Anonymous' decentralized Wikileaks site may start Nov 5

Hacktivist group Anonymous is planning to launch a decentralized version of the whistleblower site Wikileaks on Nov. 5, a security vendor reported over the weekend.

 

Bitdefender cited a post on the AnonNews website indicating the new project is a “massively distributed and decentralized" Wikipedia-style peer-to-peer setup.

 

"Although little data has been disclosed, it is sure that this webspace will substitute for Wikileaks, a notorious wiki-style portal where key persons have disclosed confidential government information, but which suffered numerous outages and attacks against its server infrastructure," it said.

 

It said the Nov. 5 date may mark the start of the beta-testing stage for the new service initially dubbed "TYLER."

 

The new site will serve as a publishing platform where users from around the world will be able to dump “evidence of illegality [,] corruption and fraud they have gathered,” Bitdefender quoted Anonymous as saying.

 

Bitdefender also noted the decentralized, peer-to-peer distribution model is not new in the cyber-underground.

 

In June 2011, it noted the TDL-4 botnet was switched to a decentralized command and control model to keep law enforcers from shutting it down or tracing its mastermind.

 

With TYLER, Bitdefender said Anonymous expects people worldwide to upload evidence of corruption and fraud from Dec. 12 to 21.

 

"The new platform will likely become a nightmare for anyone trying to take information off the web, since the content will be distributed worldwide and served by users with high levels of anonymity. A peer-to-peer infrastructure also has next to zero operational costs, which means that no payments are necessary, so law enforcement can’t follow the money trail," it added. — TJD, GMA News