and effort it is very much possible for state actors to identify Tor users.

But unless you are a high profile gov target, Tor protects you well.

> unless you are a high profile gov target, Tor protects you well.

How do you really know that? I understand the theory, but do you have evidence? Have you tested it or read research that has tested it?

I would hesitate to give advice to people when they could get hurt.

> do you have evidence

Well it is of course not possible to 100% prove that Tor protects your privacy.

But the lack of evidence is also evidence. While we have evidence that the gov was able to identify indiviuals using Tor e.g. hosting drug portals, there has been no reports that individuals or companies are able to de-anonymize Tor users.

Tor was created by the US Navy.

And?

It’s intriguing trivia for people of all persuasions.

Government can exploit Firefox, more at 11.

That owner is not so simple - I recall how they alleged in a Wikipedia discussion he(?) used some botnet or proxy network for adding archive.is mirror links to Wiki entries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment...

They can and they will. Filing a subpoena for information is a step in that process.

If the WHOIS records are falsified they'll start looking at payment information.

Who said they can't?

How often do we read articles about authorities attempting to unmask suspected criminals? That the FBI is trying to identify this person seems to be noteworthy to the point that there are many people here commenting on the story, and the fact that they are trying and have not yet seems to indicate that it is not a forgone conclusion.

“[website] got a subpoena” stories are routine.