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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 22,690
Campfire Ranger
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OP
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 22,690 |
Turns out the primary market for them (the TOR black market site The Silk Road) has been shut down. Bitcoin value has dropped from $138 to $80 in the last 8 hours. Fascinating story of ineptitude (and likely NSA snooping fed to the FBI) in the founder's downfall. Even funnier: the FBI seized the site and all it's BitCoin accounts (some $4,000,000 worth) of the drug dealer user accounts. Many of them shipped out drugs they now can't get paid for and others paid for drugs they can't now get. read it all on reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/SilkRoad/
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 16,740
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 16,740 |
That whole reddit thread was an eye opening read. I just find it amusing that folks who knew so much about encryption believed the Feds couldn't read their mail.
A government is the most dangerous threat to man�s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims.
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 22,690
Campfire Ranger
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OP
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 22,690 |
or that they bought stuff with PGP encrypted bitcoin accoutns, then had it mailed to their unencrypted real address.
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 11,114
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 11,114 |
According to well placed sources, the federal government could disencrypt PGP files in about 15 minutes, with resources that existed 15-20 years ago.
They carried on quite a disinformation campaign, bellyaching because they couldn't penetrate the code, and a lot of people thought they were safe when they used it. Well, that was the point.
There have been recent advances in cryptography that make even the best ciphers much easier to break.
I do know of one "left field" system that is probably less vulnerable, but that is no sure thing.
I suppose you could frustrate someone by encrypting a table of random numbers....
Last edited by denton; 10/02/13.
Be not weary in well doing.
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 22,690
Campfire Ranger
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OP
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 22,690 |
from what I've read on the TOR / .onion service , if it's done correctly (best practices) it's virtually impossible the be traced either on the input or output feed (it's legitimately used for reporting, etc in non-free countries).
this breaks down though when you use a public key linked to a fake email address linked to your real name on a clearnet server.
D'oH !!!
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 17,230
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 17,230 |
...Actually Sycamore, you are sort of right....
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 17,230
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 17,230 |
...Actually Sycamore, you are sort of right....
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 13,234
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 13,234 |
NSA and the international bankers. What could go wrong?
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 4,776
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 4,776 |
The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment. � WARREN G. BENNIS
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,903
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,903 |
They're like the old Pokemon tokens.
Ken
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 131,531
Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 131,531 |
Never understood the appeal of bit coin. Its vulnerabilities always seemed obvious to me.
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 46,243
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 46,243 |
Glad I don't know anyone that damn stupid to invest in chicanery such as this.
Gunner
Trump Won!
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 18,453
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 18,453 |
Nothing more than the domestic version of "off shore" banking. What a shock that drug dealers utilized them.
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 23,405
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 23,405 |
Sounds like something Al Gore would come up with.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,371
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,371 |
As much as it may have turned out badly and all the 20/20 hindsight quarterbacks can crow about it, I applaud the idea of trying to find a currency that the government can't trace.
Anything to f*ck with the Feds and their oversight of every minute detail of our lives is all right by me.
So, all you computer nerds, get back to the drawing board and find something that does work.
Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery. Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 18,453
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 18,453 |
Yup.....what could have possibly gone wrong with untraceable and un-taxable currency.
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 34,261
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 34,261 |
Never understood the appeal of bit coin. Its vulnerabilities always seemed obvious to me. Me either but than I could never understand BitCoin anyway. Beyond this slide rule mind.
Don't vote knothead, it only encourages them. Anonymous
"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups." Anonymous
"Self-reliance, free thinking, and wealth is anathema to both the power of the State and the Church." Derby Dude
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 4,016
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 4,016 |
Never understood the appeal of bit coin. Its vulnerabilities always seemed obvious to me. Yeah, imagine a token that had value only because everyone that used it agreed it had value...
Democracy is not freedom. Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for lunch. Freedom comes from the recognition of certain rights which may not be taken, not even by a 99% vote. *Marvin Simkin* L.A. Times (1992)
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 18,453
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 18,453 |
Never understood the appeal of bit coin. Its vulnerabilities always seemed obvious to me. Me either but than I could never understand BitCoin anyway. Beyond this slide rule mind. Think of it as a Gift Card that can become worthless before you ever get a chance to use it.
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,507
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,507 |
Never understood the appeal of bit coin. Its vulnerabilities always seemed obvious to me. Yeah, imagine a token that had value only because everyone that used it agreed it had value... Like the dollar?
"Live like you'll die tomorrow, but manage your grass like you'll live forever." -S. M. Stirling
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