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I went through the evidence portion of this (page 24 onwards) and found that inspite of a pretty deep look into everything there isn't much to tie this guy to t

by ashray 13y ago

I went through the evidence portion of this (page 24 onwards) and found that inspite of a pretty deep look into everything there isn't much to tie this guy to the Silk Road operation. There are a few things that could tie them together: - The fact that the SSH KEY on the server was for frosty@frosty.com which was the same thing he changed his Stackoverflow profile to.. - The fact that he asked on stackoverflow how to curl over tor - The fact that he apparently tried to promote Silk Road on two forums This stuff certainly points towards him being the guy, but is this evidence enough ? <BreakingBadSPOILER>And I'm asking this 'cause Jessie's video confession to Hank wasn't enough to get Walt... </BreakingBadSPOILER> What the document tantalizingly avoids is how they managed to find out where the Silk Road servers are. It mysteriously states that there are several Silk Road servers around the world and the FBI gained access and got an image of the server through cooperation with one of the hosts. How did they get to the servers behind the Tor network ? This is a very interesting technical question and honestly, I'm impressed. Following the whole Kim Dotcom debacle I'd like to see how this seriously loaded ($90MM) guy progresses through the justice system.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
ceejayoz 13y ago
I'd imagine the hard evidence connecting him comes from the raids. They clearly managed to locate the hardware the site was running on, and it's going to be a bit harder to hide connections to that.
- ashray 13y ago
  He was apparently really careful about connecting to the server. The docs state that he logged in through a VPN provider and he logged into the VPN provider at an internet cafe (which was apparently close to his house). However, the document doesn't seem to state who the VPN provider was or if he was the customer tied to the VPN account (probably avoids this info because the VPN is account is in someone else's name). So again, can't prove via this route that it was him. I'm curious to know how they managed to find the Silk Road server though..
  - ceejayoz 13y ago
    I'd be shocked if they don't have photos/video of him at the internet cafe showing his screen. I'd imagine he's been under surveillance a while.
  - tikums 13y ago
    "He was apparently really careful about connecting to the server. " That is not, by any measure, careful. That's awful OPSEC, and what got him in the end. He thought Tor to be inconveniently "slow", and used VPN instead.
jiggy2011 13y ago
Thanks for the spoiler!
ds9 13y ago
"I'd like to see how this seriously loaded ($90MM) guy progresses through the justice system" It won't help him if the US can seize the money - they do so whenever possible, to prevent defendants from affording a competent defence.
- ashray 13y ago
  His money is in bitcoins. Not sure if they'll be able to seize it but that would be an interesting situation in itself.
  - corin_ 13y ago
    Do you mean technically, in which case perhaps difficult, but if they've managed to track him down and take the site offline then it may well be possible, or legally, in which case surely it's no different than if a drug dealer kept his drug profits stored in gold bars rather than bank notes, and they'll still confiscate them.
- tptacek 13y ago
  Explain to me, game-theoretically, what the public policy answer is for prosecuting criminal conspiracies who have amassed enormous fortunes from their crimes?
  - rsanders 13y ago
    Alleged criminal conspiracies. If the prosecution of an alleged criminal is undermined by his being able to afford competent defense, we've got a bigger public policy issue.
    - tptacek 13y ago
      I stipulate that a practice of deliberately undermining defenses is problematic, but that doesn't respond to my question. What's the right public policy? Let's shift the frame to someone unsympathetic at the head of a lucrative conspiracy --- a murderous cartel, say, or an arms dealer.
ctdonath 13y ago
Aphorism: "If you owe the bank $100,000 that's your problem. If you owe the bank $100,000,000 that's the bank's problem." As such, I'm sure there are a lot of influential people interested in keeping this guy out of prison.
justinjlynn 13y ago
You know... spoilers mate. <BreakingBadSpoiler>...</BreakingBadSpoiler>. I thought you just wanted me to read it in the context of the program's universe. sigh
- justinjlynn 13y ago
  Thanks for updating your post's tags mate. I really appreciate it.
  - ashray 13y ago
    Hey no worries. Thanks for pointing it out, I just (wrongly) assumed that since the show was over everyone around the world had watched it. But definitely go ahead and get to it because it's incredible :D The parallels between the show and what just happened with this Ross guy are pretty mind blowing.. ($80MM is a key point, then the fact about him turning from a 'nice justice oriented dude' to a total bad guy)
    - justinjlynn 13y ago
      Actually, I'm right in the middle of season 3. I like to wait for a series to end before I watch it all at once (I can't stand waiting for serials) especially if other people say it's a great series (which it is). The hard part is avoiding spoilers -- there are heaps online! I'm looking forward to finishing it. Based on what I hear it's a really great closing.
    - hoka 13y ago
      I was glancing down through the comments and caught the whole first sentence before processing the breakingbadspoiler tag. Might want to change it completely..or just remove it. Is the show still worth watching knowing what I saw? I had Six Feet Under spoiled for me in a similar manner :-(
      - pauldino 13y ago
        > Is the show still worth watching knowing what I saw? Yes.
skwirl 13y ago
There's certainly enough there for a search and an arrest, which is what has happened so far. If he is actually guilty, unless he was very careful (which so far, it sounds like he was not) with him in jail and access to his property the evidence against him is only going to increase.
runn1ng 13y ago
Real life is not so overly complicated as Breaking Bad plot.
wiredfool 13y ago
The intercepted fake ids too -- After being observed requesting them.
Aloisius 13y ago
> Following the whole Kim Dotcom debacle I'd like to see how this seriously loaded ($90MM) guy progresses through the justice system. He has been living in the Mission for $1000/month with roommates. I doubt he's liquid. Cashing out that many bitcoins is hard, doing it anonymously is harder and then laundering it so that you can deposit it a bank account harder still. I can't even imagine what kind of scheme is necessary to do that. You can't just claim your local business somehow made $40 million in cash this year.
mattdeboard 13y ago
You can't just put a fucking breaking bad spoiler in your comment surrounded by pretend markup like that. Jesus christ.

by ashray 13y ago

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

ceejayoz 13y ago

I'd imagine the hard evidence connecting him comes from the raids. They clearly managed to locate the hardware the site was running on, and it's going to be a bit harder to hide connections to that.

ashray 13y ago
He was apparently really careful about connecting to the server. The docs state that he logged in through a VPN provider and he logged into the VPN provider at an internet cafe (which was apparently close to his house). However, the document doesn't seem to state who the VPN provider was or if he was the customer tied to the VPN account (probably avoids this info because the VPN is account is in someone else's name). So again, can't prove via this route that it was him. I'm curious to know how they managed to find the Silk Road server though..
- ceejayoz 13y ago
  I'd be shocked if they don't have photos/video of him at the internet cafe showing his screen. I'd imagine he's been under surveillance a while.
- tikums 13y ago
  "He was apparently really careful about connecting to the server. " That is not, by any measure, careful. That's awful OPSEC, and what got him in the end. He thought Tor to be inconveniently "slow", and used VPN instead.

jiggy2011 13y ago

Thanks for the spoiler!

ds9 13y ago

"I'd like to see how this seriously loaded ($90MM) guy progresses through the justice system" It won't help him if the US can seize the money - they do so whenever possible, to prevent defendants from affording a competent defence.

ashray 13y ago
His money is in bitcoins. Not sure if they'll be able to seize it but that would be an interesting situation in itself.
- corin_ 13y ago
  Do you mean technically, in which case perhaps difficult, but if they've managed to track him down and take the site offline then it may well be possible, or legally, in which case surely it's no different than if a drug dealer kept his drug profits stored in gold bars rather than bank notes, and they'll still confiscate them.
tptacek 13y ago
Explain to me, game-theoretically, what the public policy answer is for prosecuting criminal conspiracies who have amassed enormous fortunes from their crimes?
- rsanders 13y ago
  Alleged criminal conspiracies. If the prosecution of an alleged criminal is undermined by his being able to afford competent defense, we've got a bigger public policy issue.
  - tptacek 13y ago
    I stipulate that a practice of deliberately undermining defenses is problematic, but that doesn't respond to my question. What's the right public policy? Let's shift the frame to someone unsympathetic at the head of a lucrative conspiracy --- a murderous cartel, say, or an arms dealer.

ctdonath 13y ago

Aphorism: "If you owe the bank $100,000 that's your problem. If you owe the bank $100,000,000 that's the bank's problem." As such, I'm sure there are a lot of influential people interested in keeping this guy out of prison.

justinjlynn 13y ago

You know... spoilers mate. <BreakingBadSpoiler>...</BreakingBadSpoiler>. I thought you just wanted me to read it in the context of the program's universe. sigh

justinjlynn 13y ago
Thanks for updating your post's tags mate. I really appreciate it.
- ashray 13y ago
  Hey no worries. Thanks for pointing it out, I just (wrongly) assumed that since the show was over everyone around the world had watched it. But definitely go ahead and get to it because it's incredible :D The parallels between the show and what just happened with this Ross guy are pretty mind blowing.. ($80MM is a key point, then the fact about him turning from a 'nice justice oriented dude' to a total bad guy)
  - justinjlynn 13y ago
    Actually, I'm right in the middle of season 3. I like to wait for a series to end before I watch it all at once (I can't stand waiting for serials) especially if other people say it's a great series (which it is). The hard part is avoiding spoilers -- there are heaps online! I'm looking forward to finishing it. Based on what I hear it's a really great closing.
  - hoka 13y ago
    I was glancing down through the comments and caught the whole first sentence before processing the breakingbadspoiler tag. Might want to change it completely..or just remove it. Is the show still worth watching knowing what I saw? I had Six Feet Under spoiled for me in a similar manner :-(
    - pauldino 13y ago
      > Is the show still worth watching knowing what I saw? Yes.

skwirl 13y ago

There's certainly enough there for a search and an arrest, which is what has happened so far. If he is actually guilty, unless he was very careful (which so far, it sounds like he was not) with him in jail and access to his property the evidence against him is only going to increase.

runn1ng 13y ago

Real life is not so overly complicated as Breaking Bad plot.

wiredfool 13y ago

The intercepted fake ids too -- After being observed requesting them.

Aloisius 13y ago

> Following the whole Kim Dotcom debacle I'd like to see how this seriously loaded ($90MM) guy progresses through the justice system. He has been living in the Mission for $1000/month with roommates. I doubt he's liquid. Cashing out that many bitcoins is hard, doing it anonymously is harder and then laundering it so that you can deposit it a bank account harder still. I can't even imagine what kind of scheme is necessary to do that. You can't just claim your local business somehow made $40 million in cash this year.

mattdeboard 13y ago

You can't just put a fucking breaking bad spoiler in your comment surrounded by pretend markup like that. Jesus christ.