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Darkleaks: an Online Black Market For Selling Secrets

Posted by timothy on from the hey-bub-psssst dept.

An anonymous reader writes Whistleblowers and those individuals that are simply out to make a buck out of any confidential and valuable information, can now offer it for sale on Darkleaks, a decentralized, anonymous black market on the Internet. The Darkleaks project is built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain, and can be used by downloading this software package (source code is open).

44 comments

  1. built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    hasn't anyone learned anything from recent events? bitcoin is not anonymous. buyer (and seller) beware.

    1. Re: built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      hasn't anyone learned anything from recent events? bitcoin is not anonymous. buyer (and seller) beware.

      If you sell some secrets and put the money in a previously unused wallet, you haven't lost anonymity (unless someone physically finds you with the wallet). If you spend the coins on some meth from Silk Road 2, and it gets delivered to a random bus station locker and retrieved when noone is around, you haven't lost anonymity. When you smoke the meth, overdose, and end up in the hospital, your medical records will probably get stolen. And then you won't be anonymous any more. So you are right, bitcoin is not anonymous.

    2. Re: built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If you sell some secrets and put the money in a previously unused wallet, you haven't lost anonymity (unless someone physically finds you with the wallet).

      OK. So how do I get the money out anonymously, and into a form I can use to pay my mortgage?

      If you spend the coins on some meth from Silk Road 2, and it gets delivered to a random bus station locker and retrieved when noone is around, you haven't lost anonymity.

      Oh, I see. I can't get the money out anonymously, but I can use it to commit multiple federal crimes that I have no interest in? Yeah, I'll pass.

    3. Re: built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you sell some secrets and put the money in a previously unused wallet, you haven't lost anonymity (unless someone physically finds you with the wallet).

      OK. So how do I get the money out anonymously, and into a form I can use to pay my mortgage?

      If you spend the coins on some meth from Silk Road 2, and it gets delivered to a random bus station locker and retrieved when noone is around, you haven't lost anonymity.

      Oh, I see. I can't get the money out anonymously, but I can use it to commit multiple federal crimes that I have no interest in? Yeah, I'll pass.

      If you send your money to a bitcoin tumbler (launder it) and the service is reasonably secure (throwing away all the tumbling data in realtime) you can end up with money in a wallet that is exceedingly hard to trace back to you directly. They will trace it to murder for hire, prostitution, some meth, stolen credit cards, etc. instead!

  2. So this is a "please assassinate me" honeypot by presidenteloco · · Score: 1

    Obviously.

    Don't go there.

    --

    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
    1. Re:So this is a "please assassinate me" honeypot by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 1

      The FBI will be visiting in 3... 2... 1...

      --
      If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    2. Re:So this is a "please assassinate me" honeypot by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It is still better than going through official channels. Most whistleblowers who try to go through official channels, get thrown to the wolves.
      How the US govt destroys the lives of whistleblowers. ... and things are getting worse: Obama has persecuted whistleblowers more than any other president.

  3. In other words: Not anonymous by gweihir · · Score: 1

    Really, it is amply clear that Bitcoin is not anonymous in any strong sense.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  4. Wouldn't this be a magnet for FAKE information? by NotDrWho · · Score: 1

    How do you sort the fake info from the real??

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    1. Re:Wouldn't this be a magnet for FAKE information? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do you sort the fake info from the real??

      Well, you take the information you got off of the Darkleaks and compare it to the information that you paid for from Spokeo or Intelius. If the info matches, chances are its legit.

    2. Re:Wouldn't this be a magnet for FAKE information? by mjm1231 · · Score: 2

      If the information can be compared to information somewhere else, then it wasn't a secret to begin with.

      --
      Ideology: A tool used primarily to avoid the bother of thinking.
    3. Re:Wouldn't this be a magnet for FAKE information? by EdwardFurlong · · Score: 1

      I would think people in the trade would have their ways of verifying information. One way would be to say, send over bulk documents from a company, that are private, but not dealing with the information you really want to sell. Or send over documents but with the important parts blocked out. You get the idea. You could verify the information in a series of exchanges. Now maybe a company would have the resources to create fake documents to screw with whoever. I imagine the buyers take that into account though. There must be enough real information being sold to keep people buying though.

  5. Darkleaks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Darkleaks, brought to you by Kevin "The Dark Tipper" Rose.

    1. Re:Darkleaks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      And he should know! In his time, Kevin Rose has received many, many dark tips (some of them rock-solid and very substantial).

  6. does websense block it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    what if i install it on my company laptop?

    1. Re:does websense block it? by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      what if i install it on my company laptop?

      For the sake of the global IQ of humanity, please tell me that was a joke.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  7. The first rule of Fight Club is ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I remember hearing a geek I know brag about how cool Silk Road was,
    and how it was going to be the end of being hassled by "The Man" when all you wanted
    was to get some drugs.

    We know how THAT worked out.

    This will be no different. The government is simply not going to allow
    such things to happen without taking countermeasures. I hate to
    burst your bubble, but that's the truth.

    1. Re:The first rule of Fight Club is ... by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 2

      This will be no different. The government is simply not going to allow such things to happen without taking countermeasures.

      This could be quite different. This will make law enforcement's interest in The Silk Road look like they were supporting it. The last time I checked, there was no death penalty for buying/selling drugs. Treason can still be tried as a capital crime. There will be more three letter agencies watching this than I can probably name.

    2. Re:The first rule of Fight Club is ... by NotDrWho · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's also pretty unlikely that the CIA is going to trump up fake rape charges on you for buying heroin.

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    3. Re: The first rule of Fight Club is ... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Nice classic FUD, but you know very well that your speculation simply is not supported by any reasonable facts, and in fact quite the opposite.

      Assenge did some amazing things, but is also a seriously flawed man with a long history of both mysogony and God-complex.

      --
      If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    4. Re:The first rule of Fight Club is ... by turp182 · · Score: 1

      To decrypt things it would appear that bincoins would need to be transferred. So maybe this would be a good way to get paid by Uncle Sam.

      Come up with detailed document names about attacks in places like Afghanistan (places we currently have troops in active theaters), and then have the document be an obviously fictional short story (have aliens attack, or maybe sand creatures depending on the locale).

      Of course if they crack it, then they don't need to pay.

      And even if you get identified by the Feds, it's not like you were defrauding anyone. You were putting up a "secret" document. That it is of no use or value doesn't deny the fact that it was known by few...

      --
      BlameBillCosby.com
    5. Re: The first rule of Fight Club is ... by NotDrWho · · Score: 1

      Assange? I was talking about Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF chief who made the foolish mistake questioning the primacy of the U.S. dollar. He was publicly arrested for rape shortly thereafter in what the prosecutor called at "rock solid" case. Then three days after his successor at the IMF took office, all charges were dropped.

      Don't fuck with the CIA.

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    6. Re: The first rule of Fight Club is ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lol you walked right into that. Was gonna warn ya, but it would have ruined the suspense.

  8. Honey Pot by theArtificial · · Score: 4, Informative

    As we've all learned, everything on the internet is safe in 2015. I wonder who comes up with the idea and subsequently sponsors these projects? Some Agent Smith, some execufuck, someone with good intentions and a subtly flawed technical execution? Seems a good idea on the surface (for capturing squealers), just let the operation go for a year or two and then zing. Governments are good at those kinds of projects.

    --
    Man blir trött av att gå och göra ingenting.
    1. Re:Honey Pot by westlake · · Score: 1

      I wonder who comes up with the idea and subsequently sponsors these projects? Some Agent Smith, some execufuck, someone with good intentions and a subtly flawed technical execution?

      More likely it's just another a Dread Pirate Roberts --- not far distant from a real-life caricature of Boris Grishenko and with just enough money to finance his start-up. Yes! I am invincible!

  9. Backdoor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does the source code come with a backdoor or other malicious features?

    1. Re: Backdoor? by walkerp1 · · Score: 2

      Backdoor? What for? They got you at the front door here.

  10. Whistle-blowers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Usually, whistle-blowers don't sell their secrets on the black market. If they do, they are called seditionists.

  11. Please try it Re:does websense block it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Let us know if that works out for you.

  12. Fixed that... by plcurechax · · Score: 1

    Whistleblowers and those individuals

    Criminals and disgruntled employees...

    Fixed that for you.

    Whistleblowers disclose wrong-doing / misconduct, not profit them (a la blackmail or extortion).

    1. Re:Fixed that... by matbury · · Score: 1

      Yes, don't like how they slipped "whistleblowers" who take great personal risk to do the right thing and bring important issues to the public's attention purely as a civic responsibility and for no personal profit whatsoever (I guess they can sell their story when it's all over though). Despite the Whitehouse's claims to the contrary, whistleblowers aren't criminals, deviants, seditionists, terrorists, or perverted sex fiends.

    2. Re:Fixed that... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 0

      Whistleblowers [wikipedia.org] disclose wrong-doing / misconduct, not profit them (a la blackmail or extortion).

      Exactly. If you're selling stolen information you're not a hero, you're not a freedom-fighter and you're not a cool folk hero. You are a scumbag.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    3. Re:Fixed that... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      whistleblowers aren't criminals, deviants, seditionists, terrorists, or perverted sex fiends.

      Correct. You just described the people who will be using Darkleaks.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    4. Re:Fixed that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (Troll)? I think you offended a scumbag with points..

    5. Re:Fixed that... by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Whistleblowers [wikipedia.org] disclose wrong-doing / misconduct, not profit them (a la blackmail or extortion).

      Exactly. If you're selling stolen information you're not a hero, you're not a freedom-fighter and you're not a cool folk hero. You are a scumbag.

      But I think it needs to be reiterated that you are not a thief, since you are only copying information, etc.

      This seems to matter to a lot of people here.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  13. Useless by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 3, Informative

    Honeypot or not, the FBI will be all over this. The fact is, sites like this and Wikileaks are no longer useful for this sort of thing. Snowden took it to the next level.

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    1. Re:Useless by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      The fact is, sites like this and Wikileaks are no longer useful for this sort of thing.

      When every major news organization has its own secure drop box, there's less of a need. But there is still a need for an anonymous place for whistleblowers to share leaks with the world. Fortunately, there will be lots of those.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:Useless by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 1

      When every major news organization has its own secure drop box...

      With the knowledge we now have about the level and expertise of the NSA / CIA et al to access most so-called "secure drop boxes", why would any sane person use such a "drop box"?

      --
      If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    3. Re:Useless by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      With the knowledge we now have about the level and expertise of the NSA / CIA et al to access most so-called "secure drop boxes", why would any sane person use such a "drop box"?

      Unless you believe the ongoing Snowden revelations are part of an elaborate false flag operation, there are still precautions that can be taken to get the information out.

      The question is, does selling secrets via bitcoin make us more secure or less secure, as opposed to giving those secrets away, especially through a selected group of trusted journalists, like Bart Gellman, Laura Poitras, etc? You let the journalists make decisions regarding whether information therein put anyone's life in danger, and you build in redundancy by using more than one journalist at more than one news organization.

      You've gotta admit, the system Snowden and Poitras et al designed to get that information public was pretty elegant. Especially in an age of ubiquitous surveillance and endangerment to whistleblowers.

      As I said, if you're responsibly leaking stolen secrets, you're a hero. If you're selling stolen information, you're a scumbag. The profit motive makes all the difference in the world, and completely poisons the well when it's the whistleblower making the profit.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  14. Profit! by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Hm, is anyone interested in the colour of the panties of my GF?

    Or mine, for that matter?

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    1. Re:Profit! by thunderclap · · Score: 1

      Hm, is anyone interested in the colour of the panties of my GF?

      Or mine, for that matter?

      That depends? Is your GF a person of note who is known to the general public and people would have an interest in see this? (like Taylor swift and Jennifer lawrence) Then yes. If not then no. Alot of people were interested in the fappening, not so much the snappening.

    2. Re:Profit! by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Well, would she not be a person of interest after I have posted the colours?

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  15. HOLY DREK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Jackpoint lives!

  16. The PARTYVAN cometh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All hail the partyvan, you busy little bees!