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How a Tax Inspector Used Google Search To Locate the Founder of SilkRoad (bbc.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: You could buy any drug imaginable, wherever you were in the world, on the Silk Road website. Hidden on the dark web, it made millions of dollars every week. The US government had been trying to shut it down for more than two years when tax agent Gary Alford was brought in to try to trace the money which passed through the site.
In his spare time, Gary started searching Google to try to find the mysterious mastermind behind the site: Dread Pirate Roberts. And he was successful. Gary spent hours trawling the internet for the first ever mention of Silk Road. He says he came across a posting on Bitcoin forum. In the post, Roberts had shared his Gmail account. That escalated the investigation. Gary spoke with BBC describing the rest.
No one is going to watch a stupid video for this.
yeah that's the official story
they just dont want to admit they used the same techniques to break in machines as what they are supposed to protect us from , the silkroad bust is as criminal as what was going on on the silkroad
When you first want to unveil something like this, think ahead more. Don't get caught up in the excitement of your creation.
Use a new computer (hint, they're cheap these days, even a Raspberry Pi). Use a browser in the most anonymous mode, within a VM. Connect to the internet using an anonymous WiFi. Create a new account on the forum simply for the unveiling event. Wipe the VM and maybe even the entire computer when you're done. If the computer was a Pi, simply dispose of the SD card. Use a USB WiFi dongle, not the computer's built in WiFI -- and then dispose of the WiFI dongle when done. Use a pre-composed message for your announcement. Make sure it is not in your typical writing style and vocabulary. Don't compose the message on another computer. Maybe on a yellow paper tablet that is easily disposed of.
Maybe that sounds too paranoid. After all, they're not out to get you.
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
Maybe this planet is some other planet's hell. Or prison.
Life in prison is to send a message that this is much worse than rape or murder, for which you won't get such a harsh sentence. This the the worst crime. Defying authority!
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
An amazing story with incredibly researched details, if i may add!
Librarian: I texted my son, "...a bunch of FBI agents just came in and busted a guy." My son knew exactly what Silk Road was! (nervous laugh) I don't know why he knew that.
Comedy gold.
Protect your browser with the Force Safe Search add-on
This the the worst crime. Defying authority!
Not even close. There was credible evidence that DPR tried to order hits on people who he perceived as threats.
I assume the judge had the option to provide a lesser sentence, but if someone is willing to hire a hitman to protect his illegal business---how is he any better than a mob boss? Send him up the river.
Fuck that guy, he deserves to rot. Not for the drugs alone, sure, but he is a piece of shit.
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According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
Yeah, best method is a craigslist laptop running a vm that you destroy. If your paranoid, ditch the laptop afterwards, you can probably sell it again if your careful.
USB tails on a used laptop is pretty hard to trace as well.
Cheap storage VM.
"searching Google to try to find the mysterious mastermind behind the site: Dread Pirate Roberts."
Inconceivable!
You could buy any drug imaginable, wherever you were in the world, on the Silk Road website.
Yeah. Or so they claim.
What there is evidence of is that law enforcement and informants created a threat, and a means of addressing that threat, which DPR utilized. So, he order a fake murder for a fake threat under extreme duress created by law enforcement.
From a utilitarian perspective, had all of the above been real, it would have still been the ethical choice. Compared to the meatspace black market, the lives that he paid to end are rounding errors. The threats were effectively holding the safety and freedom of many others hostage.
Yes, I realize saying that makes me sound like a cold, calculating bastard. Law enforcement, particular vice, is not about warm and fuzzies either, and often fails to take into consideration the total harm (since, if they did, they'd quickly find the best option is to do nothing, which is bad for their long term employment).
This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
At first I thought it TOR's front page, and can vouch for the abundance of drugs; mostly kids selling their Adderall.
From a technical standpoint, Amazon isn't particularly exceptional as a website, or at least it wasn't until it had enough volume that major innovations were needed to handle the load.
Being a large presence on the internet often consists of creating the first "good enough" site for a particular niche.
This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
I caved in and did video tutorials, because trying to support people as they read the monitor to me word by word ("File"..."Edit"..."View"...) was going to give me a stroke.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
Can slashdot just go ahead and ban self-promotion/shilling in posts?
It's really god damn annoying, take your yard-sale somewhere else.
Can slashdot just go ahead and ban self-promotion/shilling in posts?
Take it up with management. Bitching in the comments won't change anything.
It's really god damn annoying, take your yard-sale somewhere else.
Feel free to go somewhere else, as I'm not violating the Slashdot TOS.
I'm not falling for it. I don't read the articles. Did you think having the articles read themselves to me would work any better?
OMG facts!