Summary
- An innocent-looking Star Wars fan website was actually secretly run by the CIA as a means to communicate with its network of spies and informants.
- In a new in-depth article, information about a network of fan-themed websites that were used to deliver covert information was detailed.
- Simply typing a "Password" into the search box would bring up a channel to begin communication, it was discovered.
In quite possibly the craziest piece of nerd-related news you'll read this week, besides maybe the true reason why Ultron is in Marvel Rivals, it has been revealed that a seemingly innocent Star Wars fan website was actually run by the CIA. Yeah, that CIA.
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Oh, and its purpose wasn't to discuss Midochlorians or whether Han or Greedo shot first, but rather to provide a way for informants, AKA spies, to communicate.
These Are Not The Spies You're Looking For
In a new in-depth report from independent outlet 404 Media, it's been revealed that starwarsweb.net was more than just a way to get the latest Star Wars news. Via Joseph Cox's reporting, the fan website that had headlines related to LEGO Star Wars, along with advertisements for buying your own lightsaber, had a much deeper purpose … a way for the CIA and its many sources to talk.
The Star Wars site was one of several sites in a network built to allow covert communications, with others being centered on comedy, extreme sports and music.
“The simplest way to put it — yes, the CIA absolutely had a Star Wars fan website with a secretly embedded communication system," Zach Edwards, an independent cybersecurity researcher, said in part.
Unfortunately for the spies in question, many of them died, as these websites were actually sloppily put together, allowing nefarious bodies to sniff them out. In a previous report, it was noted that simply typing a password into the search bar opened up a login screen to begin communication with the CIA.
Not only was it possible to parse out the communication channel, but because the network of sites had sequential IPs, it was entirely possible to find multiple sites by just knowing one. Nowadays, if you go to the website, you'll automatically be redirected to the real-life CIA.gov site, a surefire sign as any that everything that's been revealed is indeed truer than Darth Vader being Luke's father.