physics

Operation Torpedo

Operation Torpedo is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Operation Torpedo rather than just read about it. In short: Operation Torpedo was a 2011 operation in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) compromised three different hidden services hosting child pornography, which would then target anyone who happened to access them using a network investigative technique (NIT). Overview The operation started after Dutch law enforcement compromised a hidden service called Pedoboard, and found it was physically located at a Nebra…

Key takeaways

Operation Torpedo belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Operation Torpedo to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Operation Torpedo from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Operation Torpedo was a 2011 operation in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) compromised three different hidden services hosting child pornography, which would then target anyone who happened to access them using a network investigative technique (NIT).

Overview The operation started after Dutch law enforcement compromised a hidden service called Pedoboard, and found it was physically located at a Nebraska web hosting company. The ensuing FBI investigation found that an employee, Aaron McGrath, was operating two child pornography sites at his work and one at his home. After a year of surveillance, the FBI arrested McGrath and took control of his three sites (PedoBoard, PedoBook, TB2) for a two-week period starting in November 2012.

Methodology The FBI seized access to the web sites after his arrest and continued to run them for a two week period. During this time the websites (onion services) were modified to serve up a NIT in what is termed a "watering hole attack", which would attempt to unmask visitors by revealing their IP address, operating system and web browser. The NIT code was revealed as part of the case USA v Cottom et al. Researchers from University of Nebraska at Kearney and Dakota State University reviewed the NIT code and found that it was an Adobe Flash application that would ping a user's real IP address back to an FBI controlled server, rather than routing their traffic through the Tor network and protecting their identity. It used a technique from Metasploit's "decloaking engine" and only affected users who had not updated their Tor web browser. An investigation by The Daily Dot claimed that the NIT was created by former part-time employee of The Tor Project and Vidalia developer Matthew Edman and was internally known as "Cornhusker".

Results The NIT was successful in revealing approximately 25 domestic users as well as numerous foreign users. The U.S. Department of Justice noted in December 2015 that besides McGrath, 18 users in the United States had been convicted as a result of the operation. One user caught by the NIT had accessed the site for only nine minutes and had since wiped his computer, yet a month-later police search of his home and digital devices found—through digital forensics—image thumbnails indicating past presence of downloaded child pornography, as well as text instructions on accessing and downloading child pornography. Another user was unmasked through his messages with an undercover FBI agent, and this user turned out to be Timothy DeFoggi, who was at that time the acting director of cybersecurity at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

See also Freedom Hosting Operation Pacifier

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Operation Torpedo

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Operation Torpedo claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Operation Torpedo before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Operation Torpedo ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Operation Torpedo

In research: Operation Torpedo appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Operation Torpedo in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Operation Torpedo is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2011 in American law, Cybercrime, Dark web, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Operation Torpedo outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Operation Torpedo in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Operation Torpedo means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Operation Torpedo out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Operation Torpedo in simple terms?

Why does Operation Torpedo matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Operation Torpedo?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Operation Torpedo.