Malware

• Feb. 12th, 2012
  https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/02/breaches-galore-as-cryptome-hacked-to-infect-visitors-with-malware/

Cryptome founder John Young said in an e-mail that he believes the attackers were able to infect his website with a poisoned PHP file by exploiting a weakness in security or server software provided by Network Solutions, which hosts the Cryptome website.

"It is not yet clear how the attacker got past Network Solutions (our ISP)'s security which has been pretty good," Young wrote in an e-mail to Ars. "A security expert sent a message just minutes ago which included a security scan of Cryptome which indicated the attacker likely knew how to bypass NetSol's security with sophisticated tricks."

• Feb.14th, 2012 - https://cryptome.org/2012/01/cryptome-virus.htm
  Cryptome Infected with Blackhole Toolkit Website 12 (Feb.12th, 2012)

14 February 2012. 16:30GMT: Cryptome 100% restored with 70,000 clean files. The Blackhole malware was removed on 12 February 2012. Apparently, according to the malware and its log file, only users of MS IE 6.0, 7.0 and 8.0 (not 9.0) were targeted, bad enough.

• June 2014 - https://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/25/row_after_cryptome_pulled_offline/
  Service provider NetSol (network solutions) stops routing traffic to site.
  
  It appears that back in 2012 Cryptome was infected by malicious software (Blackhole malware) along with 6 other notable sites including Ticketmaster.com but just days later the website had removed the malware and was back in operation.
  

  Logs of Users Accessing Cryptome Leaked

  • October 2015
    https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/cryptome-ip-leak-john-young-michael-best/
  Cryptome user IP addresses exposed for a 4 month period from 2009-2010
  A USB sent to a Cryptome user contained information that showed that user logs had been exposed.
  When Twitter user Michael Best contacted John Young about the breach, Young responded that it was fabricated. Best subsequently released the data and Young later agreed that the information was accurate and user information had been leaked during the 4 month period.
  The data has been deleted by from both Cryptome and also from Best's own site as well.
  Speaking on the issue, Young stated that:

  The stats have been deleted from the Cryptome archive.
  Probably best to not expose visitors’ data further but then nothing can be fully deleted or hidden. Thanks for discovering and reporting in this.
  

  For the purposes of this post, this is an important statement as it reminds us that nothing we do on the internet can be completely hidden. We leave a digital trail wherever we go.
  

  Doxxing

  doxxing is when someone's personal information is leaked onto the internet by a hacker. usually includes address, phone number, and place of work.

  Urban Dictionary
  
  Cryptome has come under fire for publishing personal information of CIA/MI6 agents on their website. In addition, there have are criticisms that the site helps terrorists by exposing information about sensitive and strategic military locations. One example are aerial photographs of supposed weapons caches at Guantanamo Bay.
  
  Friends of @deepdives have raised valid concerns about the possibility of participants referencing or researching doxed individuals named on the website.
  
  Deep Dives does not condone doxxing and we certainly hope that people use their better judgement when reporting on this type of material.
  

  We strongly discourage participants from actively seeking to dox anyone, for any reason, in association with Deep Dives Research.

  
  

  Nevertheless, at the end of the day you're solely responsible for your own actions. Since the information is already out there we certainly would stress to proceed with caution if for some reason you are considering venturing into this type of research.
  
  

  Cryptome

  "free access to knowledge is fundamental to democratic self-rule"

  
  
  
  
  
  Established in 1996 by John Young, Cryptome is the grand daddy of whistleblower websites. John Young is also a co-founder of Wikileaks before parting ways early in it's development.
  
  Cryptome is operated by New Yorker couple John Young and Deborah Natsios who are both architects. Cryptome hosts a large body of material on their website.
  

  https://cryptome.org/

  
  

  - 110,000 files
  - 46 GB
  - 22 Years - 1996-2018
  - IRS approved Cryptome as 501(c)(3) on 17 September 2015
  
  

  Is Cryptome a Trustworthy Source?

  
  

  There seems to be a healthy dose of smoke an mirrors when it comes to Cryptome. Young and Natsios appear to go out of their way to be as ambiguous as humanly possible often contradicting themselves during interviews.
  
  According to Cryptome's very own the website:
  

  Cryptome welcomes documents for publication that are prohibited by governments worldwide, in particular material on freedom of expression, privacy, cryptology, dual-use technologies, national security, intelligence, and secret governance -- open, secret and classified documents -- but not limited to those.
  
  Cryptome is not trustworthy, and lies. It's a free site, what else could it be but up to no good?
  
  Young: I have done architectural work for Scientologists in NYC. Also for Church of Christ Scientists, Opus Dei, Baptists, Episcopaleans, Atheists, Socialists, Black Panthers, 5 Percenters, Mafia, Muslims, Communists and so forth.
  

  Going back over interviews with Young and Natsios over the last few decades provides us with a collection of eccentric, if not perplexing, quotes. Here are just a few samples:
  

  The Observer interview

  John Young: I don't drink water. Why drink water when there is alcohol?
  
  John Young: Human activity is built on tricking and being tricked. Those who don’t hoodwink are evil people up to no good. I certainly expect to be hoodwinked. I’ll do it, too.
  
  John Young: There are no secrets that shouldn’t be published.
  
  John Young to WikiLeaks: Fuck your cute hustle and disinformation campaign against legitimate dissent. Same old shit, working for the enemy.
  
  John Young: This redaction is some reputation-building shit and WikiLeaks is a coward for adopting this mode. They promised never to do that. And now they are doing that. And why? Because there is money in it and reputation in it, and they want to be part of the players.
  
  John Young: I’m a member of WikiLeaks. I’m an insider of WikiLeaks. I’m a devotee of WikiLeaks. I’m a critic of WikiLeaks. My current shtick is to pretend that I am an opponent of WikiLeaks.
  Observer interview (December 2010)
  

  wikiquote.org
  
  We're certainly not passing judgement on Cryptome, all of the contradictions seem to add another layer of intrigue to the couple and their collection. I think it's about time we let the archive do the talking.
  
  

  The Cryptome Archive Challenge

  
  
  

  • Search the Cryptome archive at cryptome.org
  • Find an overlooked, underrated, underreported or obscure leak/ email/ cable/document/ court filing on a topic that interests you.
  • Build a post around your findings
  • Provide additional sources to make your case and strengthen your position
  • Explain the significance of the leak and why it’s an important piece of news that should be communicated to the public.
    
    

  Rules

  
  

  • Help spread the word, resteem this post
  • Limited to 1 contest entry per account
  • Submissions must be made in a separate post (not in the comments)
  • Submissions must be posted before the deadline (UTC -Tuesday, Sept. 18th 2018, 1.00.00PM)
  • This research challenge is open for two weeks!
  • Use the lead tag “deepdives”
  • Your entry must include references to a document/documents found in the Cryptome archive
  • Provide a link to the specific document or page
  • Make an attempt to keep your post concise and to the point
  • You may leave a link to your entry in the comments below
    
  • Please, do not plagiarize the work of others
    
    Note: Longer entries with multiple links and references does not equate to higher quality. Clear and concise work with a handful of supporting sources is preferable.
    
    

  Winners

  The Winning Post Should

  • Meet the rules criteria
  • Well researched
  • Fully sourced
  • Clearly presented
  • Original Content (not widely reported on in the media)
  • Significance should be clearly articulated
  • 3 Outstanding contributions will be acknowledged
  • Winners will be announced 48hrs after the submission deadline
    
    

  Prizes

  • Liquid STEEM earned by the original contest post will make up the total rewards
  • Example: 100 STEEM – 1st place = 50% // 2nd = 30% // 3rd = 20%
  • Bonus @v4vapid & @ausbitbank upvotes and resteems for exceptional and/or original contributions
  • SP earned from challenge announcements and the winner’s announcements will go to the community account @deepdives
    
    

  Contributions

  
  

  Those that do not ‘win’ should not view their work and efforts as being wasted. All submissions are valuable and will be contributing to building a body of research on the blockchain. We hope that contributors support each other’s efforts wherever possible whether by sharing tips, links or through constructive feedback to their fellow researchers.
  
  Good luck and happy digging!
  

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