by

Ciro Santilli (@cirosantilli, 35)

CIA 2010 covert communication websites / Selected screenshots

Figure 1.
2010 Wayback Machine archive of starwarsweb.net
.
The Star Wars one. Clearly branded websites like this are rare, which makes finding them all the much more fun. The Reuters article had two of them (Carson and rastadirect.net), so these were probably manually selected from the full hit dataset, and did not serve specifically as entry points. Most of the websites are quite boring and forgetful as you'd expect.
The subtitle "Beyond The Unknown" may be a reference to the Unknown Regions, an unexplored area of the galaxy in the Star Wars fictional universe.
Figure 2.
Stock photo of a Jedi boy from Getty Images used on starwarsweb.net
. Source.
The photo can still be licensed today as of 2025: www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/little-jedi-royalty-free-image/172984439. We found it by searching for "jedi boy" on gettyimages.co.uk. The photo is credited to a madisonwi, presumably an alias based on the location Madison, Wisconsin. Here's a random website about adoption that uses it: www.adoptionadvocates.net/star-wars-adoption-language/ and where it can be seen without the watermarks.
The droids can be seen e.g. at: www.amazon.co.uk/04-Kampf-Droiden-Superheftig-Jedi/dp/B004TINSW6, a promotional material for a 2008 The Clone Wars television series audio CD and available as transparent PNGs without background in several sources. The Yoda art also seems to come from that show: rpggamer.org/page.php?page=4229. The contractor's children were likely watching it when they had the idea.

Figure 1.
2010 Wayback Machine archive of starwarsweb.net
.
The Star Wars one. Clearly branded websites like this are rare, which makes finding them all the much more fun. The Reuters article had two of them (Carson and rastadirect.net), so these were probably manually selected from the full hit dataset, and did not serve specifically as entry points. Most of the websites are quite boring and forgetful as you'd expect.
The subtitle "Beyond The Unknown" may be a reference to the Unknown Regions, an unexplored area of the galaxy in the Star Wars fictional universe.
Figure 2.
Stock photo of a Jedi boy from Getty Images used on starwarsweb.net
. Source.
The photo can still be licensed today as of 2025: www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/little-jedi-royalty-free-image/172984439. We found it by searching for "jedi boy" on gettyimages.co.uk. The photo is credited to a madisonwi, presumably an alias based on the location Madison, Wisconsin. Here's a random website about adoption that uses it: www.adoptionadvocates.net/star-wars-adoption-language/ and where it can be seen without the watermarks.
The droids can be seen e.g. at: www.amazon.co.uk/04-Kampf-Droiden-Superheftig-Jedi/dp/B004TINSW6, a promotional material for a 2008 The Clone Wars television series audio CD and available as transparent PNGs without background in several sources. The Yoda art also seems to come from that show: rpggamer.org/page.php?page=4229. The contractor's children were likely watching it when they had the idea.

Figure 3.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of iranfootballsource.com
.
The third Iranian football on top of the two other published by Reuters: iraniangoalkicks.com and iraniangoals.com! Admittedly, this one is the most generic and less well designed one. But still. They pushed the theme too far!
The goalkeeper can be seen at: www.pixtastock.com/illustration/7323632.

Figure 4.
2010 Wayback Machine archive of dedrickonline.com
.
The German one.
The CIA has had a few Germany espionage scandals in the 2010s:
2014 www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28243933: a German Intelligence Agency agent was arrested for spying for the CIA
2021 www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-security-agency-spied-merkel-other-top-european-officials-through-danish-2021-05-30/ U.S. spied on Merkel and other Europeans through Danish cables
2020 www.dw.com/en/how-the-uss-cia-and-germanys-bnd-spied-on-world-leaders/a-52358527 it was revealed that Germany and the USA had an agreement to spy on world leaders, notably via compromised Swiss company Crypto AG

Figure 5.
2010 Wayback Machine archive of lesummumdelafinance.com
.
A French one. Because it mentions VTT (Mountain Biking in French), it must focus France.
The arrow graph is very popular can be seen at: www.financialexpress.com/money/top-4-global-market-risks-for-2024-that-may-impact-your-finances-3346284/ and many other sites. Source unknown.

Figure 6.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of attivitaestremi.com
. An Italian one about extreme sports.

Figure 7.
2010 Wayback Machine archive of noticiasmusica.net
.
The Brazilian one.
In 2013 Glen Greenwald claimed that the espionage in Brazil was merely a bridge to other countries of interest such as China and Iran

Figure 8.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of economicnewsbuzz.com
. The Korean one. Love the kawaii style!

Figure 9.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of snapnewsfront.net
.
The Japanese one.
The geisha can be seen at: www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/pretty-geisha-16813348 by Larisa Frelke, assumed accounts: x.com/larra_vit | www.xing.com/profile/Larisa_Frelke

Figure 10.
2010 Wayback Machine archive of philippinenewsonline.net
. The Philippine one one.

Figure 11.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of feedsdemexicoyelmundo.com
. The Mexican one.

Figure 12.
2012 Wayback Machine archive of easytraveleurope.com
.

Figure 13.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of tee-shot.net
. One of the many golf-themed sites. Golf appears to be quite popular over in Langley. It's exactly what you'd expect for a mid-level spook to do in their free time!

Figure 14.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of nouvellesetdesrapports.com
.

Figure 15.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of pangawana.com
.

Figure 16.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of recuerdosdeviajeonline.com
.

Figure 17.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of theworld-news.net
.

Figure 18.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of kessingerssportsnews.com
.

Figure 19.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of negativeaperture.com
.

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