Onymous Mega Thread (Upvote for visibility!)

PRO-TIP: MOVE ALL BTC OFF OF MARKETS TO HELIX OR BTC FOG! PRO-TIP (EDIT: AND THEN TO COLD STORAGE! DONT FORGET THAT PART)

So some crazy shit is unfolding right now.

Please discuss Onymous and everything going on right now. Please comment with any links to include in this post (it will be updated and edited just like my cantina mega thread).

C9 and Hydra down? (Someone give me a link up in here)


Comments


[103 Points] None:

  1. Based on review of records provided by the service provider for the Silk Road 2.0 server, I have discovered that the server was controlled and maintained during the relevant time by an individual using the email account "blake@benthall.net"

He signed up for the server hosting using his own personal fucking e-mail. LOL

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to.....


[55 Points] AlyoshaV:

SR2, Hydra, and Cloud 9 are currently displaying seized notices.

The admin of The Hub put out a notice last night (? dunno timezone) to pull your money out of SR2, tried to post it on the SR Forums but unsurprisingly his post was deleted and account locked (site was temporarily run by police while seizing everything, as usual)


[51 Points] None:

[deleted]


[38 Points] BurnItDown23:

I'm going to put in an extra few orders today. Won't even encrypt my address.

You know what? I hope I get arrested. I hope all of us do. I hope they run around arresting everyone. I hope we fill up the already overburdened prison system and then some.

Three square meals a day? No responsibility? Fucking sign me up you pricks.

There will eventually be more people inside prison than out... Since LE is so good at cooperating internationally, they can do the same thing with the prison systems. We'll all be put in one giant international prison for horrible, dangerous drug users. Best to keep us away from society, we might screw it all up.

Not to fret: with the shear amount of us in prison, there will surely be a wide variety of people. Probably some doctors, engineers, cooks, welders, mothers, artists, chemists, etc.. Eventually, we'll have a wide enough variety of specialties that our own internal society will start to form. It might be slow at first, but as we smuggle in supplies gradually, eventually the welders will be welding together metal into usable girders, while carpenters can scrap together some homes that the engineers design.

A makeshift city will build up, as infrastructure will, slowly but surely, be scrapped together from found materials and smuggled items. You've seen how resourceful prisoners can be!

We may eventually get makeshift electricity and makeshift running water in our makeshift homes. Some rudimentary TV's, with our own broadcasting station displaying the prison news of the day. Perhaps someone will fashion a satellite dish to hijack HBO as well.

A small group of computer engineers will use smuggled computer components to assemble networks and further develop infrastructure. Soon enough we'll be playing a homebrew version of Call of Duty over LAN and chatting on a bootlegged AIM.

Someone will get the idea to host a site for trade amongst us prisoners, and our veritable intranet will expand. The chemists will, by this point, have synthesized psychoactives and they will be traded for goods, eventually spreading to the trading site, and people will get drugs delivered right to their front door with the click of a mouse!

Maybe then they will finally leave us the fuck alone.


[38 Points] None:

I bet buying the Tesla is what really pissed off the Feds.


[36 Points] pscifi:

The fact that theyre concluding this operation within 24 is absolute bullshit. Even if Onymous is concluding today I have no doubts there are other operations still ongoing. Don't get comfortable and don't believe any of the bullshit the FBI spreads to make us feel safe. No one is safe. Be careful guys.


[28 Points] gkrizek:

Everyone should go read the court documents pertaining to this SR2 seizure. Very insightful.

From what they claim, they have a lot against Blake. Supposedly he used the email 'blake@benthall.net' as the contact to the server provider.

For someone that is the leader of a huge darknet market that is a huge mistake. It makes me wonder how true the FBIs accusations are.

Every time they take down these people it is because of some obvious mistake they made. To me, the slip ups these guys have done are way too amateur for their roles in these markets.

When Ross Ulbricht got arrested they 'had' evidence that they thought could possibly link him to it. Now in this case, Blake's name is practically on the server itself so they say. It just all seems to beginner for these kinds of people. I feel Ross has a shot to dodge the claims but if what they have against Blake is true, he will have a much harder time fighting it.

The document also fails to mention how they found the SR2 server, which is obviously a huge part of the case. (Like it is in the original SR case) There are still tons of questions to be answered obviously but things are a little off with this I would say. Just like the first.

No one should trust a word of what the FBI says. They will lie and cheat to put anyone behind bars for something as big as this. Imagine how stupid they look when so many markets are going so strong.


[26 Points] gwern:

Hey, you'd be an uncover agent too if you had to work for Defcon - he paid a shitty salary:

35. Defcon has also been responsible for paying compensation - including salaries and bonuses - the support staff. The HSI-UC, for example, has received regular payments from Defcon since on or about January 23, 2014 - approximately 16 payments in total, amounting to approximately 83.39 Bitcoins (the equivalent of approximately $32,189 in United States currency based on current exchange rates).


[20 Points] None:

[deleted]


[20 Points] gwern:

Well, looks like we now know why DrClu resigned and told us we were being lied to: according to the complaint (pg16-18), SR2 was - get this - hacked again this September.

33. Defcon's control over the proceeds generated from Silk Road is further evidenced by other communications of Defcon observed by the HSI-UC, in which Defcon demonstrated intimate knowledge of those proceeds. Those communications indicate that, by in or about October 2014, Silk Road 2.0 was generating at least approximately $8 million in monthly sales and at least $400,000 in monthly commissions. Specifically:

a. On or about September 10, 2014 and September 11, 2014, Defcon sent a series of messages to his support staff, reporting, in sum and substance, that a computer hacker had stolen all of the Bitcoins from the Silk Road 2.0 marketplace server. Defcon's messages indicated that the stolen funds had been held on the Silk Road 2.0 server to cover user balances available for withdrawal.

b. On or about September 10, 2014, Defcon provided his support staff with the Bitcoin address where he believed the hacker had transferred the stolen funds to ("Bitcoin Address-1"). I have checked publicly available information on the Blockchain regarding Bitcoin Address-1, which indicates that, on or about September 10, 2014, hundreds of transfers were made to that address, for a total of approximately 2,987.8 Bitcoins, the equivalent of approximately $1,412,000 in United States currency based on the prevailing exchange rate that day.

c. In the immediate wake of the purported Bitcoin theft, the Silk Road 2.0 marketplace was temporarily closed.

d. On or about September 11, 2014, Defcon had an online conversation with the HSI-UC, in which he discussed, in sum and substance, his intention to reopen the Silk Road 2.0 marketplace, and his plan to recoup the deficit of Bitcoins that had been stolen from Silk Road 2.0. Specifically, Defcon confirmed that the site needed to recoup approximately 2,900 Bitcoins to cover the loss, and stated that he intended to donate approximately 1,000 of his own Bitcoins to return liquidity to Silk Road 2.0 ("I'm planning to throw my 1000 BTC to kickstart the thing.") Defcon further acknowledged that the site had approximately 150,000 monthly active users ("We have 150,000 monthly active users. That's why we have to save this thing."). The HSI-UC asked how long it would take to recover from the theft, and Defcon replied that it would take approximately three months' worth of commission payments, if sales on Silk Road 2.0 continued at a steady rate ("Three months if sales continue at current pace and we don't bottom out"). Thus, Defcon appears to have expected Silk Road 2.0 to generate approximately $6 million in monthly sales over the next three months, which would have resulted in commissions over that three-month period totaling approximately $900,000 - equal to approximately 1,900 Bitcoins at the then-prevailing exchange rate. [This estimate is based on the conservative assumption that Defcon was only referring to overcoming a deficit of 1,900 Bitcoins (subtracting the 1,000 Bitcoins he said he would donate). Given the commission rate of five percent charged on Silk Road 2.0 at the time, it would have required approximately $6 million in monthly sales over a three-month period to generate sufficient commissions to recover this amount.]

e. Approximately one month later, on or about October 10, 2014, Defcon posted a message to a part of the SR2 Forum exclusively available to the Silk Road 2.0 support staff, in which he indicated that the site had recouped 1,000 Bitcoins since the September 10, 2014 hack. Accordingly, it appears that the website had exceeded Defcon's expectations and generated over $400,000 in commissions and, correspondingly, over $8 million in sales, over the past month, based on the prevailing Bitcoin exchange rate from September 10 to October 10, 2014.

EDIT: https://www.reddit.com/r/SilkRoad/comments/2g3d48/okay_now_this_is_fucked_up_i_think_they_got/


[20 Points] drpnit:

Ok, the question now becomes: is this it? If SR2 and a few other smaller markets were seized, along with just one vendor arrested, then that it not such a huge deal. I feel bad for those that lost coins, but SR2 was just waiting to die.

However -- is the other show going to drop? If LE really missed Agora and Evo, that's a huge fail for them. What are the chances that they go down today, along with a spate of more major vendor arrests?

Everybody, what's your .02?


[19 Points] gwern:

Defcon's talking, it seems: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/11/prosecutor-silk-road-2-0-suspect-did-admit-to-everything/

"He was found with over $100,000 in cash at home," Haun told the court. "He has a passport. We're not aware of whether that was secured. In addition to all of the detail, Mr. Benthall did admit to everything after receiving his Miranda rights—that he was the administrator of Silk Road 2.0. Our principle basis is flight risk at this point." Benthall will be interviewed by federal investigators as part of "pretrial services" on Thursday and will like be held in custody in Oakland. He is due to appear in court in San Francisco again on Friday.


[19 Points] None:

[deleted]


[14 Points] ihavebigtanks:

In the criminal complaint against defcon, it says one of the forum mods was an undercover for homeland security.

Think about that for a second. The UC had to have been active on the forums, talking to users, and giving them advice about the marketplace, vendors, OPSEC...etc.

No market admins are to be trusted, ever. Everyone should move to direct deals when their vendors pop back up. Its the safest way. If you dont trust a vendor enough to FE for them, you need to find a new vendor


[14 Points] sharpshooter789:

Here's the criminal complaint for Defcon aka Blake Benthall

http://www.scribd.com/doc/245744857/Blake-Benthall-Criminal-Complaint


[10 Points] ThisMayBeFud:

Can we get Defcons picture?


[14 Points] domper:

From the complaint:


[10 Points] throwaway2341325432:

Man I loved C9. I hope missy made it out unscathed. Maybe they just found the server.


[8 Points] scHoolboy2:

Where does everyone think this leaves the status of Agora and Evo? I guess we will find out later today. Just like when the original SR went down all the traffic flooded to sheep. I would be cautious of the marketplaces for a while, scams seem to start popping up everywhere in the wake of mass confusion like this


[9 Points] Insipid_Pedantry:

The FBI are trying to send a message here, which shows how utterly clueless they are.


[11 Points] sharpshooter789:

Why was blake in Iceland last year around the time SR1 was seized. More specifically he was in Reykjavik which is where the SR 1 server was hosted.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Iceland/comments/1pb3sj/large_group_from_sf_would_love_to_hang_out_with/cd3luq0


[8 Points] myDNMburner:

Thank god my last pack hit the mail before all of this!!


[8 Points] None:

[deleted]


[7 Points] BoscoBA001:

How were these agencies able to shut down these sites? I understand they had an undercover agent as an admin on SR2, how about the other markets? Even for SR2 how were they able to do it?

I think it's important to understand what these marks laces were doing wrong in order to understand what others should do right


[4 Points] gwern:

http://www.wired.com/2014/11/dark-web-seizures/

Several other popular dark net markets were down Thursday morning, as well, though they didn’t display that banner. An FBI spokesperson tells WIRED that there will be more than three market seizures in total, with the full extent of the operation set to be revealed by Friday.


[5 Points] markevens:

I'm just here from the front page, so forgive my ignorance.

I remember when the OG silk road came down and 2.0 went up, people were talking about how they learned their lesson from it and 2.0 would never be able to be taken down.

So what went wrong? How was all this supposed anonymous marketplace tracked and taken down?


[4 Points] gwern:

From the complaint:

26. As part of the investigation, law enforcement agents with the DEA have made multiple undercover purchases of illegal narcotics from Silk Road 2.0. For example, based on reports prepared by a DEA agent, I have learned that, in or about September and October 2014, the DEA purchased the following controlled substances on Silk Road 2.0: (1) 0.5 grams of heroin; (2) two grams of cocaine; (3) 120 micrograms of lysergic acid diethylamide (commonly referred to as "LSD"); and (4) ten 30-milligram pills of oxycodone. Each of these substances were sent to and received by the DEA at an undercover address located in Manhattan, and each field-tested positive for the presence of the controlled substance that ha been ordered from Silk Road 2.0.

Wonder what sellers are being targeted.


[5 Points] deepdot:

Cannabis road forums seized (Old forums):

forumzxmoorof4ja.onion

http://www.deepdotweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/cannabisRoad1.png


[3 Points] cflatminor:

dammit I'm still hungover. Whats this nonsense now


[3 Points] deepdot:

Updated Tag with all the recent updates (posts being updated inside as well):

http://www.deepdotweb.com/tag/silkroad2bust/


[3 Points] None:

[deleted]


[2 Points] psw1994:

I find it kind of odd that SR2 was shut down exactly a year after it went up.


[3 Points] gwern:

http://wtnh.com/2014/11/06/fbi-agents-raid-west-haven-home/

In a statement, the FBI says the raid was related to cyber crime. “Working closely with domestic and international law enforcement, the FBI and our partners have taken action to disrupt several websites dedicated to the buying and selling of illegal drugs and other unlawful goods,” said an FBI spokesperson in the statement. “Combating cyber criminals remains a top priority for the FBI, and we continue to aggressively investigate, disrupt, and dismantle illicit networks that pose a threat in cyberspace.”

EDIT: https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkNetMarkets/comments/2ljof4/bust_in_west_haven_ct/


[3 Points] awuvu:

Blake had a few other projects on the go..

"surecoin" surecoin.com whois: http://www.whois.com/whois/surecoin.com

Codespike codespike.co whois: http://www.whois.com/whoiscodespike.co


[3 Points] sharpshooter789:

Who was the other market admin arrested?


[2 Points] None:

[deleted]


[2 Points] gramsadmin:

Outlaw is down too


[3 Points] gkrizek:

I hate to be the one that is spouting out theories and a ton of what if scenarios, but DPR2 is very suspicious in this story as well. I think that DPR2 might actually be the original DPR. If you think about the downtime between SR1 going down and SR2 coming back up, that was only 5 weeks to build and entirely new site that looks identical and functions identically to SR1. I think DPR2 would have had a copy of the code or at least parts of it.

DPR got way too close to being caught in the SR1 and laid low for a bit, started SR2 to continue his project he loved so much, then handed it off for someone else to administer.

The original SR seizure and arrest of Ross Ulbricbht seems questionable. There has been reports of DPR logging into the SR forums after it got taken down and the whole story of DPR handing off SR1 to another DPR. The facts in the original SR seizure are fuzzy still, and it makes be think it could be possible the original DPR started SR2 then handed it to Blake, who wasn't as smart about security as the original admin.


[2 Points] EvilPenguinsOnMeth:

Cannabis Road Forum has been seized too

Also Defcon bought a 100k Tesla with BTC, what a dope


[2 Points] T0rgeek:

He admitted everything http://uk.businessinsider.com/the-man-accused-of-running-the-silk-road-20-has-admitted-to-everything-2014-11?r=US


[3 Points] None:

Silkroad 3 is here

http://qxvfcavhse45ckpw.onion/road.php


[2 Points] NCA_UK:

In the last 24 hours law enforcement agencies across Europe and America have taken part in a coordinated strike against Silk Road 2.0 and criminality on the Dark Web.

Suspected administrators and vendors of illegal drugs have been arrested and the technical infrastructure key to the hosting of illegal market places on the Dark Web has been taken down.

http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/news-listings/483-international-law-enforcement-deals-major-blow-to-dark-web-markets


[2 Points] None:

/u/infinite telling users to move their bitcoins to web based online darknet wallets that may very well get seized later today ISNT a pro tip. people should move them somewhere safe, ideally cold storage, or at least a secure offline wallet.


[2 Points] throwawaytappedout:

One of the biggest mistakes the dude made was taunting LE. When SR1 went down the siezurre notice was splashed on the landing page of SR2. The "we rise again" was basically saying FUCK YOU to LE.

Taking down DNM's is a game of whack a mole. Kill one and ten more sprout up. Technology is advancing fast. Within the next 3 to 6 months we will see a true distributed multi-sig market with too many nodes to take it down. LE needs to get use to it because drugs and the internet are here to stay.


[2 Points] FilmNoirOdy:

Why no master list of taken down DNM groups?


[2 Points] lamarrotems:

Europol: 17 arrests in major 'Darknet' crackdown http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_289563/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=iN5NcRw4 (from @AP)


[2 Points] gwern:

I just discovered a friend of mine was arrested for running Silk Road...He legitimately worked for a several companies over the years and he worked for SpaceX when he apparently took control of the marketplace. If you had met this guy you wouldn't for a second believe this is something he would do. Like, we went to the same private college in Florida and it has a pretty tight knit community. So, right now, there are thousands of people he knew pretty closely that are quite confused, myself included. I literally was just sitting around my house after I found out in a daze. I think we all assumed he would be making pretty good money as an engineer at SpaceX so the money he spent wasn't out of the ordinary.

/u/ImQuitConfusd https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/2ljcwp/what_is_the_absolute_strangest_fucking_thing/clvfwsw


[2 Points] x1187:

Does anyone know what date the actual arrests took place? Some people report losing contact with vendors as early as monday?


[2 Points] gwern:

Support for the hosting theory: Bulgaria was responsible for 129 of the .onions, all apparently on one hosting company according to their press release https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkNetMarkets/comments/2lm01y/129_onions_seized_on_bulgarian_hosting_company/


[1 Points] sinn0304:

FBI arrests Blake Benthall AKA Defcon, the SR2 Admin.

Edit: FBI.gov link


[1 Points] KindaAwkwardPenguin:

Hydra and c9 both siezed. http://imgur.com/NOTRFZw


[1 Points] None:

[deleted]


[1 Points] thapharmacist:

Looks like he was friends with that long haired dude from Master Chef lol


[1 Points] deepdot:

C9 and Hydra down? (Someone give me a link up in here)

Its all in my Tag' you can also add the old Cannabis Road forum seized.


[1 Points] captaincanada84:

Cannabis Road forums seized


[1 Points] minderbinder141:

suck my colon fbi faggots


[1 Points] AusDonkFarmer:

Does anybody know if Bonnie and Clyde are on any other markets besides SR2?


[1 Points] UDNM:

Startpage search engine is down. WTF is TOR compromised?

Welcome Tor Users!

We are happy to welcome you to Startpage, the world's most private search engine. Startpage now serves well over 2 million searches per day, making us the biggest private search service on the Internet.

Like Tor, Startpage was private long before privacy was cool. We have a fourteen-year company track record, and we are the only search engine that can back up our privacy promises with third-party certification.

Here are just a few of our powerful, privacy-protecting features:

We do not record anything about you — not your IP address, not your search queries, and we never use tracking cookies.
We provide 100% Google results — We submit your search anonymously to Google and return their results to you in total privacy.
We encrypt all traffic — using HTTPS, so even your ISP can't snoop on your searches.
We offer a powerful free proxy — that lets you anonymously view third-party websites with every search.
We're third-party certified and independently audited — by EuroPrise and Certified Secure, so you can take our privacy promises to the bank.

We love Tor!

We believe in the Tor project and its privacy mission and we applaud your efforts to pursue serious Internet privacy.

As you know, Tor recently included Startpage as the default search engine in the new Tor Browser Bundles. Thank you! We're honored to be associated with all of you like-minded, hard-core privacy fanatics. Just One Small Catch...

However, the avalanche of new Tor users has created an issue with the algorithm we use to detect and reject automated screen-scraping programs. When multiple Tor users are searching through the same end node, Startpage may wrongly conclude that the searches are coming from a scraper.

The unfortunate result is that Startpage may occasionally not return results with Tor. But don't panic, we're committed to fixing it. Here's a Temporary Solution

We are reaching out to the Tor developers to find a permanent solution. In the meantime, here is a workaround for Tor users:

If you use the Tor Browser Bundle:
    Switching to a new Tor identity is easy and fast. Click the green onion icon next to your address bar, then click "New Identity" and try your search again. In some cases, you may have to switch identities a few times for this to work.

We want Tor users to have a great private search experience with Startpage, and we appreciate your patience while we develop a long-term solution. As you use Startpage, we'd love to hear from you and get your impressions.

Meanwhile, thanks for supporting the vision of Tor and Startpage and a completely private Internet!


[1 Points] UDNM:

Is anybody else suspicious of Cloud 9's auto PGP encryption now? If you don't encrypt your address Cloud 9 will use the vendor's key to do it for you. Encourages users to enter their name and address in cleartext on Cloud 9's server.


[1 Points] lamarrotems:

Where is everyone? Expected this thread to take off.

http://www.wired.com/2014/11/operation-onymous-dark-web-arrests/

Pandora and others too.