Silk Road forums

Discussion => Security => Topic started by: slightly_concerned on June 27, 2012, 01:00 pm

Title: Advice Regarding Previous Lax Security Procedure
Post by: slightly_concerned on June 27, 2012, 01:00 pm
I have made between 10 and 20 purchases already on the wonderful SR, all which have arrived without issue except for 2 which I'm currently awaiting. However I feel I may have dived in a little early without reading in enough to good security procedure.

After spending plenty of time reading this forum, I've come to realize that I have followed some poor security procedure potentially leaving myself more vulnerable than was necessary during all my prior purchases of Bitcoin. As far as I understand my most prominent mistake has been not using a mixer like Bitcoinfog as a middleman before transferring my funds directly from the exchange to my SR wallet address.

From now on I plan to use Bitcoinfog in order to make my deposits of Bitcoin to my SR wallet far less traceable back to my actual exchange of choice (which contains all of my, name, address, you name it), and vice versa.

But is it likely any damage has already been done? Which could come back to bite me later, due to transactions I've already made and can't take back at this point?

I'm assuming any investigation into my purchases of Bitcoin surely would have to be 'triggered' by some kind of event, ie. a package being intercepted and a warrant to investigate my banking transactions subsequently being granted, and from then deposits into Bitcoin exchanges and so on, at which point due to my lack of using Bitcoinfog or something similar it could potentially all become linked and I'd be screwed.

But, even then, all of my purchases bar the couple I am awaiting have arrived with no issue so I see lack of any real trigger as I'd call it yet, and all levels of quantities shipped have clearly been of a possession only level, certainly no where near intent to supply.

So I'm telling myself such an investigation would be very unlikely to occur anyway for such small fry amounts we're talking here, and even if one of the two packages I'm currently awaiting were to be intercepted.. we're talking amounts that are so small fry it wouldn't warrant such a thorough investigation. At least that's what I like to think, perhaps I'm being overly optimistic though?

But without a trigger to first initiate such a chain of events regarding an investigation into me and my transactions of Bitcoin, which I'd see it most likely see that trigger being a package being intercepted as by far the most likely one, etc, my thinking is that I'm in the clear at this point in regards to any insecure transactions I've already made previously.

How would you advise someone in this situation in regards to their future transactions? Other than obviously using Bitcoinfog at very minimum or a cash for Bitcoins service?

Realizing the mistakes I've made already it's easy to become a little more and more paranoid with each day a package becomes that little bit more overdue with the paranoid thoughts of whether the ball is already rolling and the dawn raid is imminent. Obviously I know, unlikely... but still a little reassurance or incite from some of the more knowing people on this forum would definitely make me feel a little better right now.

Now I'm off to masturbate and take a Valium in an attempt to ease the paranoia.
Title: Re: Advice Regarding Previous Lax Security Procedure
Post by: Wadozo on June 27, 2012, 03:04 pm
I have made between 10 and 20 purchases already on the wonderful SR, all which have arrived without issue except for 2 which I'm currently awaiting. However I feel I may have dived in a little early without reading in enough to good security procedure.

After spending plenty of time reading this forum, I've come to realize that I have followed some poor security procedure potentially leaving myself more vulnerable than was necessary during all my prior purchases of Bitcoin. As far as I understand my most prominent mistake has been not using a mixer like Bitcoinfog as a middleman before transferring my funds directly from the exchange to my SR wallet address.

From now on I plan to use Bitcoinfog in order to make my deposits of Bitcoin to my SR wallet far less traceable back to my actual exchange of choice (which contains all of my, name, address, you name it), and vice versa.

But is it likely any damage has already been done? Which could come back to bite me later, due to transactions I've already made and can't take back at this point?

I'm assuming any investigation into my purchases of Bitcoin surely would have to be 'triggered' by some kind of event, ie. a package being intercepted and a warrant to investigate my banking transactions subsequently being granted, and from then deposits into Bitcoin exchanges and so on, at which point due to my lack of using Bitcoinfog or something similar it could potentially all become linked and I'd be screwed.

But, even then, all of my purchases bar the couple I am awaiting have arrived with no issue so I see lack of any real trigger as I'd call it yet, and all levels of quantities shipped have clearly been of a possession only level, certainly no where near intent to supply.

So I'm telling myself such an investigation would be very unlikely to occur anyway for such small fry amounts we're talking here, and even if one of the two packages I'm currently awaiting were to be intercepted.. we're talking amounts that are so small fry it wouldn't warrant such a thorough investigation. At least that's what I like to think, perhaps I'm being overly optimistic though?

But without a trigger to first initiate such a chain of events regarding an investigation into me and my transactions of Bitcoin, which I'd see it most likely see that trigger being a package being intercepted as by far the most likely one, etc, my thinking is that I'm in the clear at this point in regards to any insecure transactions I've already made previously.

How would you advise someone in this situation in regards to their future transactions? Other than obviously using Bitcoinfog at very minimum or a cash for Bitcoins service?

Realizing the mistakes I've made already it's easy to become a little more and more paranoid with each day a package becomes that little bit more overdue with the paranoid thoughts of whether the ball is already rolling and the dawn raid is imminent. Obviously I know, unlikely... but still a little reassurance or incite from some of the more knowing people on this forum would definitely make me feel a little better right now.

Now I'm off to masturbate and take a Valium in an attempt to ease the paranoia.

First of all, as you have made only 20 purchases with them all being successful bar the last 2 that your still waiting on, your worrying over nothing, maybe a little paranoid! Especially as each order is only small and your a buyer, not a vendor. LE would unlikely be chasing a buyer ordering small quantities which are under levels considered for personal use only.With buying bitcoins,  if your so concerned about safety and anonymity why are you buying them through an exchange and handing over all your personal information which is kept on file? ??? You are much better of either buying bitcoins off a SR vendor, which is a totally anonymous process or using a service where you pay cash over the counter at a bank or another nominated venue, having already sent your bitcoin address to the bitcoin provider when sending them your order by email. These options are probably the simplest to begin with until you research all the ins and outs of other purchasing methods, I'd give them a go if I were you. :)
Title: Re: Advice Regarding Previous Lax Security Procedure
Post by: slightly_concerned on June 27, 2012, 03:30 pm
First of all, as you have made only 20 purchases with them all being successful bar the last 2 that your still waiting on, your worrying over nothing, maybe a little paranoid! Especially as each order is only small and your a buyer, not a vendor. LE would unlikely be chasing a buyer ordering small quantities which are under levels considered for personal use only.With buying bitcoins,  if your so concerned about safety and anonymity why are you buying them through an exchange and handing over all your personal information which is kept on file? ??? You are much better of either buying bitcoins off a SR vendor, which is a totally anonymous process or using a service where you pay cash over the counter at a bank or another nominated venue, having already sent your bitcoin address to the bitcoin provider when sending them your order by email. These options are probably the simplest to begin with until you research all the ins and outs of other purchasing methods, I'd give them a go if I were you. :)

Yeah I think I'm probably being a little paranoid too. The reason I was Buying Bitcoins using an exchange was that I thought Bitcoins were anonymous to such a point that once they're gone from the exchange having been withdrew to a wallet's address (which the exchange wouldn't be able to tell where they were actually going just through the address itself), then that was it, anything beyond that was untraceable. Which obviously wasn't entirely true. And buying Bitcoins and withdrawing it to an address in of itself was hardly an illegal activity, so I just thought why the need to even hide the fact I'm doing it if that in of itself isn't even a shady practice.

So even if I made a withdrawal to Bitcoinfog prior to SR, you think LE could still draw a relation to the drugs themselves and the Bitcoin transactions? I would have assumed not because in of themselves they're just totally unrelated occurrences which couldn't be proven to correlate with one another? Obviously if that was the case you'd still have sound plausible deniability ("what package? I know nothing about it, sorry. Unless you have a warrant I'm shutting the door now"). Whereas if they could solidly prove you'd transferred Bitcoins to a SR address they'd have a lot more to stand on I'd imagine.
Title: Re: Advice Regarding Previous Lax Security Procedure
Post by: slightly_concerned on June 27, 2012, 04:06 pm
So you mean to say for instance, if I'd purchased BC is a more secure manner from now on, and I were to have a package intercepted... LE could still draw a relation to that package and the BC I've already purchased insecurely, even if at a much later date and in reality for different orders a long while prior. Or maybe that's not what you're saying at all in which case forgive me as I still have a lot to learn on this obviously :D