Ratting Out the Mafia Is Terrifying Even If It's Encrypted

Let's face it, whistleblowers are hardly lining up to rat out the mob. Not members of the clan, not ex-mafiosi with a bone to pick, not victims of extortion rackets. Why? Because of the ancient tradition of omertà, the unwritten code of honor that you'll never utter a word about the Family, or expect retaliation. Fear has kept organized crime a flourishing industry for decades. But now, there's technology. Anonymous messages! Encryption codes! Secure networks! Can privacy tech finally break the code of silence?

A new whistleblower platform is having a go at it. MafiaLeaks is taking on the Italian Mafia by offering would-be snitches a secure way to send incriminating information about Italy's infamous criminals.

The website acts as a middleman between potential informants and journalists and crime-fighters hoping for leads. Users can only access the hidden site through the Tor browser, and communications through the website are encrypted to protect anonymity. Emails contain a code that even the site's operators don't have access to—only the sender and the "trusted person" on the other end of the message. Data is kept on the site's server for 20 days and then deleted for extra protection.

That's all well and good, but it's still an awful lot of trust to put in privacy software, especially in today's post-NSA web climate when it's clear even the most secure tools can't guarantee protection from prying eyes. What if a hacker manages to exploit some security hole and trace your message back to your real identity? You're probably getting murdered.

This risk isn't lost on the project's founders—who obviously wish remain anonymous themselves. They write on the website's FAQ: "We are not asking you to trust MafiaLeaks. Indeed, please do not trust MafiaLeaks! Send your information anonymously, do not leave your name, do not leave anything in the data that can be traced back to your person."

The downside of that anonymity, however, is it means there's nothing to stop gang members themselves from logging on and dropping false tips to throw the cops off their trail. In fact, the folks behind MafiaLeaks say they've run into trouble getting law enforcement to work them, because police aren't positive which side the nameless founders are actually on.

Still, MafiaLeaks contends that the whistleblower site can offer valuable clues by encouraging always-connected citizens to send in any video snippets, snapshots, or pieces of information they get of the underground crime ring. The project's slogan takes a page from the US government's post-911 crowdsourced antiterrorism campaign: "If you know something, say something."

"In an era where each of us carries with it a smartphone in your pocket or purse, we believe that the collection of reports is only a matter of time," the site's blog states. "The mafia operates every day under the eyes of all, and so far has failed to act undisturbed by relying on intimidation. We believe the time has come to put a spoke in the wheels."

The technology is based on Globaleaks, an open-source anonymous whistleblower platform, and the concept borrows from SecureBox, a hyper-secure inbox originally created by the late Aaron Swartz, that's meant to serve as a safe and anonymous way for sources to communicate with journalists. The MafiaLeaks blog even gave a shout out to SecureBox yesterday, on what would have been Swartz's 27th birthday.

The project certainly nods to the techno-anarchist, hactivist cultural zeitgeist that's been strengthened by the global backlash against dragnet government surveillance. It launched on November 5 (of "remember, remember the fifth of November" fame), and is complete with a picture of the iconic Guy Fawkes mask on the "We're Hiring" page.