CIA 2010 covert communication websites Updated 2025-05-26 +Created 1970-01-01
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This article is about covert agent communication channel websites used by the CIA in many countries from the late 2000s until the early 2010s, when they were uncovered by counter intelligence of the targeted countries circa 2010-2013.
This article uses publicly available information to publicly disclose for the first time a few hundred of what we feel are extremely likely candidate sites of the network. The starting point for this research was the September 2022 Reuters article "America’s Throwaway Spies" which for the first time gave nine example websites, and their analyst from Citizenlabs claims to have found 885 websites in total, but did not publicly disclose them. Starting from only the nine disclosed websites, we were then able to find a few hundred websites that share so many similarities with them, i.e. a common fingerprint, that we believe makes them beyond reasonable doubt part of the same network.
If you enjoy this article, consider dropping some Monero at: 4A1KK4uyLQX7EBgN7uFgUeGt6PPksi91e87xobNq7bT2j4V6LqZHKnkGJTUuCC7TjDNnKpxDd8b9DeNBpSxim8wpSczQvzf. Other sponsorship methods: Section "Sponsor Ciro Santilli's work on OurBigBook.com".
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cirosantilli/media/master/CIA_Star_Wars_website_promo.jpg
Video 1.
How I found a Star Wars website made by the CIA by Ciro Santilli
. Source. Slightly edited VOD of the talk Aratu Week 2024 Talk by Ciro Santilli: My Best Random Projects.
The discovery of these websites by Iranian and Chinese counterintelligence led to the imprisonment and execution of several assets in those countries, and subsequent shutdown of the channel by the CIA when they noticed that things had gone wrong. This is likely a Wikipedia page that talks about the disastrous outcome of the websites being found out: 2010–2012 killing of CIA sources in China, although it contained no mention of websites before Ciro Santilli edited it in.
Of particular interest is that based on their language and content, certain of the websites seem to have targeted other democracies such as Germany, France, Spain and Brazil.
If anyone can find others websites, or has better techniques feel free to contact Ciro Santilli at: Section "How to contact Ciro Santilli". Contributions will be clearly attributed if desired. Some of the techniques used so far have been very heuristic, and that added to the limited amount of data makes it almost certain that some websites have been missed. Broadly speaking, there are two types of contributions that would be possible:
The fact that citizenlabs reported exactly 885 websites being found makes it feel like they might have found find a better fingerprint which we have not managed to find yet. We have not yet had to pay for our data.
Disclaimers:
May this article serve as a tribute to those who spent their days making, using, and uncovering these websites under the shadows.
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CIA 2010 covert communication websites / Backlinks Updated 2025-05-26 +Created 1970-01-01
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Announcements and updates by self:
Pings by self:
Reactions by others:
Notable reactions to the websites themselves
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CIA 2010 covert communication websites / IP range search Updated 2025-05-26 +Created 1970-01-01
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One promising way to find more of those would be with IP searches, since it was stated in the Reuters article that the CIA made the terrible mistake of using several contiguous IP blocks for those website. What a phenomenal OPSEC failure!!!
The easiest way would be if Wayback Machine itself had an IP search function, but we couldn't find one: Search Wayback Machine by IP.
viewdns.info was the first easily accessible website that Ciro Santilli could find that contained such information.
Our current results indicate that the typical IP range is about 30 IPs wide.
E.g. searching: viewdns.info/iphistory and considering only hits from 2011 or earlier we obtain:
Neither of these seem to be in the same ranges, the only common nearby hit amongst these ranges is the exact 68.178.232.100, and doing reverse IP search at viewdns.info/reverseip/?host=68.178.232.100&t=1 states that it has 2.5 million hostnames associated to it, so it must be some kind of Shared web hosting service, see also: superuser.com/questions/577070/is-it-possible-for-many-domain-names-to-share-one-ip-address, which makes search hard.
Ciro then tried some of the other IPs, and soon hit gold.
Initially, Ciro started by doing manual queries to viewdns.info/reversip until his IP was blocked. Then he created an account and used his 250 free queries with the following helper script: cia-2010-covert-communication-websites/viewdns-info.sh. The output of that script can be seen at: github.com/cirosantilli/media/blob/master/cia-2010-covert-communication-websites/viewdns-info.sh.
Ciro then found 2013 DNS Census which contained data highly disjoint form the viewdns-info one!
Summaries of the IP range exploration done so far follows, combined data from all databases above.
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CIA 2010 covert communication websites / List of websites Updated 2025-05-26 +Created 1970-01-01
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This section contains a list of all the websites that we consider belong to the network beyond reasonable doubt.
The list is also available in JSON format at: github.com/cirosantilli/media/blob/master/cia-2010-covert-communication-websites/hits.json. When there are new additions we keep the JSON up to date with the help of the following OurBigBook Markup to JSON conversion helper cia-2010-covert-communication-websites/bigb-to-json:
cia-2010-covert-communication-websites/bigb-to-json cia-2010-covert-communication-websites.bigb
and new results that have been added to the list below can automatically be merged with cia-2010-covert-communication-websites/bigb-to-json-merge:
cia-2010-covert-communication-websites/bigb-to-json-merge > tmp.json
mv tmp.json ../media/cia-2010-covert-communication-websites/hits.json
The main criteria to consider a website as a hit is for it to have a Wayback Machine archive with an archived communication mechanism. JS comms are always quickly visually inspected, other mechanisms we look only at filename patterns for now. We also consider as hits websites that don't have archived comms (often the case for CGI comms but which have two ore more of the following supporting evidence:
  • shares an IP range with other website
  • a Wayback Machine archive or cqcounter screenshot strongly confirming visual style
  • an archived broken link to the possible comms
Commented edge cases that didn't make the cut can be found mostly under Section "IP range search" and Section "2013 DNS Census virtual host cleanup heuristic keyword searches".
ipdomainWayback Machinelanguagecountry mentionscommsthemenotes
?24hoursprimenews.com2009EnglishJARnewssplit images[ref][ref]
?cyhiraeth-intlnews.com2011EnglishJARnewsen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyhyraeth "The cyhyraeth is a ghostly spirit in Welsh mythology, a disembodied moaning voice that sounds before a person's death." WTF! So the serious looking black actress lady is meant to represent the voice of death?. Split images[ref][ref]. rss-items. Here she is on Getty Images: www.istockphoto.com/photo/natural-style-for-the-individual-gm171403107-26684547 by Urilux
?dailynewsandsports.com2013EnglishJARsports
?differentviewtoday.com2011EnglishJARnewssplit images, JAR unarchived
?euronewsonline.net2010EnglishJARnewsa.newslink. The image of the woman reading newspapers reverse searches to www.istockphoto.com/photo/news-gm101581053-7410445, iStock from Getty images. Copyright 2007.
?europeannewsflash.com2011EnglishJARnewsSplit images[ref][ref]
?farsi-newsandweather.com2011FarsiIranJARnewssplit images[ref][ref]
?financecentraltoday.com2011EnglishJARnews, financeunusual td > p > strong article list. Copyright 2008.
?firstnewssource.com2011FarsiIranJARnewsCopyright 2009. Split images. rss-items.
?global-view-news.com2011EnglishJARnewssplit images[ref][ref]
?globaltourist.net2010EnglishJARtravelsplit images[ref][ref], rss-items. speed.jar "speed test" JAR pattern. The split headers have a weird style however <li><a id="banner1">&nbsp;</a></li> and then filled with a CSS background image. This is a weird one, there is some chance that it is a legit website in the CIA style. Notably, at least as of August 2012 it had become a wordpress site marked "Just another Media Network Online Sites site", which is a bit early. Likely they just watch for good domain drops and take over quickly. The last in-style archive is from March 2012, which is first followed by a Godaddy parked domain on April 2012. This domain also has a 2003 archive which is almost certainly from the same authors as it also has a link to globaltourist.net/speed.jar and the upper left image is the same. Its history does however remember us of alljohnny.com, which had its 2004 version and then a 2010 rehash. Both of these versions contain ImageReady Slices mentions in them, characteristic of the split header images fingerprint.
?hassannews.net2010ArabicSWFnewsCSS or archive quite broken. Split images[ref][ref]. rss-items. cqcounter.com/whois/www/hassannews.net.html not found. The arabic title is "حسن الأخبار" (good news) and the domain seems to be a transliteration of it.
?health-men-today.com2011ArabicJARnewsrss-items. Encoding broken. cqcounter.com/whois/www/health-men-today.com.html also broken. Same registrar as medicatechinfo.com: Jason Noll IP and DNS metadata. Closely related stock model image comically used as the image of the Gay Arab Central community on the. Copyright 2008.
?inkfreenews.com2011EnglishJARnewssplit images, JAR unarchived
?internationalnewsworthiness.com2011EnglishJARnewsRSS, split images, JAR unarchived
?intlnewsdaily.com2011EnglishJARnewsrss-items
?intoworldnews.com2011EnglishJARnewssplit images. Links to news websites from frontpage, not news themselves.
?iranfootballsource.com2011FarsiJSsports, football
?iraniangoalkicks.com2008FarsiIranJARsports, football
?iraniangoals.com2009FarsiIranJSsports, football
?latinamericanewsbeat.com2010EnglishJARnewssplit images. Also has an archived "register" link at the bottom: web.archive.org/web/20101114045007/http://latinamericanewsbeat.com/register.html but it reads "We are currently unable to register new members while we upgrade our site. Please check back soon."
?magneticfieldnews.com2010EnglishJARnewsrss, split images
?middle-east-newstoday.com2010FarsiJSnewsrss, split images
?mideasttoday.net2010FarsiJARnewsa.rss-item, split images, copyright 2008
?mydailynewsreport.com2011PashtoAfghanistanJARnewsrss, split images
?mynepalnews.com2011EnglishJARnewsSplit images with <li><a id="banner1">&nbsp;</a></li> style. Nice swimsuit ad. The bottom bar "Copyright © 2008 My Nepal News, LLC. All Rights Reserved." is also kind of typical, see e.g. web.archive.org/web/20110208042144/http://helpinghandssite.com/, both have <!-- begin #footer --> and <div id="footer">. ingenuitytrendz.com is another closely related template. One ridiculously mind blowing thing about this website is the presence of Webalizer reports under /stats e.g.: /stats. This fact is so mind blowing that it makes us question if this an actual hit or just style coincidence. Particularly ridiculous is the presence of inurl:cgi server_software at web.archive.org/web/20110204095809/http://mynepalnews.com:80/stats/usage_200805.html which is almost certainly a Google dork search, which we know is something that the Iranians used to find the websites. Also of interest are link backs from at web.archive.org/web/20110204095815/http://mynepalnews.com:80/stats/usage_200806.html from whois.domaintools.com/mynepalnews.com and www.whois.sc/mynepalnews.com That search hits under /cgi-bin/check.cgi. That page is itself os some interest containing SERVER_ADMIN = mmadev@mmadev.com. web.archive.org/web/20110204095815/http://mynepalnews.com:80/stats/usage_200806.html also reveals several request IPs. Even if this is not a CIA website, there's a chance we could find the IP of the Iranian counter-intelligence in these IP list, it's mind blowing. And if legit, we could also find IPs used by CIA handlers to see if the website is working. Lot's of referrer spam too as well.
?newdaynewsonline.com2011EnglishJARnews
?networkconnectionsite.com2011EnglishJSnewsrss, split images
?news-latina.com2011EnglishJARnewscopyright 2007
?newsdelivered.net2010EnglishJARnewsrss, split images, JAR unarchived
?newsincirculation.com2011ArabicJARnews
?newsworldsite.com2011PashtoAfghanistanJARnews
?opensourcenewstoday.com2010ArabicJARnewscopyright 2010
?outlooknewscast.com2011FarsiIranJARnews
?pars-technews.com2011FarsiIranJARnews"pars" presumably means "Parsi" or something of the same root
?pondernews.net2011ArabicJARnewsrss. Some archived pages use unusual paths such as /lldwg/qlaqft.php?fc=282910.
?profile-news.com2011EnglishJARnewsa.newslink
?purlicue-news.com2011EnglishJARnewssplit images, rss
?segomonews.com2011EnglishJARnewsrss, split images. TODO meaning of "segomo"? The main Wikipedia hit is a Gallo-Roman God, but the website is focused on Asia?
?shadesofnews.com2011ArabicJARnewsa.rss-item, split images. Also has a second from 2013 JAR at: web.archive.org/web/20131229092754/http://shadesofnews.com/sptgms213.jar and a raw .class crime.Business.class which replies with "The requested document was not found on this server". Copyright 2009.
?sportsnewsfinder.com2011ChineseChinaJARnews体育新闻发现者 (sports news finder)
?techwatchtoday.com2011EnglishJARtech, newsMarked copyright 2008. Split images[ref][ref]. Later legit.
?terrain-news.com2011PashtoAfghanistanJARnews
?todayoutdoors.com2011EnglishJARsports, travelsplit images[ref][ref]
?todaysnewsreports.net2010ArabicJARnews
?weblognewsinfo.com2011EnglishJARnewsSplit images, rss-items.
?wiredworldnews.com2011EnglishJARtechsplit images, copyright 2008
62.22.60.40travel-passage.com2011English, ChinesetravelNo Wayback Machine archives of toplevel, only of the 航空 Flight Reservations subpage: web.archive.org/web/20091118013330/http://travel-passage.com:80/service-flights.htm. The link to it can be seen from the cqcounter screenshot. The page contain an unusual mixture of Chinese and English. The Chinese title is 游行连接 (lit. travel connection)
62.22.60.42newsupdatesite.com2011EnglishJARnewssplit images, rss-item. JAR unarchived.
62.22.60.46flyingtimeline.com2011EnglishJARairplanes
62.22.60.48currentcommunique.com2011EnglishEgyptSWFnews
62.22.60.49telecom-headlines.com2011EnglishJStech
62.22.60.52collectedmedias.com2011FrenchJSnewsMarked copyright 2008
62.22.60.54romulusactualites.com2011FrenchFrancenews
62.22.60.55thefilmcentre.com2011EnglishJSfilms
62.22.60.56traveltimenews.com2011EnglishJSnews
62.22.61.193awfaoi.org2010ArabicIraqJARnot-for-profitThis was the first clear .org hit with comms we've been able to find. Title translation: "Arab women to help Iraq", so perhaps "awfaoi" stands for "Arab Women For A O? Iraq". This fits well into the .org theme. Marked copyright 2008.
62.22.61.197rc5sports.com2011EnglishJARsports
62.22.61.198inside-vc.com2011EnglishCGIfinance"vc" is a standard abbreviation for venture capital. Previously legit circa 2004: web.archive.org/web/20030306171752/http://www.inside-vc.com/
62.22.61.200zerosandonesnews.com2011EnglishSWFnewsrss, split images
62.22.61.202bailsnboots.com2011EnglishSWFsports, cricket"Bail" is one part of the thing your're supposed to hit with th eball in cricket.[ref]
62.22.61.203the-cricketer-online.com2011EnglishJARsports, cricketmarked copyright 2009.
62.22.61.204hollywoodscreen.net2011EnglishJSfilms
62.22.61.206worldnewsnetworking.com2011ArabicJARnews
62.22.61.212nuestrasfinanzas.com2011SpanishJARfinance
62.22.61.213sandstormnews.com2011ArabicSWFnewsrss, split images
62.22.61.215the-tech-mind.com2011Englishtechnology, newsWelcome to the US Petabox on Wayback Machine.
62.22.61.217court-masters.com2011EnglishJARsports, tennis
62.22.61.219allworldstatistics.com2011EnglishJSstatistics
62.22.61.220newsjaka.com2011EnglishIndonesiaJSnews"jaka" presumably means Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. There is a Indonesia section on the left sidebar. But the news are quite global however. Photo source: www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-boat-on-bratan-lake-front-5860873 depicts "Bratan lake in front of the Pura Ulu Danau temple" by Ine Beerten. Pinged her at: portfolio.inebeerten.be/#Contact
63.131.229.2fightskillsresource.com2011EnglishJSsports, martial artsGetty Images for the karate dude: www.istockphoto.com/photo/take-off-gm98702037-1196239
63.131.229.4unitedterritorynews.com2011EnglishJSnews
63.131.229.9show-dustry.com2011EnglishCGIentertainmentThe website name is a neologism with "show" and "industry".
63.131.229.11mythriftytrip.com2010EnglishCGItravelthrifty means: "using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully"
63.131.229.12cyberreportagenews.com2011EnglishJARnewsrdns source
63.131.229.13sunrise-news.com2011EnglishJARnewsrdns source
63.131.229.15cricketnewsforindia.com2013EnglishIndiaJSsports, cricketarchive quite broken, lots of missing files, including the JS. cqcounter.com/whois/www/cricketnewsforindia.com.html in style.
63.131.229.16nutricion-saludable.net2010SpanishCGIhealthAlso under nutricion-saludable.info. There is weirdly a single page archived from 2008: epages/nutricion-saludable_net.sf with this weird .sf extension. It is HTML however. It says: "Lo sentimos, la tienda está actualmente cerrada por razones técnicas. Pronto estaremos a tu disposición. Si lo deseas puedes ponerte en contacto con nosotros en el tel: 651 80 76 19". This appears to be a spanish phone number: without country code, which would be +34[ref].
63.131.229.20fixashion.net2011EnglishJSfashion
63.130.160.50theglobalheadlines.com2010EnglishJARnewsthis has several archives from 2013, marked as Live Web Proxy Crawls and explained "mostly by the Save Page Now", so presumably by counter intelligence or amateurs
63.130.160.51hai-pow.com2011EnglishJARsports, martial arts
63.130.160.53echessnews.com2011ChineseChinaJARsports, boxingChinese title: 我的象棋世界 (My Chinese Chess world). rdns source. Split images[ref][ref]
63.130.160.60boxingstop.net2010PolishPolandJARsports, boxing
63.130.160.61bookmarksthis.com2010EnglishJARbooksA book review website. Shows a stock model reading a book and their signature black print over decorations on top
63.130.160.62azerinews.org2009AzerbaijaniAzerbaijanJARnewsrdns source. Split images, rss-items. "Azeri" is a word that denotes the people from the region of Azerbaijan.
64.16.204.53bosniakbusinessnews.com2011EnglishBosniabusinessA Bosniak is someone from an ethnicity from Bosnia
64.16.204.54affairesdumonde.com2011Frenchnews
64.16.204.55holein1news.com2010EnglishJARsports, golf
64.16.204.58tech-topix.com2013EnglishCGItechArchive quite broken, but link to CGI comms. Copyright 2010. cqcounter.com/whois/www/tech-topix.com.html not found.
65.61.127.161european-footballer.com2011CroatianSports, footballBroken Wayback Machine archive: web.archive.org/web/20110319111233/http://european-footballer.com/. The title was "Europski Nogometaš" (European football player). The CQ Counter screenshot clarifies that the surviving Wayback Machine archive contains only a sidebar. It is unlikely to contain comms therefore.
65.61.127.163capture-nature.com2011EnglishJARphotographyReuters example. Since became legitimate, Ciro contacted the owner, and he was unaware of the domain's history.
65.61.127.166globalnewsbulletin.com2013EnglishTunisia, Afghanistan, Iran, EgyptCGInewsPHP pages, images /images/index_01.jpg
65.61.127.167internationalwhiskylounge.com2011EnglishCGInewsNo Wayback Machine archives. There's a "Log-in" tab so CGI comms likely. Stock image used of young woman with a glass of Whisky: www.istockphoto.com/photo/the-girl-with-glass-of-whisky-gm94997193-11328059 by alarich
65.61.127.168the-golden-rule.info2011Englishfinance, newsWebsite error archived at: web.archive.org/web/20131011012026/http://the-golden-rule.info/
65.61.127.169crossovernews.net2011EnglishJARsports, basketball
65.61.127.170newsidori.com2011EnglishnewsVery broken 2013 archive: web.archive.org/web/20130714134510/http://www.newsidori.com/. "Idori" sounds Japanese, but the meaning is unclear even after the cqcounter screenshot! It's just random US news, nothing to do with Japan.
65.61.127.171nrgconsultingandnews.com2011EnglishnewsIt is in English but contains several mentions of Brazil. Entitled: "Energy Consulting News Forum"
65.61.127.171premierstriker.com2011Englishsports, footballNo Wayback Machine archives from the time, and has been since parked by something apparently as of 2022 onwards. Entiled "Premier striker"
65.61.127.174dedrickonline.com2010GermanJSsports
65.61.127.175altworldnews.com2013EnglishCGInewsEpoch times link, PHP pages
65.61.127.176american-historyonline.com2011EnglishhistoryNo Wayback Machine archives
65.61.127.177material-science.org2009Englishscience, material scienceNo comms found, and slightly innovative design. Comms could be CGI under web.archive.org/web/20091213032538/http://material-science.org/services.htm or web.archive.org/web/20091213032538/http://material-science.org/equipment.htm. But marking it as hit because .rss-item + IP range.
65.61.127.178tee-shot.net2011EnglishSWFsports, golfnice domain name
65.61.127.180screencentral.inf2011EnglishAfghanistancinemaRather innovative design, but hit likely. Welcome to US Petabox: web.archive.org/web/20130713224951/http://screencentral.info/.
65.61.127.181worldnewsandtravel.com2011EnglishnewsNo Wayback Machine archives
65.61.127.182pangawana.com2011ArabicAfghanistanJSnews
65.61.127.183cutabovenews.com2011EnglishAlgeria, various othersJSsports, basketballThe globe on Shutterstock: www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/creative-drawing-charts-graphs-business-success-211092952 by rzoze19. Pinged him at: x.com/cirosantilli/status/1899748328549609700
65.61.127.184worldwildlifeadventure.com2011EnglishJARtravel
65.61.127.186explorealtmeds.com2013EnglishJARhealththe JAR was not archived, but there's a link to it
65.218.91.9rolling-in-rapids.com2010Englishsports, kayakFound by searching for "Glaze, L.", registrar of alljohnny.com, on tools.whoisxmlapi.com/reverse-whois-search
65.218.91.9welcometonyc.net2010EnglishCGItravel
65.218.91.17alljohnny.com2004EnglishCGIfansitemega early hit from 2004 to 2005. Then a gap, then they redid the domain: 2011. Same authors given content similarities e.g. "Submit Your Favorite Carson Moment". Reusing the domain after all these years, the lack of OPSEC is just mind blowing! New website marked Copyright 2003. Part of Oleg Shakirov's findings. One of the Reuters websites. Search documented at: Searching for Carson. Carson is also featured, although less proeminently, at webofcheer.com. There must have been some massive Johnny Carson fan among the contractors a that time!
66.45.179.192thegraceofislam.com2011EnglishCGIreligion, Islam
66.45.179.193arabicnewsunfiltered.com2011ArabicJARnewsrdns source
66.45.179.194raulsonsglobalnews.com2011EnglishJARnews
66.45.179.195aryannews.net2010PashtoAfghanistanJARnewsrdns source. Heil.
66.45.179.199attivitaestremi.com2011ItalianCGIsports
66.45.179.200foodwineandsuch.com2011EnglishfoodNo Wayback Machine archives. Entitled "Food, wine & such".
66.45.179.201hitthepavementnow.com2011EnglishCGIsports, running
66.45.179.202newimages.org2011TurkishTurkeyJARphotographyJAR unarchived
66.45.179.203noticiascontinental.com2011SpanishSouth AmericaCGInews
66.45.179.205noticiasporjanua.com2011SpanishJARnews
66.45.179.206podisticamondiale.com2010ItalianItalyJARsports, runningmarked copyright 2010
66.45.179.207reflectordenoticias.com2011SpanishJARnews
66.45.179.208havenofgamerz.com2011EnglishCGIgamingmarked copyright 2009
66.45.179.209vejaaeuropa.com2011Brazilian PortugueseBraziltravelweb.archive.org/web/20130810131440/http://www.vejaaeuropa.com/: Welcome to the US Petabox. cqcounter.com/whois/www/vejaaeuropa.com.html confirms Brazilian Portuguese. Entitled "Veja a Europa" (Visit Europe, lit. See Europe)
66.45.179.210sa-michigan.com2011EnglishJARsports"sa" is an abbreviation for the site title "Sports Alive"
66.45.179.211absolutebearing.net2010EnglishCGItravel, sports, boats
66.45.179.213myportaltonews.com2011EnglishJSnews
66.45.179.214investmentintellect.com2011EnglishJARfinance
66.45.179.215nigeriastar.net2011EnglishNigeriaJARnewsContains link to unarchived JAR
66.104.169.163doctorsoncallsite.com2011EnglishJARhealth
66.104.169.164lightandshadowonline.com2010EnglishJARphotography
66.104.169.168plugged-into-news.net2010EnglishJARnewsJAR uses .zip extension! First instance, wow
66.104.169.169worldsportsite.com2011ArabicsportsComms not found. rss-items, split images. Has some apparently unrelated archives from 2008: web.archive.org/web/20080617213238/http://www.worldsportsite.com:80/
66.104.169.171golf-on-holiday.com2011EnglishJARsports, golf
66.104.169.172perspectiva-noticias.com2011SpanishJSnews
66.104.169.175aquaswimming.com2009EnglishJARsports, swimming
66.104.169.177dojo-temple.com2011EnglishCGIsports, martial artsTODO meaning of "kama"? Kama lol?
66.104.169.179neighbour-news.com2010EnglishGermanyJARnewsMentions of Goethe-Institut and Germany all over. JAR unarchived
66.104.169.180medicatechinfo.com2010EnglishJShealth
66.104.169.181brickmanfinancialnews.com2011EnglishJSfinance
66.104.169.182casanewsnow.com2011EnglishJARJAR unarchived. TODO why "casa"? Doesn't seem to have any link to Spanish or Portuguese.
66.104.169.184bcenews.com2011AlbanianAlbaniaJARnewsUsed to be a legit Korean website circa 2004: web.archive.org/web/20030401214602/http://www.bcenews.com/
66.104.173.163runakonews.com2011EnglishAfricaCGInews"Runako" is an African given name.
66.104.173.164shoppingadventure.net2010EnglishJARtravel, shoppingJAR unarchived
66.104.173.165entertaining-ly.com2011EnglishJARentertainment
66.104.173.166zubeenews.com2011EnglishJSnews"Zubee" is a Muslim name: muslimnames.com/zubee.
66.104.173.169smart-financeology.com2011EnglishJARfinance
66.104.173.173worldfeedstoday.com2011EnglishnewsNo main page Wayback Machine archives. Subpage archive: 2011 has a.newslink. Slightly innovative style with multi-language tabs. There is some potential for error, but let's consider it. world-newsfeeds.com also known on same IP but with no known archives.
66.104.173.175media-coverage-now.com2010EnglishSWFnews
66.104.173.176jbc-online-news.com2011EnglishJSnewsTODO meaning of "JCB". JS unarchived.
66.104.173.177webscooper.com2011EnglishJARnews
66.104.173.178dk-dcinvestment.com2010EnglishJARfinanceTODO meaning of "dk;dc".
66.104.173.179newsforthetech.com2011Englishnews, techWelcome to the US Petabox.
66.104.173.180stara-turistick.com2011CroatianJARtourism
66.104.173.181playbackpolitics.com2011EnglishJSnews
66.104.173.182snapnewsfront.net2011EnglishJapanJSnews
66.104.173.183ingenuitytrendz.com2011EnglishJARtech
66.104.173.184armashoy.com2011SpanishSpainSWFgunsmeaning: "Weapons Today". In First World countries the CIA felt it would be safe to touch edgier subjects like guns
66.104.173.185baocontact.comEnglishJARHTML archive almost empty, but JAR was archived. One wonders what "bao" refers to, could be Chinese, but the small snippet of visible website is in English.
66.104.173.186myworldlymusic.com2011EnglishPakistanJARmusicJAR unarchived
66.104.173.189hitpoint-gaming.com2011EnglishJSgamingMarked copyright 2010
66.104.175.34itwebtoday.com2011EnglishJStech
66.104.175.35drglobalnews.com2011EnglishJARnewsTODO meaning of "dr"? rdns source.
66.104.175.36adilnews.net2010ArabicSWFnewsAdil is an Arabic masculine name
66.104.175.40beyondnetworknews.com2011EnglishEgyptCGInews
66.104.175.41grubbersworldrugbynews.com2011EnglishJSsports, rugby
66.104.175.42news-and-sports.com2011EnglishJARnewsrss, split images
66.104.175.44yourtripfinder.net2010Englishtravelcomms not found, CGI from unarchived subpage assumed
66.104.175.45rollinsnetwork.com2011EnglishCGItechArchive quite broken. CGI linked to but not archived. Seems to have been legit circa 2006. cqcounter.com/whois/www/rollinsnetwork.com.html empty from 2025.
66.104.175.46infosharenews.com2011EnglishJARnews
66.104.175.47southasiaheadlines.com2011EnglishBangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka TibetJARtravelJAR linked to but missing from archive
66.104.175.48worlddispatch.net2010ArabicSWFnews
66.104.175.49webworldsports.com2011ArabicJARsports
66.104.175.50fly-bybirdies.com2011EnglishJARtravel
66.104.175.51businessexchangetoday.com2011EnglishCGInews, financePHP pages
66.104.175.52mensajeradenoticias.com2011SpanishCGInewsCGI unarchived
66.104.175.53info-ology.net2010EnglishJARnews
66.104.175.54marketflows.net2011EnglishJARfinance
66.104.175.57metanewsdaily.com2010EnglishCGInews
66.175.106.134paddlescoop.com2011EnglishBangladesh, Pakistan, India, EnglandJARsports, cricket
66.175.106.137kessingerssportsnews.com2010EnglishJSsports
66.175.106.138factorforcenews.com2009EnglishJARnews
66.175.106.142kanata-news.com2010EnglishCanadaJSnews"Kanata" is a place in Ottawa, Canada. The name is likely of Indigenous origin.
66.175.106.143thecricketfan.com2011EnglishJARnews
66.175.106.146inews-today.com2011EnglishEgyptJARnewsMarked copyright 2008
66.175.106.147starwarsweb.net2010EnglishSWFfansitewell, not even the CIA can escape Star Wars. TODO identify boy.
66.175.106.148activegaminginfo.com2011ChineseJARgamingthe website is entitled "活跃游戏" which means "Lively games", or "active games" as in the domain name itself. The center character seems to be from one of the infinitely many Romance of the Three Kingdoms games that must exist: www.gamersky.com/news/200711/82611.shtml
66.175.106.149feedsdemexicoyelmundo.com2011SpanishMexicoJSnews
66.175.106.150noticiasmusica.net2010Brazilian PortugueseBrazilJARmusic
66.175.106.155atomworldnews.com2011EnglishEgyptJARnews
66.175.106.158nouvellesetdesrapports.com2011FrenchEgypt, TunisiaJARnews
66.237.236.227newsandmusicminute.com2011PashtoJSmusic
66.237.236.229pearls-playlist.com2011EnglishSWFmusic
66.237.236.230beyondthefringe.info2012EnglishJARrugsJAR unarchived
66.237.236.231primetimemovies.net2009EnglishJSfilmsJS unarchived
66.237.236.235persephneintl.com2013JARarchive very broken, JAR unarchived. Full title: "Persephne International", reference to Greek Goddess of "spring, the dead, the underworld, grain, and nature". cqcounter.com/whois/www/persephneintl.com.html shows us how it would have looked like.
66.237.236.236directoalgrano.net2010SpanishJARnews
66.237.236.240actualizaciondebeisbol.com2011SpanishJSsports, baseball
66.237.236.243mygadgettech.com2009ChineseCGItechArchive very broken. cqcounter.com/whois/www/mygadgettech.com.html shows it better. The Chinese title was "我的灵巧技术".
66.237.236.247comunidaddenoticias.com2011SpanishEcuadorJARnews
66.237.236.249sumerjaseahora.com2011SpanishCGIsports, SCUBA divingsubmerge yourself now
69.84.156.69al-ashak-news-me.com2011ArabicJSnews
69.84.156.70theventurenews.info2011Englishnews
69.84.156.71worldfinancetoday.net2011EnglishJARfinance
69.84.156.72autonewsarabia.com2011ArabicJARcars
69.84.156.74blue-moon-news.com2011ArabicJSnews
69.84.156.76tnc-urdu.com2011UrduJARtechTODO meaning of "tnc"?
69.84.156.80noticiasdenuestromundo.com2011SpanishnewsSouth America focus
69.84.156.82arabicnewsonline.com2011ArabicJARnewsrdns source. Some very similar domains: modernarabicnews.com, arabicnewsource.com. Needed more creativity here! Later legit.
69.84.156.83unganadormundial.com2010SpanishCGIsports, fitness
69.84.156.84focusonbokeh.com2011EnglishphotographyNo Wayback Machine archives or broken. The design is a bit innovative, but fuck it I'll mark it as a hit. Only a "Sony" logo remains: web.archive.org/web/20110207222330/http://focusonbokeh.com/images/logo_014.jpg A photography website "Focus on Bokeh" as suggested by the domain name. reimaginepeacefulparenting.com/make-kids-happy/ contains the cute stock Asian girl. "Login" link visible suggesting CGI comms.
69.84.156.85classic-rocktopia.com2011Englishmusic, rockStock image e.g. at: www.dissection.nu/frames.htm
69.84.156.87i7diver.com2011Englishdiving
69.84.156.88diariodeelmundo.com2011SpanishJARnews
69.84.156.89todaysarabnews.com2011ArabicJARnewsJAR unarchived.
69.84.156.90stickshiftnews.com2011EnglishJARcars
69.84.156.91theinternationalgoal.com2011SpanishCGInews
72.34.53.174electronictechreviews.com2011EnglishJARtechJAR unarchived. Split images, rss-items. Present at "Mass Deface III" pastebin.
72.34.53.174just-the-news.com2011ArabicJARnewscopyright 2009. Present at "Mass Deface III" pastebin. JAR unarchived.
72.34.53.174kickitnews.com2010ArabicJARsports, footballcopyright 2009. Present at "Mass Deface III" pastebin.
72.34.53.174moyistochnikonlaynovykhigr.com2011RussianRussiafansitecopy of myonlinegamesource.com, but on a Russian transliterated domain rather than the English one, very interesting
72.34.53.174myhealthlibrary.net2011EnglishJARhealthpresent at: "Mass Deface III" pastebin.
72.34.53.174myonlinegamesource.com2011RussianRussiagamingCan't find comms, but stylistically perfect. rss-items. Present at "Mass Deface III" pastebin.
72.34.53.174mytravelopian.com2011EnglishJARtravel
72.34.53.174recursosdenoticias.com2011SpanishJARnewsSplit images, rss-items. Present at "Mass Deface III" pastebin.
72.34.53.174sayaara-auto.com2010ArabicJARcars
72.34.53.174technologytodayandtomorrow.com2011EnglishJARtechrss-items. Present at "Mass Deface III" pastebin.
72.34.53.174todaysnewsandweather-ru.com2011RussianRussiaJSnewsJavaScript with SHAs
74.116.72.227dayenews.com2011EnglishJARnewsrdns source. Previously 69.74.45.67.
74.116.72.229guide-daventure.com2011FrenchFranceJARtravel
74.116.72.231bleachersfootballnews.com2011EnglishJARsports, footballTODO meaning of "Bleacher"? Possible reference to Bleacher Report.
74.116.72.232indirectfreekick.com2011EnglishJARsports, football
74.116.72.233wwiichronicles.net2011EnglishCGIhistory
74.116.72.234petroleumagenews.com2011EnglishJARoil
74.116.72.235the-open-book-online.com2011EnglishJSliterature
74.116.72.236techtopnews.com2011EnglishJARtech
74.116.72.238pohandakhbar.com2011ArabicnewsArabic titlel: "خبرونه پوهاند" translates as "News Professor", and the domain name seems to be a transliteration of that.
74.116.72.239crickettoday.info2013PashtoJSsports, cricketJS unarchived. The requested URL /cricket.js was not found on this server
74.116.72.240zafernews.com2011ArabicJARnews
74.116.72.241itechnewstoday.com2011Englishnews"IT Tech News Today". Broken/GoDaddy takeover.
74.116.72.242gdgtsource.com2011EnglishCGItechPresumably "gdgt" stands for "GaDGeT", which is mentioned on subtitle
74.116.72.243waronfilmonline.com2011Englishcinema
74.116.72.244arborstribune.org2011newsTODO what is "Arbors"?
74.116.72.246vuvuzelanews.com2011EnglishJARsports, footballVuvuzela is this plastic horn, popular in football stadiums. The term is of African origin. Later legit. rdns source. Previously at 69.74.45.86.
74.116.72.247ballbatstumpsandbails.com2011EnglishJARsports, cricket
74.116.72.248kioni-sailing.com2011sports, sailing
74.116.72.249round-trip-travel.com2010EnglishCGItravelthis got archived a lot of times, though all seem to be Alexa crawls.
74.116.72.250arabicnewsource.com2011ArabicCGInews
74.254.12.163half-court.net2010EnglishPhilippinesJARsports, basketball
74.254.12.164dailywellnessnews.com2011EnglishJARhealthrdns source. split images[ref][ref].
74.254.12.165dylandon.net2011ChineseSWFmusic"Dylan" presumably a reference to Bob Dylan? "Don" unclear. Maybe Don McLean? But it is all a bit weird given that the actual contents of the website don't seem to have anything to do with music, it appears to just be a news aggregator.
74.254.12.166afghanpoetry.net2010EnglishAfghanistanSWFpoetryAlso at 63.131.229.10[ref] in a range.
74.254.12.168non-stop-news.net2010FarsiJARnews
74.254.12.169soldiersofsouthasia.com2011EnglishJARhistory
74.254.12.170 greek-news.info2011EnglishGreecenewsWelcome to the US Petabox.
74.254.12.171autism-news.org2011EnglishSWFhealthcopyright 2007. Split images. rss-items. Previously at 69.74.45.67.
74.254.12.173thefreshnews.com2009EnglishSWFnewsrss, split images
74.254.12.176pakcricketgrd.com2011UrduJARsports, cricketTODO meaning of "grd"
74.254.12.177networkofnews.com2011EnglishJARnewsrdns source. Later legit.
74.254.12.179wineconnaisseur.net2010EnglishJSwine
74.254.12.187efiinvestment.com2011Englishfinance, newsTODO meaning of EFI
74.254.12.180helpinghandssite.com2011EnglishJARnews
74.254.12.188first-tee-golf.com2011EnglishJARsports, golf
74.254.12.189fabu-foto.com2011EnglishCGIphotography
74.254.12.190viptravelabroad.com2011EnglishJStravel
174.133.70.18dryterrainnews.com2011EnglishAfricaJARnewsrss
174.133.70.18thefootball-life.com2011EnglishJSsports, footballrss, split images
174.133.70.18thenewsofpakistan.com2009EnglishPakistanJARnewsa.rss-item, split images
174.133.70.18totallynewsnow.com2011EnglishJSnewsrss
199.19.110.7classymotors.net2011EnglishJScarsrss-items
199.19.110.7russiansportsworld.com2010EnglishJSsportsSplit headers. Unarchived middle frame, visible at: dawhois.com/www/russiansportsworld.com.html. Russian title: "Русский мир спорта" (Russian world of sport)
199.19.110.7theworldnewsfeeds.com2011EnglishJARnewsrss-items. Split images[ref][ref]
199.19.110.7urbestbod.com2011ChineseCGIsports, fitnessNo Wayback Machine archives. Broken Chinese site as usual for their archives. The headline: "你最好的身体.最好的健康和健身信息" translates as "Your Best Body The best health and fitness information", so we understand that the domain name is a super broken "your best body". Visible is a link to "论坛" (forum), so likely CGI
199.85.212.105mide-news.com2010EnglishCGInews"MIDE" stands for "Middle East". Comms not archived, presumably CGI comms variant.
199.85.212.111newsandsportscentral.com2009EnglishJARnewsrdns source
199.85.212.118just-kidding-news.com2011EnglishJARnewsepic name
199.187.208.12webofcheer.com2011EnglishJARfansite, comedyhas a an unarchived "members only!" section pointing to webofcheer.com/member.html, CGI comms variant. Copyright 2005! Features Johnny Carson, Charles Chaplin, Rowan Atkins, The Three Stooges and some other Americans no one knows about anymore. There must have been a massive Johnny Carson amongst the CIA contractors at that time given alljohnny.com! The HTML page is weirdly titled pg1c. Interesting, feels like a leak of the site generation system.
199.187.208.12world-news-online.net2010EnglishJARnewsa.rss-item, split images
204.176.38.130i-pressnews.com2011EnglishJARnews
204.176.38.132turkishnewslinks.com2011EnglishTurkeyJARnews
204.176.38.133globalcitizennews.net2010EnglishJARnewsrss, split images
204.176.38.134photographyarecord.com2011EnglishCGIphotographyCute
204.176.38.135breakingthewicket.com2011EnglishCGIsports, cricket
204.176.38.136politicalworldtoday.com2011EnglishEgyptJARnews
204.176.38.137hi-tech-today.com2011EnglishJARtech
204.176.38.139bigscreenbattles.com2011EnglishJARfilms
204.176.38.141rakotafootball.com2011EnglishJARsports, football"Rakota" is an Indian family name
204.176.38.143noticiassofisticadas.com2011SpanishCGInews
204.176.38.142senderosdemontana.com2011SpanishJSsports, cyclingTalks about mountain biking and Eurobike 2010, so likely Spain focused, but it is not direct enough to be certain. JS unarchived.
204.176.38.144techno-today.com2011EnglishJARtechwas legit previously.
204.176.38.145tickettonews.com2011EnglishJARnewsrdns source. Epoch times link.
204.176.38.146dps-digitalphotosharing.com2011EnglishJARphotography
204.176.38.147theputtingreen.com2011EnglishJARsports, golf
204.176.38.149sportsnewstodayar.com2011ArabicLebanon, othersJARsports"ar" on domain name presumably means "Arabic"
204.176.38.159kairuafricanews.com2011EnglishAfricaJARnewswhat is "Kairu"? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kairu a place in India? en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kairu "frog" in Japanese? rdns source
204.176.39.97beamingnews.com2011ArabicJARnewsNice design. rdns source
204.176.39.98cubriendonoticias.com2011SpanishJARnewsarchive quite broken. JAR unarchived. cqcounter.com/whois/www/cubriendonoticias.com.html not found.
204.176.39.100rowleyworldpost.com2011EnglishEgypt, othersJARnews
204.176.39.103economicnewsbuzz.com2011KoreanCGIfinanceLove the kawaii style
204.176.39.104spectranewsonline.com2011EnglishCGInewsmarked copyright 2010.
204.176.39.105entertainmentnewscompany.com2011ChineseSWFfilms, musicTitle: "娱乐新闻公司", lit. Entertainment News Company
204.176.39.110arabnewsatdawn.com2011ArabicCGInewscute, the Arab chick's ice cream actually has a cocktail umbrella on it. Marked copyright 2010. Here she is: www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-veiled-woman-reading-newspaper-eating-4836766 by Anneka. Pinged her privately on www.facebook.com/Anyka.Fotografie.
204.176.39.115globalprovincesnews.com2010ArabicJSnewsThe largest HTML by far so far at 328 KiB
204.176.39.116mahparah-news.com2011FarsiJSnews
204.176.39.119commercialspacedesign.com2013FarsiCGIarchitectureC O N C E P T U A L design. A rare example of a fake company website.
207.150.191.68kickofffootballnews.com2010EnglishCGIsports, footballrss-item. archive quite broken, comms not found. "login" link web.archive.org/web/20100512232600/http://kickofffootballnews.com/login.html to unarchived, so CGI comms likely. cqcounter.com/whois/www/kickofffootballnews.com.html in-style.
207.150.191.68mywebofnews.com2011ArabicJARnewsSplit images[ref][ref]. rss-items.
207.150.191.68technologypresstoday.com2011FarsiJARnewssplit images, RSS
207.150.191.68worldofonlinenews.com2011EnglishJARnewssplit images[ref][ref]. Later legit.
207.210.250.131starrynightnews.com2011ArabicJSnewsinteresting design
207.210.250.132aeronet-news.com2011EnglishJARairplanes
207.210.250.133bakaribulletin.com2011EnglishAfricaJSnewsBakari could either be a given name, or a village in Togo
207.210.250.134deprensaenlarevisiondehoy.com2011SpanishJARnews
207.210.250.135icwb-news.com2011EnglishJARnewsICWB stands for "Inner Circle Worldwide Business (News)", the title of the website
207.210.250.136sportsreelhighlights.com2011EnglishJARsports
207.210.250.138inquiry-human-past.com2011EnglishJARhistory
207.210.250.139thefairwaysaregreen.com2011ThaiJARsports, golf
207.210.250.142russiaupdate.com 2011RussiannewsOlder unrelated archive: web.archive.org/web/20010429003443/http://russiaupdate.com/. Visible but possibly cut title "Россия Обновление" (Russia Update)
207.210.250.143archaeologyreview.net2010EnglishJARhistory, archeology
207.210.250.146noticias-caracas.com2011SpanishVenezuelaCGInewsCaracas is the capital of Venezuela. But you knew that, right?
207.210.250.147bailandstump.com2011EnglishJSsports, cricket"Bail" and "Stump" are the two parts of the thing your're supposed to hit with the ball in cricket.[ref]
207.210.250.148classicalmusic4arab.com2011musicThe first words in the title are "كلاسيكيات الموسيقى العربية" (Arabic music classics)
207.210.250.149globalventurestat.com2008EnglishSWFnews
207.210.250.152al-rashidrealestate.com2010ArabicEgyptCGIfinance, real-estate
207.210.250.153newsintheworld-ru.com2011RussianJARnews
207.210.250.154news-unlimited.info2011Englishnews"members" link visible so likely GI comms.
208.93.112.105fastnews-online.com2009EnglishJARnewsa.newslink
208.93.112.106travelxtreme.net2008EnglishJARtravelsplit images
208.93.112.108nbanewsroundup.com2013EnglishCGIsports, basketballquite broken with only HTML archived in 2013, but we're counting it due to coms link and IP range. cqcounter.com/whois/www/nbanewsroundup.com.html shows it well.
208.93.112.110luxuryfive.net2011EnglishtravelTitle: "Luxury five"
208.93.112.111topfootballnewsonline.com2011Englishsports, footbal"Top Football News Online".
208.93.112.112todaysportscores.com2011Englishsports
208.93.112.114dynamicworldnews.com2011Englishnews
208.93.112.116gazingvoyage.com2011Englishtravel
208.93.112.123garundipost.com2011EnglishnewsTODO meaning of "Garundi"
208.254.38.39todaysengineering.com2011EnglishCGIengineering
208.254.38.56nejadnews.com2011ArabicJARnewsrss, JAR unarchived
208.254.40.96sixty2media.com2011EnglishVariousJARnewsEpoch times link
208.254.40.99newspoliticssource.com2013ArabicJARnewsOne of the news mentions Snowden
208.254.40.110musical-fortune.net2010EnglishCGImusicimages /images/banner-02.jpg
208.254.40.113ashoka-gemstones.com2010EnglishJARjewelry
208.254.40.117worldnewsandent.com2010ArabicEgyptCGImews
208.254.40.124riskandrewardnews.com2013EnglishCGIfinance
208.254.42.194it-proonline.com2011EnglishCGItechimages /images/header_01.jpg
208.254.42.205driversinternationalgolf.com2011EnglishCGIsports, golf
208.254.42.209mardelsurnoticias.com2011SpanishJARnewsweird mixture of Portuguese and Spanish language external links
208.254.42.215nowfreshfinances.com2011EnglishCGIfinanceCGI unarchived
208.254.42.216circulatingnews.net2010EnglishJARtravel
208.254.42.219westingtonpassnews.com2011EnglishJARnews
209.162.192.44thejewelofsouthamerica.com2010SpanishCGInature, birdsrss-item, split images. CGI unarchived but likely under the "Foro" (Forum) link. Talks about the Amazon river and rainforest which it refers to in the Spanish title of the English domain: "La Joya de Sudamerica" (The Jewl of South America).
209.162.192.49rastadirect.net2010EnglishJARfansite
209.162.192.51yellow-chair-report.com2011EnglishCGInewsrss-item, split images. CGI unarchived likely under "Members" link.
209.162.192.57globalnewsreports.net2010EnglishCGInewsrss-item. Copyright 2008. CGI unarchived. Comms unarchived likely CGI under "Forum" link
209.162.192.59easytravelsite.net2009EnglishCGInewsSplit headers. CGI unarchived, likely under "Login" link.
209.51.136.178cellar-notes.com2011EnglishJARwinerss, split images, JAR unarchived
209.51.136.178the-news-scene.com2011EnglishJARnewssplit images, RSS
210.80.75.36e-commodities.net2011EnglishJARfinance
210.80.75.37trekkingtoday.com2011EnglishJARsports, runningsplit images[ref][ref]. rdns source.
210.80.75.41multinews-33.comJARnewsNo archives of the HTML, but the JAR was archived
210.80.75.43gulfandmiddleeastnews.com2011ArabicJSnews
210.80.75.44whirlybirdinflight.com2011EnglishJARhelicopters
210.80.75.45kings-game.net2011EnglishJARgaming, chessJAR unarchived
210.80.75.46topglobalnewsdaily.com2011EnglishJSnews
210.80.75.49recipe-dujour.com2011EnglishJARcookingnice design
210.80.75.53sportsman-elite.com2011Englishsports
210.80.75.55philippinenewsonline.net2010PhilippinesJARnews
210.80.75.56technewsforme.com2011FarsiJARtech
210.80.75.59goldeportesnoticias.com2011Spanishsports, football
212.4.16.224lanoticiasdehoyelinforme.com2010SpanishJARnews
212.4.16.232mynewscheck.com2011EnglishCanadaJARnewsrdns source
212.4.16.245financial-crisis-news.com2011RussianRussiaJARnewsrdns source
212.4.16.252minutosdenoticias.com2010SpanishCGInewsCSS
212.4.17.38fightwithoutrules.com2011RussianJARsports, combat sportsThe photo on top middle can be seen e.g. at spfightingtalk.wordpress.com/2013/01/18/breaking-down-mixed-martial-arts-what-is-mma/. The fither on top is Mac Danzig, TODO find bottom one lazy now.
212.4.17.41newtechfrontier.com2010EnglishCGItechsince became legit: newtechfrontier.com/
212.4.17.43smart-travel-consultant.com2011ChineseCGItravelajaxtax.js may be of interest for fingerprinting. Title: "智能旅行顾问", lit. Smart Travel Consultant
212.4.17.46atentlaloc.com2009EnglishQuatar, Lebanon, Israel, IranJSjewelryTlaloc is an Aztec deity, and Aten is an Egyptian deity. Both appear to be somewhat linked to gold, thus their usage in a jewelry website. Creative domain name.
212.4.17.53newsresolution.net2010EnglishCôte d'Ivoire, Lebanon, SudanJARnews, UN Peacekeeping
212.4.17.56lesummumdelafinance.com2010FrenchFranceJARfinance
212.4.17.98topbillingsite.com2011EnglishCGIfilms
212.4.17.122b2bworldglobal.com2011EnglishCGInews
212.4.17.125worldaroundyunnan.com2011ChineseJARnewsrss, split images, JAR
212.4.17.160localtoglobalnews.com2010EnglishJARnewsrss, split images
212.4.18.14football-enthusiast.com2011EnglishEuropeJSsports, football
212.4.18.129sightseeingnews.com2010EnglishJARtravel
212.209.74.105globalbaseballnews.com2011EnglishJSsports, baseball
212.209.74.106football-de-luxe.com2010FrenchFranceJARsports, football
212.209.74.112developmental-league.com2010EnglishCGIsports, American footballCGI comms variant?
212.209.74.115mediocampodefutbol.com2010SpanishJARsports, football
212.209.74.117myengineeringaffinity.com2011EnglishJARtech
212.209.74.122atthemovies.biz2011EnglishJARcinemaArchive very broken with no text and rather only images in a table. But it has a link to unarchived JAR. The only .biz domain found so far as of writing. There are also some broken redirect archives from 2003.
212.209.74.123worldfinancialexchangenews.com2010EnglishSWFfinanceSWF unarchived.
212.209.74.124urouttahere.com2011EnglishTravelThe title means "you're out of here", a reference to this being a travel website. A closely stock image of the same child models is visible at: www.hammockbeach.com/play/kids-crew-resort-program/
212.209.74.125avoilurefixe.com2011FrenchTunisiaJARairplanes"à voilure fixe" is French for "with fixed wing", i.e. fixed wing aircraft
212.209.74.126headlines2day.com2011FarsiJARnewsmarked copyright 2009
212.209.79.34fgnl.net2011EnglishIranCGInewsfour letter domain! FGNL stands for "Farsi Global News Links" Marked copyright 2009.
212.209.79.37fitness-sources.com2010EnglishJSsports, fitness
212.209.79.40hydradraco.com2011EnglishJARsports, American footballTODO meaning of the name?
212.209.79.41noticiasdelmundolatino.com2011SpanishJARnews
212.209.79.42suparakuvi.com2011FrenchFranceJARnewsa Tour Eiffel image, and young people stuff, i.e. first world stuff. It's for France alright. But TODO meaning of domain name? Ciro's second language French didn't cut it this time.
212.209.79.46cetusdelph.com2011EnglishJSsports, scuba
212.209.79.47willtoworship.com2011EnglishJARreligion, Christianitymarked copyright 2007
212.209.79.48themvconnection.com2011EnglishJARmusic
212.209.79.51pi-resources.net2010EnglishJSprivate investigators"pi" stands for Private Investigators. The CIA must have had some fun making this one.
212.209.79.53ourscubaworld.com2011EnglishJSsports, scuba
212.209.79.58tech-love-home.com2011ChineseJStechTitle: "消费类电子产品", lit. Consummer Electronics
212.209.79.60first-solo-aviation.com2010EnglishJARairplanes
212.209.79.61china-destinations.org2011ChineseJStraveltitle: "中国目的地指南", lit. "China Destination Guide"
212.209.90.69worldedgenews.com2011EnglishJARnews
212.209.90.72talkingpointnews.info2011Englishnews
212.209.90.74globalinvestmentnews.net2010EnglishJARnewsrss, split images
212.209.90.75prebitinvestment.com2011EnglishfinanceTitle: "Pre-BIT Investment". TODO meaning of "BIT".
212.209.90.80nsmovies.net2010EnglishJARfilms"ns" stands for "Nirguna Saguna", two separate Hindu names/deities. But there are no other Indian references beyond those.
212.209.90.82middleeastjournal.net2010ArabicJSnews
212.209.90.84thenewseditor.com2011EnglishJARnews
212.209.90.87newsandweathersource.com2009EnglishJARnewsmarked copyright 2009.
212.209.90.89pakisports.com2010EnglishPakistanSWFsports
212.209.90.90vriha-aesthetics.com2011ArabicJSnews
212.209.90.92amishkanews.com2011EnglishIndiaJSnewsAmishka is an Indian name, plus some prominent mentions of Bollywood both point to India specifically
212.209.90.93theentertainbiz.com2011EnglishJARentertainment
212.209.90.94eurosportssummary.com2011EnglishJARsports
216.93.248.194esmundonoticias.com2011SpanishJARnewsrss-items. Shares IP with kukrinews.com.
216.93.248.194kukrinews.com2010EnglishJSNewsJavaScript with SHAs. Talks to /cgi-bin/news.cgi. A Kukri is the national weapon of Nepal. Slogan: "Nepal's Sharp Edge", thus matching the website name. Split image header. Copyright 2009. Shares IP with esmundonoticias.com.
216.93.248.194lasthournews.com2010UrdujARnewssplit images
216.93.248.194tech-geek-news.com2010ArabicJSnewsSplit images, rss-item. Comms unarchived. Wayback machine archive very broken but cqcounter.com/whois/www/tech-geek-news.com.html perfectly in style.
216.104.38.114all-sport-headlines.com2011ArabicJARnewssplit images[ref][ref]Arabic-looking alphabet, image only so can't Google translate easily.
216.104.38.114wahidfutbol.com2011ArabicJSfootballWayback Machine very broken. cqcounter.com/whois/www/wahidfutbol.com.html somewhat in-style, but not very typical.
216.104.38.114wildbirds-seasia.com2011EnglishJARnature, birdsSlit headers, rss-item. "Birds of Southeast Asia". Stock image match example at: fr.pinterest.com/pin/745627282030750518/, possibly a greater bird-of-paradise.
216.105.98.132europeantravelcafe.com2010Englishtravelrss-items, split images. Marked copyright 2009. Comms not found. There's a currency converter at: web.archive.org/web/20100724024644/http://www.europeantravelcafe.com/tools.html which could be suspicious. The "plan your trip" link links to a different website: secure-cert.net/~etc/transport.html which is unusual. A similar thing happens in intloil.org. That link was removed from the next archive: web.archive.org/web/20110201192245/http://europeantravelcafe.com/ which is quite funny, looks like a bug and is possibly a link used by the CIA operators to manage the website? "secure-cert.net" is obscure, the only other surviving online mention of it is www.leewillis.co.uk/wordpress-plugins/#comment-6513
216.105.98.134fuenteneta.com2011SpanishnewsGoogle says:
"Fuente neta" in Spanish translates to "truth" or "for real" in a colloquial, Mexican context, emphasizing the truthfulness of what is being said
216.105.98.135ilat-news.com2011EnglishnewsThe domain stands for : "International Law Enforcement & Anti Terrorism", also on page "Law Enforcement and Anti Terrorism news".
216.105.98.136etherealinspirations.net2011EnglishreligionTitle: "Ethereal Inspirations"
216.105.98.137the-news-zone.com2011EnglishJARnewsThere is a broken archive: web.archive.org/web/20130814194744/http://the-news-zone.com/ which contains just the middle frame. But by chance the broken JAR link was there further confirming the hit!
216.105.98.139cultura-digital.net2008SpanishCGInewsMarked copyright 2008. Previously legit.
216.105.98.140uaeshoppingspree.com2013EnglishUAEJARshoppingArchive quite broken, but has link to unarchived JAR. Has an unusually personal touch "As you can probably tell from the title of my website, shopping is my very favorite pastime." cqcounter.com/whois/www/uaeshoppingspree.com.html shows it well.
216.105.98.144garanziadellasicurezza.com.2011ItalianJARcommercialThe archive is quite broken with toplevel archiving a frame rather than the actual website. JAR unarchived. web.archive.org/web/20110822020341/http://www.garanziadellasicurezza.com:80/news.html has rss-item. I'm counting this one it's too much.
216.105.98.145montanismoaventura.com2012SpanishSpainJSsports, mountaineeringJS unarchived. Marked copyright 2010. More visible archive at: cqcounter.com/whois/www/montanismoaventura.com.html
216.105.98.146large-format-news.com2011Englishphotography
216.105.98.147nepalnewsbrief.com2008EnglishNepalJARnewsMarked copyright 2006 (!) Registered 2007-01-18.
216.105.98.148teclafinance.com2011ChinesefinanceCQ Counter screenshot rather broken but in a similar way as another Chinese website: cqcounter.com/whois/site/activegaminginfo.com.html so it seems that simply their screenshot mechanism of the time didn't have proper Chinese encoding support. The title is "特科拉财经" which Google Translate translates to "Tekola Finance", the first word apparently being the phonetic transliteration of a foreign name, but it is unclear what it references exactlyh.
216.105.98.149entreman.com2011EnglshCGIbusinessComms unarchived. Marked Copyright 2011. Archive a bit broken, original styling more clearly visible at: cqcounter.com/whois/www/entreman.com.html. Tis is the only website found so far that stores its custom fonts on the site e.g. /M-1c-fontfacekit/mplus-1c-black-webfont.svg. Stock of office workers at: www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/presentation-business-people-working-office-2-4767229 by Marcin Balcerzak. Light bulb stock at: www.bigstockphoto.com/image-4406416/stock-photo-money-light by PhilipO.
216.105.98.152modernarabicnews.com2013ArabicJARnewsHTML archive quite broken, but JAR was archived thankfully. cqcounter.com/whois/www/modernarabicnews.com.html shows it well. Original title: "أخبار عربية حديثة قياسي"
216.105.98.153global-headlines.com2011EnglishnewsWas a legitimate WordPress website for a while in 2020.
216.105.98.154everythingcricket.org2011EnglishJARsports, cricketAlso has archives from 2009, but they were a bit broken. The 2011 one is marked copyright 2011, so they actually bothered to updated that.
216.105.98.156familyhealthonline.net2011EnglishCGIhealth
216.105.98.157delacorne.com2011FrenchnewsThe title is french "Corne de l'Afrique Nouvelles" and "de la Corne", the French name for the Horn of Africa. So French but not France.
216.105.98.158econfutures.com2011EnglishfinanceAfrica focus. Stock image source: www.istockphoto.com/photo/asian-helpdesk-support-operator-gm147050715-12052374 by imabase
219.90.61.110surya-brahma.com2011SpanishJARnewsSurya and Brahman are Hindu concepts, but the website appears to have nothing to do with India or Hinduism. Interesting.
219.90.61.111classicalmusicboxonline.com2010EnglishCGImusic
219.90.61.116athletepro.net2010EnglishJARsports
219.90.61.117lajornadanow.com2010SpanishJARnews
219.90.61.119aviation-navigation.com2011Englishaviation
219.90.61.120theinternationalworld.com2011EnglishJARnewsrdns source. rss-items.
219.90.61.121thepyramidnews.com2011FarsiIranJARnews
219.90.61.122iran-newslink-today.com2011FarsiIranJARnews
219.90.61.123journeystravelled.com2011EnglishJARtravel
219.90.62.229information-junky.com2011EnglishGhanaJARnews
219.90.62.231todosperuahora.com2011SpanishPeruCGInews
219.90.62.233theworld-news.net2010UrduCGInews
219.90.62.234recuerdosdeviajeonline.com2011SpanishSWFtravelmarked "Copyright 2009"
219.90.62.235ordenpolicial.com2011SpanishSpainnews, security
219.90.62.237elcorreodenoticias.com2011SpanishVenezuelaJARnews
219.90.62.238freshtechonline.com2011EnglishCGItech
219.90.62.240cityworldnewsnow.com2011EnglishnewsHas subdomain secure.cityworldnewsnow.com so likely CGI comms. in-style, arab world mentions.
219.90.62.241newscentertoday.com2011EnglishJARnewsCopyright 2008. rdns source. rss-items. Later legit. In 2016: The domain name you have entered is not available. It has been taken down because the email address of the domain holder (Registrant) has not been verified..
219.90.62.242ride-captain.com2011EnglishJARsports, motorcyles
219.90.62.243fitness-dawg.com2021EnglishJARsports, fitnessOriginal Reuters article sample. Pushup dude stock: www.istockphoto.com/photo/sweating-young-man-doing-push-ups-gm115455429-645125 by Mike R. Manzano, pinged at: x.com/cirosantilli/status/1899750172260806711. Dude was an ex-Sr. Software engineer at Coinbase from 2019-2022, he likely retired with the Bitcoin boom already legend. Still making apps as of 2024 though: www.facebook.com/leftspin. Dog at: www.istockphoto.com/photo/english-bulldog-gm92095947-2629950 by GlobalP.
219.90.62.244easytraveleurope.com2012EnglishJARtravelnice design
219.90.62.245world-news-now.net2011EnglishJARnews
219.90.62.246negativeaperture.com2011EnglishCGIphotographynice domain name
219.90.62.247conquermstoday.com2011EnglishCGIhealthMS means multiple sclerosis. Comms not found, CGI from unarchived subpage assumed. Has a subdomain "heal.conquermstoday.com" according to 2013 DNS Census, but no links to it in the archive.
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CIA 2010 covert communication websites / Overview of Ciro Santilli's investigation Updated 2025-05-26 +Created 2025-05-07
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Ciro Santilli hard heard about the 2018 Yahoo article around 2020 while studying for his China campaign because the websites had been used to take down the Chinese CIA network in China. He even asked on Quora about it, but there were no publicly known domains at the time to serve as a starting point. Chris, Electrical Engineer and former Avionics Tech in the US Navy, even replied suggesting that obviously the CIA is so competent that it would never ever have its sites leaked like that:
Seriously a dumb question.
Figure 1.
"Seriously a dumb question" Quora answer by Chris from the US Navy
. Source.
In 2023, one year after the Reuters article had been published, Ciro Santilli was killing some time on YouTube when he saw a curious video: Video 1. "Compromised Comms by Darknet Diaries (2023)". As soon as he understood what it was about and that it was likely related to the previously undisclosed websites that he was interested in, he went on to read the Reuters article that the podcast pointed him to.
Being a half-arsed web developer himself, Ciro knows that the attack surface of a website is about the size of Texas, and the potential for fingerprinting is off the charts with so many bits and pieces sticking out. And given that there were at least 885 of them, surely we should be able to find a few more than nine, right?
In particular, it is fun how these websites provide to anyone "live" examples of the USA spying on its own allies in the form of Wayback Machine archives.
Given all of this, Ciro knew he had to try and find some of the domains himself using the newly available information! It was an irresistible real-life capture the flag.
Chris, get fucked.
Video 1.
Compromised Comms by Darknet Diaries (2023)
Source.
It was the YouTube suggestion for this video that made Ciro Santilli aware of the Reuters article almost one year after its publication, which kickstarted his research on the topic.
Full podcast transcript: darknetdiaries.com/transcript/75/
Ciro Santilli pinged the Podcast's host Jack Rhysider on Twitter and he ACK'ed which is cool, though he was skeptical about the strength of the fingerprints found, and didn't reply when clarification was offered. Perhaps the material is just not impactful enough for him to produce any new content based on it. Or also perhaps it comes too close to sources and methods for his own good as a presumably American citizen.
The first step was to try and obtain the domain names of all nine websites that Reuters had highlighted as they had only given two domains explicitly.
Thankfully however, either by carelessness or intentionally, this was easy to do by inspecting the address of the screenshots provided. For example, one of the URLs was:
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/assets/usa-spies-iran/screencap-activegaminginfo.com.jpg?v=192516290922
which corresponds to activegaminginfo.com.
Figure 2.
Inspecting the Reuters article HTML source code
. Source. The Reuters article only gave one URL explicitly: iraniangoals.com. But most others could be found by inspecting the HTML of the screenshots provided, except for the Carson website.
Once we had this, we were then able to inspect the websites on the Wayback Machine to better understand possible fingerprints such as their communication mechanism.
The next step was to use our knowledge of the sequential IP flaw to look for more neighbor websites to the nine we knew of.
This was not so easy to do because the websites are down and so it requires historical data. But for our luck we found viewdns.info which allowed for 200 free historical queries (and they seem to have since removed this hard limit and moved to only throttling), leading to the discovery or some or our own new domains!
This gave us a larger website sample size in the order of the tens, which allowed us to better grasp more of the possible different styles of website and have a much better idea of what a good fingerprint would look like.
Figure 3.
viewdns.info activegameinfo.com domain to IP
. Source.
Figure 4.
viewdns.info aroundthemiddleeast.com IP to domain
. Source.
The next major and difficult step would be to find new IP ranges.
This was and still is a hacky heuristic process for us, but we've had the most success with the following methods:
Figure 5.
DNS Census 2013 website
. Source. This source provided valuable historical domain to IP data. It was likely extracted with an illegal botnet. Data excerpt from the CSVs:
amazon.com,2012-02-01T21:33:36,72.21.194.1
amazon.com,2012-02-01T21:33:36,72.21.211.176
amazon.com,2013-10-02T19:03:39,72.21.194.212
amazon.com,2013-10-02T19:03:39,72.21.215.232
amazon.com.au,2012-02-10T08:03:38,207.171.166.22
amazon.com.au,2012-02-10T08:03:38,72.21.206.80
google.com,2012-01-28T05:33:40,74.125.159.103
google.com,2012-01-28T05:33:40,74.125.159.104
google.com,2013-10-02T19:02:35,74.125.239.41
google.com,2013-10-02T19:02:35,74.125.239.46
Figure 6.
The four communication mechanisms used by the CIA websites
. Java Applets, Adobe Flash, JavaScript and HTTPS
Figure 7.
Expired domain names by day 2011
. Source. The scraping of expired domain trackers to Github was one of the positive outcomes of this project.
Finally, at the very end of our pipeline, we were left with a a few hundred domains, and we just manually inspected them one by one as far as patience would allow it to confirm or discard the.
Figure 8.
You can never have enough Wayback Machine tabs open
. This is how the end of the fingerprint pipeline looks like: as many tabs as you have the patience to go through one by one!
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CIA 2010 covert communication websites / Searching for Carson Updated 2025-05-26 +Created 1970-01-01
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Edit: Carson was found Oleg Shakirov's findingsby Oleg Shakirov: alljohnny.com, communicated at: twitter.com/shakirov2036/status/1746729471778988499, earliest archive from 2004 (!): web.archive.org/web/20040113025122/http://alljohnny.com/, The domain was hidden in plain sight, it was present in a not very visible watermark visible in the Reuters article screenshot! The watermark was added to the CIA to the background image, it is actually present on the website. In retrospect, it was actually present at on the expired domain trackers dataset, but the mega discrete all second word made Ciro Santilli miss it: github.com/cirosantilli/expired-domain-names-by-day-2015/blob/9d504f3b85364a64f7db93311e70011344cff788/07/05/02#L1572
Figure 1.
2004 Wayback Machine archive of alljohnny.com
.
What follows is the previous
The fact that the Reuters article has a screenshot of it, and therefore a Wayback Machine link, plus the specificity of the website topic, will likely keep Ciro awake at night for a while until someone finds that domain.
Some text visible on the Reuters screenshot:
It is unclear however if this text is plaintext or part of a an image.
Some failed attempts, either dry guesses or from DNS grepping dataset searches:
Searching the Wayback Machine proved fruitless. There is no full text search: Wayback Machine full text search, and a heuristic web.archive.org/web/20230000000000*/Johnny%20Carson search has relevant hits but not the one we want.
Another attempt was to search for "carson" on webmasterhome.cn which lists expired domains in bulk by expiration day, and it search engine friendly. It contains most of the domains we've found so far. Google either doesn't support partial word search or requires you to be a God to find it
so we settle for DuckDuckGo which supports it: duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Awebmasterhome.cn+%22carson%22&t=h_&ia=web Adding years also helps: duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Awebmasterhome.cn+%22carson%22+2011&ia=web with this we might be getting all possible results. Ciro went through all in 2011, 2012 and 2013 but no luck. Also fuck en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carson_City,_Nevada and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carson,_California :-)
Let's search tools.whoisxmlapi.com/reverse-whois-search for "carson" contained in any historic domain name. 10,001 lines. Grepping those, no good Wayback machine hits for those that also contain "johnny" or "show". Data at: raw.githubusercontent.com/cirosantilli/media/master/cia-2010-covert-communication-websites/tools.whoisxmlapi.com_reverse-whois-search_carson.csv in case anyone want to try and dig...
Let's also search the fortuitously timed 2013 DNS Census.
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CIA 2010 covert communication websites / Selected screenshots Updated 2025-05-26 +Created 1970-01-01
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This section contains some of the most interesting and a few representative screenshots of the websites found.
We intentionally omit the screenshots already reported by the Reuters article.
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.
Marked as Uploaded 10 October, 2008.
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. One can picture the contractor's children watching that show when a lightbulb popped over their heads.
It later ocurred to Ciro Santilli that perhaps Reuters did not showcase this website because it features a minor. But Ciro is sure that that minor is now a handsome young man in his 20's and would find the entire story very amusing if he ever finds out about it!
Figure 3.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of alljohnny.com
. Source. Although alljohnny.com is one of the original Reuters examples, we are highlighting this screenshot here because the Reuters provided screenshot is from the extremely early 2004 version of the site, and it is interesting to see how this unique example was later updated in this 2011 version, the only known such case so far. The lack of OPSEC awareness is mind blowing, them reusing a domain like that after so many years in a completely new threat environment and possibly for a new asset.
Figure 4.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of webofcheer.com scrolled to show Johnny Carson
. Source. This website is a fansite for various comedians. It is the second known reference to Johnny Carson after alljohnny.com, which was one of the original screenshots given in the Reuters article. There must have been some massive Johnny Carson fan among the CIA contractors a that time!
Figure 5.
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 6.
2010 Wayback Machine archive of dedrickonline.com
.
The German one.
The CIA has had a few Germany espionage scandals in the 2010s:
Figure 7.
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 8.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of attivitaestremi.com
. An Italian one about extreme sports.
Figure 9.
2010 Wayback Machine archive of noticiasmusica.net
.
The Brazilian one.
Figure 10.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of economicnewsbuzz.com
. The Korean one. Love the kawaii style!
Figure 11.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of snapnewsfront.net
.
The Japanese one.
Figure 12.
2010 Wayback Machine archive of philippinenewsonline.net
. The Philippine one one.
Figure 13.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of feedsdemexicoyelmundo.com
. The Mexican one.
Figure 14.
2012 Wayback Machine archive of easytraveleurope.com
.
Figure 15.
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 16.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of nouvellesetdesrapports.com
.
Figure 17.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of pangawana.com
.
Figure 18.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of recuerdosdeviajeonline.com
.
Figure 19.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of theworld-news.net
.
Figure 20.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of kessingerssportsnews.com
.
Figure 21.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of negativeaperture.com
.
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CIA 2010 covert communication websites / The Reuters websites Updated 2025-05-26 +Created 1970-01-01
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But by looking at the URLs of the screenshots they provided from other websites we can easily uncover all others that had screenshots, except for the Johnny Carson one, which is just generically named. E.g. the image for the Chinese one is www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/assets/usa-spies-iran/screencap-activegaminginfo.com.jpg?v=192516290922 which leads us to domain activegaminginfo.com.
Oleg Shakirov later discovered that the Carson one had its domain written right on the screenshot, as part of a watermark present on the original website itself. Therefore the URLs of all the websites were in one way or another essentially given on the article.
The full list of domains from screenshots is:
Read the full article
CIA 2010 covert communication websites / Timeline of public disclosures Updated 2025-05-26 +Created 2025-05-07
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The existence of the websites emerged in various stages, some of which may refer to this network or to other closely related communications failure since the published information is sometimes not clear enough.
May 21, 2011: various Iranian news outlets reported that:
30 individual suspected of spying for the US were arrested and 42 CIA operatives were identified in connection with the network.
The network, which was set up by a considerable number of seasoned CIA operatives in several countries, attempted to trick citizens into spying for them under the guise of issuing visa, helping with permanent residency, and making job and study offers.
Iranian sources include:
The news were picked up and repeated by Western outlets on the same day e.g.:
At this point there were still no clear indications that the recruitment had been made with websites, however later revelations would later imply that.
Video 1.
Iran dismantles US-linked spy network broadcast by IRIB May 21, 2011
. Source. Reupload of shiatv.net/video/dd6ee2d708a4a6cb2429 by Ciro Santilli
December 2014: McClathy DC reported on "Intelligence, defense whistleblowers remain mired in broken system" that CIA contractor John A. Reidy had started raising concerns about the security of a communication systems used by the CIA and other sources mention that he started this in 2008[ref] The focus of the article is how he was then ignored and silenced for raising these concerns, which later turned out to be correct and leading to an intelligence catastrophe that started in 2010.[ref][ref][ref]web.archive.org/web/20150101173203/ This appears to have come out after a heavily redacted appeal by Reidy against the CIA from October 2014 came into McClathy's possession.[ref] While Reidy's disclosures were responsible and don't give much away, given the little that they disclose it feels extremely likely that they were related to the same system we are interested in. Even heavily redacted, the few unredacted snippets of the appeal are pure gold and give a little bit of insight into the internal workings of the CIA. Some selections:
From January 2005 until January 2009, I worked as a government contractor at the CIA. I was assigned to [Directorate](ledger item 1) in the [Division] (ledger item 2). I served as a Uob) (ledger item 3) whose responsibility was to facilitate the dissemination of intelligence reporting to the Intelligence Community. I also served as a Oob 2) (ledger item 4) whose responsibility was to identify Human Intelligence (humint) targets of Interest for exploitation. I was assigned the telecommunications and information operations account.
As our efforts increased, we started to notice anomalies in our operations and conflicting intelligence reporting that indicated that several of our operations had been compromised. The indications ranged from [ redacted ] to sources abruptly and without reason ceasing all communications with us.
These warning signs were alarming due to the fact that our officers were approaching sources using [operational technique] (ledger item 16)
When our efforts began, ultimate operational authority rested with us. The other component provided the finances for the operation while we gave the operational guidance and the country specific knowledge.
knew we had a massive intelligence failure on our hands. All of our assets [ redacted ] were in jeopardy.
To give our compromise context, the U.S. communications infrastructure was under siege
All of this information was collected under the project cryptonym [cryptonym] (ledger item 52)
Meanwhile throughout 2010, I started to hear about catastrophic intelligence failures in the government office I formally worked for. More than one government employee reached out to me and notified me that the "nightmare scenario" I had described and tried to prevent had transpired. I was told that in upwards of 70% of our operations had been compromised.
it is not just a potential compromise in one country, It effects every country
May 2017: the New York Times reported at "Killing C.I.A. Informants, China Crippled U.S. Spying Operations" that:
The Chinese government systematically dismantled C.I.A. spying operations in the country starting in 2010, killing or imprisoning more than a dozen sources over two years and crippling intelligence gathering there for years afterward.
and that:
Some were convinced that a mole within the C.I.A. had betrayed the United States. Others believed that the Chinese had hacked the covert system the C.I.A. used to communicate with its foreign sources. Years later, that debate remains unresolved.
[...]
From the final weeks of 2010 through the end of 2012, [...] the Chinese killed at least a dozen of the C.I.A.’s sources. [...] One was shot in front of his colleagues in the courtyard of a government building — a message to others who might have been working for the C.I.A.
Figure 1.
Top image of the New York Times article
. Source.
August 2018: Foreign Policy reported at "Botched CIA Communications System Helped Blow Cover of Chinese Agents" that:
It was considered one of the CIA’s worst failures in decades: Over a two-year period starting in late 2010, Chinese authorities systematically dismantled the agency’s network of agents across the country, executing dozens of suspected U.S. spies. But since then, a question has loomed over the entire debacle. How were the Chinese able to roll up the network?
and:
U.S. intelligence officers were also able to identify digital links between the covert communications system and the U.S. government itself, according to one former official—links the Chinese agencies almost certainly found as well. These digital links would have made it relatively easy for China to deduce that the covert communications system was being used by the CIA. In fact, some of these links pointed back to parts of the CIA’s own website, according to the former official.
Although no clear mention of websites is made in that article, the fact that there were "links" back to the CIA website strongly suggests that the communication was done through websites.
The report also reveals that there was a temporary "interim system" that new sources would use while they were being vetted, but that it used the same style of system as the main system. It would be cool if we managed to identify which sites are interim or not somehow:
When CIA officers begin working with a new source, they often use an interim covert communications system—in case the person turns out to be a double agent.
The communications system used in China during this period was internet-based and accessible from laptop or desktop computers, two of the former officials said.
This interim, or “throwaway,” system, an encrypted digital program, allows for remote communication between an intelligence officer and a source, but it is also separated from the main communications system used with vetted sources, reducing the risk if an asset goes bad.
Although they used some of the same coding, the interim system and the main covert communication platform used in China at this time were supposed to be clearly separated.
Figure 2.
Illustration of the Foreign Policy article
. Source.
November 2018: Yahoo News made the first clear report that the communication system was made up of websites at "The CIA's communications suffered a catastrophic compromise. It started in Iran.":
In 2013, hundreds of CIA officers — many working nonstop for weeks — scrambled to contain a disaster of global proportions: a compromise of the agency’s internet-based covert communications system used to interact with its informants in dark corners around the world. Teams of CIA experts worked feverishly to take down and reconfigure the websites secretly used for these communications
The usage of of Google dorking is then mentioned:
In fact, the Iranians used Google to identify the website the CIA was using to communicate with agents.
It seems to us that this would have been very difficult on the generically themed websites that we have found so far. This suggests the existence of a separate recruitment website network, perhaps the one reported in 2011 by Iran offering VISAs. It would be plausible that such network could link back to the CIA and other government websites. Recruited agents would only then later use the comms network to send information back. The target countries may have first found the recruitment network, and then injected double agents into it, who later came to know about the comms network. TODO: it would be awesome to find some of those recruitment websites!
Another very interesting mention is the platform had been over extended beyond its original domain application, which is in part why things went so catastrophically bad:
Former U.S. officials said the internet-based platform, which was first used in war zones in the Middle East, was not built to withstand the sophisticated counterintelligence efforts of a state actor like China or Iran. “It was never meant to be used long term for people to talk to sources,” said one former official. “The issue was that it was working well for too long, with too many people. But it was an elementary system.”
Figure 3.
Illustration in the Yahoo article
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December 2018: a followup Yahoo News article "At the CIA, a fix to communications system that left trail of dead agents remains elusive" gives an interesting internal organizational overview of the failed operation:
As a result, many who are directly responsible for working with sources on the ground within the CIA’s Directorate of Operations are furious
The fiascos in Iran and China continue to be sticking points between the Directorate of Operations and the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology (DS&T) — the technical scientists. “There is a disconnect between the two directorates,” said one former CIA official. “I’m not sure that will be fixed anytime soon.”
Entire careers in the CIA’s Office of Technical Service — the part of DS&T directly responsible for developing covert communications systems — were built on these internet-based systems, said a former senior official. Raising concerns about them was “like calling someone’s baby ugly,” said this person.
Much as in the case of Reidy, it is partly because of such internal dissatisfaction that so much has come out to the press, as agents feel that they have nowhere else to turn to.
That article also gives a cute insight into the OPSEC guidelines for the assets that used the websites:
CIA agents using the system were supposed to conduct “electronic surveillance detection routes” — that is, to bounce around on various sites on the internet before accessing the system, in order to cover their tracks — but often failed to do so, creating potentially suspicious patterns of internet usage, said this person.
Finally the article also gives us a cute terminology: COVCOM:
“And the agency would produce its own COVCOM [covert communications] systems in-house. We’d test it there. In denied areas, we had special systems.”
The most important thing that this article gave were screenshots of nine websites, including the domain names of two of them: iraniangoals.com and iraniangoalkicks.com:
In addition, some sites bore strikingly similar names. For example, while Hosseini was communicating with the CIA through Iraniangoals.com, a site named Iraniangoalkicks.com was built for another informant. At least two dozen of the 350-plus sites produced by the CIA appeared to be messaging platforms for Iranian operatives, the analysts found.
The "350-plus" number is a bit random, given that their own analysts stated a much higher 885 in their report.
The article also reveals the critical flaw of the system; the usage of sequential IPs:
Online records they analyzed reveal the hosting space for these front websites was often purchased in bulk by the dozen, often from the same internet providers, on the same server space. The result was that numerical identifiers, or IP addresses, for many of these websites were sequential, much like houses on the same street.
It also mentions that other countries besides Iran and Chine were also likely targeted:
This vulnerability went far beyond Iran. Written in various languages, the websites appeared to be a conduit for CIA communications with operatives in at least 20 countries, among them China, Brazil, Russia, Thailand and Ghana, the analysts found.
Figure 4.
Banner of the Reuters article
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Figure 5.
Reuters reconstruction of what the iraniangoals.com applet would have looked like
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29 September 2022: on the same day that Reuters published their report, Citizenlab, which Reuters used as analysts for the article, also simultaneously published their more technical account of things at "Statement on the fatal flaws found in a defunct CIA covert communications system".
One of the most important information given in that report is the large number of sites found, 885, and the fact that they are available on Wayback Machine:
Using only a single website, as well as publicly available material such as historical internet scanning results and the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, we identified a network of 885 websites and have high confidence that the United States (US) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used these sites for covert communication.
The million dollar question is "which website did they use" and "how much does it cost if anything" since our investigation has so far had to piece together a few different hacky sources but didn't spend any money. And a lot of money could be poured into this, e.g. DomainTools which might contain one of the largest historical databases seems to start at 15k USD / 1000 queries. One way to try and deduce which website they used is to look through their other research, e.g.:
The article mentioned the different types of communication mechanisms found:
The websites included similar Java, JavaScript, Adobe Flash, and CGI artifacts that implemented or apparently loaded covert communications apps. In addition, blocks of sequential IP addresses registered to apparently fictitious US companies were used to host some of the websites. All of these flaws would have facilitated discovery by hostile parties.
They describe the most common subject matters and language of the websites:
The websites, which purported to be news, weather, sports, healthcare, and other legitimate websites, appeared to be localized to at least 29 languages and geared towards at least 36 countries.
They also give the dates range in which the system was active, which is very helpful for better targeting our searches:
The bulk of the websites that we discovered were active at various periods between 2004 and 2013.
And then a bomb, they claim to have found information regarding specific officers:
Nevertheless, a subset of the websites are linked to individuals who may be former and possibly still active intelligence community employees or assets:
  • Several are currently abroad
  • Another left mainland China in the time frame of the Chinese crackdown
  • Another was subsequently employed by the US State Department
  • Another now works at a foreign intelligence contractor
Given that we cannot rule out ongoing risks to CIA employees or assets, we are not publishing full technical details regarding our process of mapping out the network at this time. As a first step, we intend to conduct a limited disclosure to US Government oversight bodies.
This basically implies that they must have either
  • found some communication layer level identifier, e.g. domain name registration HTTPS certificate certificate because it is impossible to believe that real agent names would have been present on the website content itself!
  • or they may be instead talking about a separate recruitment network which offered the VISAs which we conjecture might have existed but currently have no examples of, and which might conceivably contain real embassy contacts
We have so for not yet found any such clear references to real individuals.
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Updates / 44 new CIA websites Updated 2025-05-26 +Created 2025-03-13 2025-05-26
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I found 44 new covert websites made by the CIA around 2010 bringing the total to 397!
Most websites were boring as usual, but one was slightly cooler: webofcheer.com is a comedy fansite featuring Johnny Carson, Charles Chaplin, Rowan Atkins (of Mr. Bean fame), The Three Stooges and some other Americans no one knows about anymore. There must have been a massive Johnny Carson amongst the contractors at that time, given that we previously also knew about alljohnny.com, a site dedicated fully to him! Both of these sites also serve as some of the earliest examples we've got so far, dating back to 2004 and 2005.
Figure 1.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of webofcheer.com
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Figure 2.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of webofcheer.com scrolled to show Johnny Carson
. Source.
Figure 3.
2004 Wayback Machine archive of alljohnny.com
. Source. This one was a previously known website featuring Johnny Carson.
Another cool discovery is that I found the Getty Images source of the Jedi boy on their Star Wars themed site starwarsweb.net: web.archive.org/web/20101230033220/http://starwarsweb.net/ The photo can still be licensed today as of 2025: www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/little-jedi-royalty-free-image/172984439. I found it by searching for "jedi boy" on gettyimages.co.uk. The photo is credited to username madisonwi, presumably an alias of a photographer from Madison, Wisconsin. Inspired by this I reverse image searched and found the source of many other stock images from other websites, and I pinged their authors whenever I could locate them e.g. x.com/cirosantilli/status/1899750172260806711.
Figure 4.
Stock photo of a Jedi boy from Getty Images used on starwarsweb.net
. Source.
Figure 5.
2010 Wayback Machine archive of starwarsweb.net
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There were two small advances that led to the discovery of new domains:
With those two new developments, I then kicked off my pre-existing search pipelines searching for domain names with the word news on them, an amazingly efficient heuristic because many of the websites were disguised as news aggregators, and after a few hours theses new hits emerged. A few of those also led to the discovery of new IPs which then led to new domains.
One entirely new IP range was found around fastnews-online.com from 208.93.112.105 to 208.93.112.125. There were many domain names with very promising names in the range, but unfortunately for some reason most didn't have Wayback Machine Archives so I didn't count them as hits as per my guidelines.
Figure 6.
2009 Wayback Machine archive of fastnews-online.com
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Also the newly found todaysengineering.com at 208.254.38.39 appears to form an IP range with the previously known nejadnews.com at 208.254.38.56, but I couldn't find any other domains in the region with our current data sources.
Figure 7.
2011 Wayback Machine archive of todaysengineering.com
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All other domains either slot into previously known IP ranges, or more commonly don't currently have a known IP, though they would likely just slot in existing ranges if we had better data.
Thanks to Jack Rhysider from the Darknet Diaries podcast for pointing me to the existing of the 2022 Reuters article that kickstarted my research on the subject!
One outcome of this update is that I've increased my jq level to better automate the maintenance of the hits.json file were I store all the known websites in JSON format. I love that tool so much, I managed to merge two JSONs with it removing duplicates and then sort the JSON as desired. Beauty.
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