Howdy,
This is not about BlackBank. I thought really long about whether I should write this or not. I decided to share it as I feel it is important for the community to know what kind of admin I am. I am not trying to build more members as BlackBank has been experiencing a growth of around 100 new members a day with veteran vendors joining as well. If anything, what I write here may actually bring critique from my new partners and the members of the community. If anything, I expect downvotes. I want everyone to know, this is strictly about me at a personal level and is neither about security nor technical expertise.
As everyone knows, there was a juncture where whyusheep made false claims to have found an exploit in BlackBank.
Whyusheep also made claims to have doxxed me and the server and was handing it to the LE. I am not a 20 year old libertarian as whyusheep has suggested. I have had around 10 years of experience in running and maintaining servers. From that experience, I KNOW that every server has an exploit and that keeping ahead of exploits is an endless race that requires constant security updates. At the end, it's all based on luck if a server was the first to have an exploit discovered before a security patch for it exists.
I take every claim seriously, even if it is FUD, because I am unwilling to take risks. I spent several days observing whyusheep in silence as well as reviewing the logs again and again, and testing meticulously for any leaks. I would not stop until I am absolutely sure that whyusheep's claims were false.
After whyusheep was unable to find any exploits or security issues with BlackBank, he decided to accuse me of being crazy.
Prior to starting BlackBank Market, I spent a week contemplating the risks and consequences of running a DNM. It is during that time I had to determine if I am willing to take these risks and what would the worst possible outcome be.
When whyusheep claimed to have the IP and was handing it to the LE, my previous concerns of the consequences flooded me.
The concept of being arrested and detained. The idea that you'll have to go through countless court hearings and being locked up in a cell without chance of bail. The look on the faces of the same family members you were trying to support, hoping that the accusations are false, and then faltering to disappointment. I don't want to put family into an endless emotional cycle of the repetitive judicial system.
Then you multiply that by the thousands of members in the database that would be compromised and experience the same horrors if their details were not encrypted. This is the responsibility that I was faced.
What would a normal admin have done?
- Call and ignore whyusheep's bluff
- Whyusheep reveals the identity and addresses in the database of buyers/vendors
- Whyusheep could possibly have released the IP to LE
- The admins, the server, and their DB would be confiscated
- The admin would probably strike a deal with the LE
- Run the server anonymously to collect additional data
- Provide the LE with passwords to encrypted drives
- Cooperate with LE in any manner, including continuing contact with other members of the community to locate vendors and buyers, for a reduced sentence
What did whyusheep reveal? He revealed that I would rather go down with the server than to have any one member compromised. I never said I would hurt anyone. I understand LEOs are just doing their jobs and they also have family. What I can't let happen is let the servers be compromised and the identity of a member be revealed.
Every name in the database is not just a name to me; each person is an individual and has a life. Each person is here because sometimes they just want to have a little fun or need a little something to get through the day. I am someone who understands life is complicated. I don't want someone to lose their freedom, simply because their lifestyle is complicated and not understood.
This is why I take security very seriously.
Nobody dreams of becoming a drug dealer when they are 5 years old. We don't always have control of the circumstances that brought us to where we are.
"Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past." Karl Marx
We don't always choose what we do in life. In many cases, we are driven to where we are by our circumstances, just as how I ended up as an admin for BlackBank. There was a demand that matched my skillset, and by taking this role, I take full responsibility to be diligent in any manner possible.
If caring about people and taking the security of BlackBank seriously is crazy, then yes, maybe I am.
After this personal announcement, I will not be as publicly available as I will be putting my full concentration on maintaining the server. I have spent and will continue to spend countless hours to keep BlackBank as secure as I possibly can and will also continue to seriously take all voiced concerns of exploits or issues.
MDParity
I fucking respect you. I will check out Blackbank and see whatsup. You're the kind of guy I want controlling a DNM. It's not easy to BS the things you just said simply cause scammers and thieves really don't even understand the concept of everyone having their own life/story, you seem very empathetic and that is something I appreciate a lot. Thank you.