As the exploit did not deliver any malicious code, it is highly unlikely that this was a cybercriminal operation. 'The malicious code made a 'victim machine' which visited one of the compromised hidden sites, and requested a website on the 'visible' web, via HTTP, thereby exposing its real IP address. Rik Ferguson, vice-president of security research at Trend Micro, said he was awaiting further details to be made public as Marques is brought to trial, but that the takedown and related law enforcement 'is great news for the campaign against child exploitation'. Security blogger and former Washington Post reporter Brian Krebs wrote on Sunday that users were identified using a flaw in Firefox 17, on which the Tor browser is based. The New Yorker's Strongbox is one public example.' 'Whistleblowers and journalists use hidden services to exchange information in a secure and anonymous way and publish critical information in a way that is not easily traced back to them. 'Organisations run hidden services to protect dissidents, activists, and protect the anonymity of users trying to find help for suicide prevention, domestic violence, and abuse recovery. 'Anyone can run hidden services, and many do,' said the statement. Tor was quick to distance itself from Freedom Hosting, which has been claimed to be a hub for child abuse material as well as Silk Road – the eBay of hard drugs, saying 'the persons who run Freedom Hosting are in no way affiliated or connected to the Tor Project Inc, the organisation co-ordinating the development of the Tor software and research.'

On Sunday, Tor's official blog posted a detailed statement confirming that a large number of 'hidden service addresses', or servers anonymised using the network, had unexpectedly gone offline.

Whistleblowers, journalists and dissidents too?

Video on tor dark web 1 year old rape