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Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

fbi.gov

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Re: Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

#2

Post by crazypyro »

I think this is the money quote:

"During the Government’s investigation, which was conducted jointly by the FBI and HSI, an HSI agent acting in an undercover capacity (the “HSI-UC”) successfully infiltrated the support staff involved in the administration of the Silk Road 2.0 website, and was given access to private, restricted areas of the site reserved for BENTHALL and his administrative staff. By doing so, the HSI-UC was able to interact directly with BENTHALL throughout his operation of the website."

So I assume this means they were able to infiltrate the community and there was possibly no unauthorized break necessary on the actual technology stack. It does lead one to question how they drew the final line between Benthall and his online persona, unless the undercover agent was also given access to financial information or other personally identifiable info. Maybe they even placed a malicious program on the server to target Benthall after they had control of a support backend. Interesting to see if that is all that comes out....

Re: Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

#4

Post by MrDrone »

crazypyro wrote: post #2

I think this is the money quote: "During the Government’s investigation, which was conducted jointly by the FBI and HSI, an HSI agent acting in an undercover capacity (the “HSI-UC”) successfully infiltrated the support staff involved in the administration of the Silk Road 2.0 website, and was given access to private, restricted areas of the site reserved for BENTHALL and his administrative staff. By doing so, the HSI…

Its been hinted that they'll be busting other Tor marketplaces in the next day or so. I wonder if they were similarly infiltrated and what effect that will have on the community.

Re: Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

#5

Post by ChuckMcM »

Maybe the title should be, "FBI Announces Silk Road 3.0" :-) And I agree, folks seem to be running these things out of the US rather than out of say the Cayman islands or Belize where is it easier to level the playing field with respect to the authorities.

Re: Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

#7

Post by eksith »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #5

Maybe the title should be, "FBI Announces Silk Road 3.0" :-) And I agree, folks seem to be running these things out of the US rather than out of say the Cayman islands or Belize where is it easier to level the playing field with respect to the authorities.

I'm not so sure. There have been offshore gambling sites (sports, poker etc...) that have been shut down before with the cooperation of local authorities, although not always easily. They may see revenue for local industry as a nice plus, but not so nice as to risk the ire of the U.S. govt.

In the end, your allies offshore may only be as loyal as the force they're willing to ignore. And your friends may only be as trustworthy as the information you choose to share with them.

Edit: Link to that poker takedown news http://www.covers.com/articles/articles.aspx?theArt=234980

Re: Operator of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged in Manhattan Federal Court

#8

Post by psykovsky »

MrDrone wrote: post #4
crazypyro wrote: post #2

I think this is the money quote: "During the Government’s investigation, which was conducted jointly by the FBI and HSI, an HSI agent acting in an undercover capacity (the “HSI-UC”) successfully infiltrated the support staff involved in the administration of the Silk Road 2.0 website, and was given access to private, restricted areas of the site reserved for BENTHALL and his administrative staff. By doing so, the HSI…

Its been hinted that they'll be busting other Tor marketplaces in the next day or so. I wonder if they were similarly infiltrated and what effect that will have on the community.

On the community I have no idea, but I imagine the next reincarnation of these type of markets will have to be managed by lone wolfs out of a cave in Afghanistan.
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