Probably they are not really after the data here. This is way to intimidate people and to discourage others from participant in projects which are not appreciated by the US officials.

This kind of publicity is actually beneficial for the officials. More people see what kind of trouble you maybe get into should you start contributing to Tor or other similar projects.

IIRC, wasn't Tor originally either funded by, or some sort of results of a project by, the US Navy?

Yes, and DARPA also contributed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)#Histor...

> More people see what kind of trouble you maybe get into should you start contributing to Tor or other similar projects.

I think it's probably the opposite -- the person in question runs services for 4chan and other "edgy" groups, with servers he runs being used to send violent threats to several schools; if tor, for instance, is only known for piracy, dumb threats, and other unsavory content, it's going to turn people away.

Cock.li also has a large number of legitimate users. You should not disregard the whole service because of a few people missusing it.

They can use a $5 wrench attack. Breaking encryption isn't something that happens in the real world.

Rubber-hose cryptanalysis is standard procedure in United States airports?

What we're reading about here is the mild version of it: they won't beat you, but they'll take all your stuff and you may or may not ever see it again. Most people will comply.

It's not going to work against anybody who has anything really valuable and knows they're a target, but that's not the point.

I don't trust the DHS to recycle responsibly, heh.