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How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps

nytimes.com

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Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps

#31

Post by 0xCMP »

chris_va wrote: post #17

> To make sure his phone wasn’t keeping a record of everywhere he’d been — and potentially transmitting it to apps he was using — he turned off all its geolocation services. ... Of course, IMEI tracking (from tower registration) can get you pretty much all of this data anyway. This article is more about how to partially obfuscate your identity to private actors. It would be interesting to know how fast a professional…

You'd need the IMEI from either knowing the LLC or knowing his location and successfully recording it, no?

So maybe, like parent said, track him at an in-person conference appearance?

Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps

#32

Post by cypherpunks01 »

SilasX wrote: post #26
ilamont wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article said it was possible to register an LLC in those states without a name, and the CC is (apparently) tied to the LLC, not the owner or employee.

But they still record the name of the person who registers it, right? It's not like they'll find a homicide tied to a CC and then be like, "oh, the CC is in the name of an ownerless corporation, I guess we're out of luck".

The article is slightly vague on this point. It says NV/WY/NM "don’t require corporations to record their owner", but that is not really accurate.

The owners are recorded when the LLCs are filed with the secretary of state, however these states are simply willing to keep the identities of the owners private, without publishing them as most other states do. As in most other states, you do need a Registered Agent, but you can delegate this to an attorney or company who serves to receive legal notices, correspondence, etc.

If there is any type of law enforcement investigation of the company, police would simply go to the secretary of state to determine the owners.

Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps

#33

Post by tetra_proxy »

SilasX wrote: post #26
ilamont wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article said it was possible to register an LLC in those states without a name, and the CC is (apparently) tied to the LLC, not the owner or employee.

But they still record the name of the person who registers it, right? It's not like they'll find a homicide tied to a CC and then be like, "oh, the CC is in the name of an ownerless corporation, I guess we're out of luck".

Not all Corp credit cards record the name of the person registering them. The ones my company uses are all tied to the company and we internally manage keeping up with who has what.

Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps

#34

Post by mLuby »

chris_va wrote: post #17

> To make sure his phone wasn’t keeping a record of everywhere he’d been — and potentially transmitting it to apps he was using — he turned off all its geolocation services. ... Of course, IMEI tracking (from tower registration) can get you pretty much all of this data anyway. This article is more about how to partially obfuscate your identity to private actors. It would be interesting to know how fast a professional…

Satellite phone + satellite GPS would be better, right? Since money is apparently no object…

Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps

#35

Post by X6S1x6Okd1st »

badideaprojects wrote: post #27

It just all seems like cosplay. Time, expense and inconvience in order to gain anonimity from casual twitter followers? Will this protect him against a slightly funded and half motivated actor? Probably not. “Announcing Jameson Lopp as a speaker at Baltic Honeybadger 2019 Bitcoin conference #bh2019, (link: https://bh2019.hodlhodl.com ) bh2019.hodlhodl.com” https://twitter.com/hodlhodl/status/1099286199783481350 Unles…

The article started out with him being swatted. If your threat model includes anyone that can obtain your address and the lack of morals to swat someone then the steps listed above should work fine.

Going to a physical location and kidnapping is something far above the event that motivated the change.

Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps

#36

Post by [deleted] »

SilasX wrote: post #26
ilamont wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article said it was possible to register an LLC in those states without a name, and the CC is (apparently) tied to the LLC, not the owner or employee.

But they still record the name of the person who registers it, right? It's not like they'll find a homicide tied to a CC and then be like, "oh, the CC is in the name of an ownerless corporation, I guess we're out of luck".

[deleted]

Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps

#37

Post by SilasX »

tetra_proxy wrote: post #33
SilasX wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But they still record the name of the person who registers it, right? It's not like they'll find a homicide tied to a CC and then be like, "oh, the CC is in the name of an ownerless corporation, I guess we're out of luck".

Not all Corp credit cards record the name of the person registering them. The ones my company uses are all tied to the company and we internally manage keeping up with who has what.

I meant registering the corporation, not the CC.

Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps

#38

Post by stcredzero »

badideaprojects wrote: post #27

It just all seems like cosplay. Time, expense and inconvience in order to gain anonimity from casual twitter followers? Will this protect him against a slightly funded and half motivated actor? Probably not. “Announcing Jameson Lopp as a speaker at Baltic Honeybadger 2019 Bitcoin conference #bh2019, (link: https://bh2019.hodlhodl.com ) bh2019.hodlhodl.com” https://twitter.com/hodlhodl/status/1099286199783481350 Unles…

Will this protect him against a slightly funded and half motivated actor? Probably not.

There is a large contingent of online craptivists who won't be bright enough or motivated enough to get to him, and the ones who are bright enough and motivated enough will probably be more interested in other people.

just follow him or grab him there

At least he's crossed the threshold of people having to do that.

"I don't need to outrun the bear. I just need to outrun you."

Re: How a Bitcoin Evangelist Made Himself Vanish, in 15 Not So Easy Steps

#40

Post by stcredzero »

cypherpunks01 wrote: post #32
SilasX wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But they still record the name of the person who registers it, right? It's not like they'll find a homicide tied to a CC and then be like, "oh, the CC is in the name of an ownerless corporation, I guess we're out of luck".

The article is slightly vague on this point. It says NV/WY/NM "don’t require corporations to record their owner", but that is not really accurate. The owners are recorded when the LLCs are filed with the secretary of state, however these states are simply willing to keep the identities of the owners private, without publishing them as most other states do. As in most other states, you do need a Registered Agent, but…

The owners are recorded when the LLCs are filed with the secretary of state, however these states are simply willing to keep the identities of the owners private

How hackable/social engineering proof are these state agencies? How likely is it that they are already compromised by people acting as resources for federal and non-governmental organizations?

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