An American judge has confirmed that US authorities hired computer researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to hack Tor, a software that allows its users to anonymously browse the Internet. Allegations that in 2014 CMU's Software Engineering Institute had helped American law enforcement breach the technology— in order to recover information on people committing illicit acts shielded by Tor's anonymity— circulated last year. However, so far no clear confirmation has been given by either the University or the FBI, as the agency believed to be behind the case. Now, a federal judge hearing the case against Brian Farrell — an American citizen charged with being one the masterminds of Tor-based drug marketplace Silk Road 2:0 — has acknowledged what happened. "The record demonstrates that the defendant's IP address was identified by the Software Engineering Institute ("SEI") of Carnegie Mellon University ("CMU") when SEI was conducting research on the Tor network, which was funded by