Silk Road forums

Discussion => Newbie discussion => Topic started by: outlander14 on September 29, 2013, 07:24 pm

Title: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: outlander14 on September 29, 2013, 07:24 pm
How long I have been an SR user is not necessary to know, but I have been around the deep net from some time. Bulletin Boards back in the day, and all the other incarnations over the years and their is one pattern I've seen time and time again which causes people to get caught up. The trend of getting to comfortable and posting to much info. It is not my place to chastize anyone or judge, I merely wish to share previous experience, but it highly disturbing to see how much personal info get puts on here and never a second thought to getting caught. It wasn't to long ago in the cc arena that the guy running the whole show got taken down for simple use of his username, which he was only careless enough to let out once.
  My point being I'd be cautious in saying find me on such and such forum on the clearnet, or I live in this geographic area, refering to places other sr members hang out, or even worse posting SR issues on the clearn net. Granted the feds are already snooping around this and other forums, but we don't need to make their job any easier. Plus, whether they ever successfully shut down SR or not isn't going to help you when your sitting in Club Fed for a moment of carelessness. It's easy to say I'm willing to martyr myself for the cause, and then to find yourself within the system. Trust me nobody cares about ideology when your there.
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: kennyfuckingpowers on September 29, 2013, 11:29 pm
I live at 1234 Fuck the Government lane, Washington DC!

HAHA, I agree with you. People tend to let their guard down thinking they are anon.
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: cryngie on September 29, 2013, 11:37 pm
I cannot belive how many people talk on reddit about this place its fucking retarded, yes this is a public forum that is easily googled but reddit really come on people why not talk here or the irc why fucking reddit
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: outlander14 on September 30, 2013, 12:02 am
Talking about this on the clearnet you might as well go into the court and ask the judge if you can sign the search warrant for him, or put a sign in front of your house saying drugs located here. lol
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: echo_ on September 30, 2013, 12:04 am
It's possible to access Reddit from behind tor, a VPN, and using a unique username.
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: outlander14 on September 30, 2013, 05:12 pm
It's possible to access Reddit from behind tor, a VPN, and using a unique username.
You are completely right but people have a tendency to change their your user name and then still talk about the same things they talk about on here. The feds aren't that dumb. lol
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: Cornelius23 on October 01, 2013, 05:00 pm
I have been trying to keep particularly sensitive details out of my posts but I'm afraid I'm just naturally open. It's not just my anecdotes and personal details about my genetic history, mental health and location, etc.. The style of my writing and many phrases I use are somewhat... idiosyncratic :)

I'm convinced that if someone who knows me from elsewhere reads a couple of dozen of my posts they'll recognise me quite quickly. I don't think there's much I can do about that as I don't have the mental gumption to sustain an entirely false persona. I think that linking me to my other selves would first require someone to take a particular interest in 'Cornelius23', though, and unless I come out with something momentously controversial I doubt that LE would bother.
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: nowthen on October 01, 2013, 05:12 pm
Just simple opinions, talk of events, etc can be risky really.

Even a certain word in a username could narrow someone down to 1 in a 1000.

People assume that they'll be fine because they haven't heard of many other people getting caught and they assume that, as buyers, they'll be fine. If there ever is a bust, it'll be big. Many people will be taken down at once. You can never be too safe.
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: outlander14 on October 01, 2013, 05:14 pm
I have been trying to keep particularly sensitive details out of my posts but I'm afraid I'm just naturally open. It's not just my anecdotes and personal details about my genetic history, mental health and location, etc.. The style of my writing and many phrases I use are somewhat... idiosyncratic :)

I'm convinced that if someone who knows me from elsewhere reads a couple of dozen of my posts they'll recognise me quite quickly. I don't think there's much I can do about that as I don't have the mental gumption to sustain an entirely false persona. I think that linking me to my other selves would first require someone to take a particular interest in 'Cornelius23', though, and unless I come out with something momentously controversial I doubt that LE would bother.
Not that I'm thinking LE is after you, but they do possess the necessary programs to identify people on writing patterns, etc. You should read up on the public info the NSA does allow to get out on their advanced programs. Im not a conspiracy theorist but I am a firm believer that what they show us hides the really advanced stuff.
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: Cornelius23 on October 01, 2013, 09:57 pm
Not that I'm thinking LE is after you, but they do possess the necessary programs to identify people on writing patterns, etc. You should read up on the public info the NSA does allow to get out on their advanced programs. Im not a conspiracy theorist but I am a firm believer that what they show us hides the really advanced stuff.

Sometimes, perhaps. And sometimes it might be a deliberate exaggeration of what they're actually capable of ;)
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: cryngie on October 01, 2013, 10:08 pm
The rule of 3.  Guys always exaggerate everything by 3x so as the alphabet agencys are run by guys.......
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: clearnet on October 01, 2013, 10:32 pm
Is identifying an anonymous user based on writing patterns considered an actual science? More importantly is it admissable in court?

I guess what it really comes down to is could you effectively convince a jury of laymen that such and such user is suspect based on forum posts. It's easy to forget charges come from LE but convictions come from jurys. I have not lost so much faith in humanity just yet to believe we'd send someone to jail because this pseudoscience proves them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

EDIT: To clarify yes I did just pose a question and then submit an answer as if someone else asked it.
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: mcchickenrulz on October 01, 2013, 10:45 pm
^^ If a forum post was used to identify me in court successfully.. I'd laugh and walk myself to prison because at that point, I'd feel like no matter what I'm fucked.
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: Cornelius23 on October 02, 2013, 12:10 am
A quick Net search suggests that some computer stylometry systems have produced far higher success rates that I expected, albeit for quite small samples of writers to choose from. I gather from the Wikipedia article on Forensic Linguistics that such evidence has been put to juries regarding threatening letters and plagiarism, but again in these cases the comparisons would have been made between tiny pools of possible authors.
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: clearnet on October 02, 2013, 12:19 am
A quick Net search suggests that some computer stylometry systems have produced far higher success rates that I expected, albeit for quite small samples of writers to choose from. I gather from the Wikipedia article on Forensic Linguistics that such evidence has been put to juries regarding threatening letters and plagiarism, but again in these cases the comparisons would have been made between tiny pools of possible authors.

Very interesting! Thanks for the info Cornelius
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: augustwest78 on October 02, 2013, 12:28 am
just like sargeant shultz, i know nothing
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: IDoNotLikeProhibition on October 02, 2013, 12:40 am
I don't write anything anywhere else online :P

I give this issue a thought every post I am writing and I try to avoid revealing too much information. Especially in my mother language it is hard to use different expressions and sentence structures. The more you write the more you are vulnerable to those attacks. I hope it is still the smallest risk I am taking on here ;)
Title: Re: Thoughts from a lurker
Post by: Cornelius23 on October 02, 2013, 01:59 am
As the size of samples from each author seems to have quite an impact on analysis perhaps the best advice is not to post here while on meth ;)