4 ms·

> no one wants to discuss exactly what bug supposedly spat out the IP address I haven't really followed this case too closely, so what exactly are you hinting

by defen 8y ago

> no one wants to discuss exactly what bug supposedly spat out the IP address I haven't really followed this case too closely, so what exactly are you hinting at here? That the government possibly used NSA / national-security-level exploits to figure out who DPR was? That there was some level of parallel construction / evidence laundering?

gwern 8y ago
The DEA does use parallel-construction, and the FBI does recruit computer security researchers for attacks (the CMU CERT attack on SR2) and hand-me-down NSA exploits (and against Tor specifically), so neither of those is remotely far-fetched. And SR1 was a priority target. We may never know what really happened; the whole Bridges/Force corruption thing, for example, is so wild no one could have dreamed it up. However, from the descriptions like Nick Bilton's article/book puffpiece, I think it's somewhat likely (and more probable than NSA tech) that Tarbell did some unauthorized (and likely illegal) personal hacking and that's the kernel of truth behind his BS 'I was just typing in some random stuff and the server spat out an IP address at me!' story - SR1 was not very securely coded. Had this come out, it would've led to some serious evidence-tainting problems for the prosecutors because it affects everything downstream: the Iceland server, the SF IP address, the Pennsylvania backups, and finally Ross's unencrypted laptop in SF.
- ct520 8y ago
  Parrallel re construction should be out lawed. How the heck do you defend against a lie after the fact. You could never challenge using the fruits of a poisonous tree method. Dirty dirty federal government move.
  - chimeracoder 8y ago
    > Parrallel re construction should be out lawed. Parallel construction is, by definition, illegal (it's covering up illegal behavior in order to introduce evidence in court illegally). The trouble is that it's difficult to identify and prove.
    - ct520 8y ago
      Yet this is exactly what they preach... smh https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2014/feb/03/dea-parallel-construction-guides/ https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2014/feb/03/dea-paral...
gregsadetsky 8y ago
See this post/discussion about the parallel construction hypothesis: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8404511 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8404511

by defen 8y ago

gwern 8y ago

The DEA does use parallel-construction, and the FBI does recruit computer security researchers for attacks (the CMU CERT attack on SR2) and hand-me-down NSA exploits (and against Tor specifically), so neither of those is remotely far-fetched. And SR1 was a priority target. We may never know what really happened; the whole Bridges/Force corruption thing, for example, is so wild no one could have dreamed it up. However, from the descriptions like Nick Bilton's article/book puffpiece, I think it's somewhat likely (and more probable than NSA tech) that Tarbell did some unauthorized (and likely illegal) personal hacking and that's the kernel of truth behind his BS 'I was just typing in some random stuff and the server spat out an IP address at me!' story - SR1 was not very securely coded. Had this come out, it would've led to some serious evidence-tainting problems for the prosecutors because it affects everything downstream: the Iceland server, the SF IP address, the Pennsylvania backups, and finally Ross's unencrypted laptop in SF.

ct520 8y ago
Parrallel re construction should be out lawed. How the heck do you defend against a lie after the fact. You could never challenge using the fruits of a poisonous tree method. Dirty dirty federal government move.
- chimeracoder 8y ago
  > Parrallel re construction should be out lawed. Parallel construction is, by definition, illegal (it's covering up illegal behavior in order to introduce evidence in court illegally). The trouble is that it's difficult to identify and prove.
  - ct520 8y ago
    Yet this is exactly what they preach... smh https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2014/feb/03/dea-parallel-construction-guides/ https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2014/feb/03/dea-paral...

gregsadetsky 8y ago

See this post/discussion about the parallel construction hypothesis: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8404511 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8404511