German antivirus vendor G Data Software identified a botnet that is controlled by attackers from an Internet Relay Chat server running as a hidden service inside the Tor anonymity network. The Tor system was specifically designed to provide anonymity for its users. Tor traffic doesn’t directly point to known malicious destinations and its content is encrypted, so it’s hard to flag it as malicious. The botnet can’t be easily shut down by researchers or law enforcement because its very hard to determine its real location, G Data researchers said.”]