Silk Road forums
Discussion => Security => Topic started by: kittenfluff on September 26, 2013, 12:40 pm
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You can read it here. Saw this posted to the Reddit forum (I know the SR Reddit is the dumbest thing in the world, but it's funny to browse all the idiots that post there instead of here), and thought it a little interesting:
CLEARWEB
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/crime/sources-dea-probes-silk-road-suspected-online-hub-for-illegal-drugs-1.6120533
Here's the text:
Silk Road, an online marketplace considered by authorities to be a hub of illegal Internet drug sales, is being used to purchase heroin, cocaine, opioid pills, LSD, Ecstasy and other drugs, according to law enforcement sources.
Authorities have been unable to track the location of the website's servers, the sources said, because Silk Road can only be accessed using encryption software called Tor, which hides computers' IP addresses and allows users to surf the Web anonymously.
Tech-savvy Long Island and New York City residents are using the site, which authorities estimate has facilitated more than $30 million in annual sales, the sources said. The site came online in February 2011.
These law enforcement sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Justice are investigating the site.
Drug war's new front
Silk Road's success has signaled the opening of a new front in the battle against illegal drugs, officials say, in which dealers and customers use technology to hide their identities and flout state and federal laws.
Among the drug buyers on Silk Road are computer users in Nassau and Suffolk counties, as well as Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, the sources said. The number of customers in the metropolitan area is unclear, because of the difficulty investigators have in tracking Silk Road orders to precise locations.
"Silk Road is a dangerous and destructive website that facilitates crime and poses a true danger to people across the country," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has called on the federal government to shut down the site.
The DEA said officials are aware of Silk Road and are being "very proactive in keeping abreast" of the high-tech tools online drug sellers use to avoid detection.
Silk Road's customers sell drugs and other items to one another through the online marketplace and, like users of legitimate shopping sites, rate delivery performance as well as the quality of the products they buy, authorities say. Other illicit items are also available, including forged documents and untaxed cigarettes.
To make sure the money exchanged on Silk Road can't be traced back to customers, the site uses a digital, untraceable currency called Bitcoins, which are purchased anonymously online with real money. Drugs on the site are typically sold at a significant markup, sometimes costing twice as much as their street price.
After a purchase is made, sellers are instructed to ship drugs through the postal service in vacuum-sealed packs, while buyers are advised to have shipments mailed to post office boxes or locations other than their home. Upon delivery of the drugs, Bitcoins are transferred from buyer to seller via a secure escrow account on the site. Silk Road takes a commission of up to 10 percent on all sales.
A successful system
"So far, unfortunately, their system has been somewhat successful," said a federal law enforcement source involved in the investigation into the site. "Our goal is to make sure that doesn't continue to be the case."
Federal charges have yet to be brought against the site or its administrators, but another law enforcement source involved in the Silk Road probe said high-tech investigative methods used by the government are helping investigators build a case.
Those methods include encryption-cracking technology and the exploitation of security weaknesses in some encrypted email and instant message software used by Silk Road customers, the source said.
Efforts to find any known operator of Silk Road were unsuccessful.
Risks remain the same
Anti-drug activist Alex Rice, 38, formerly of Massapequa, said he routinely speaks to children about the dangers of the site. He said his son, Aaron, narrowly survived an overdose in 2011 from heroin he had purchased from a user on Silk Road.
"The risks posed by the drugs on this website are just as high as on the street, in terms of how quickly they can kill you or get you sent to jail," said Rice, who now lives in south Florida, where he talks to youth groups about avoiding drug use. "To gain all this knowledge of encryption and computers only to throw it away on buying and selling drugs online . . . I can't imagine more of a waste of knowledge."
"I hope it doesn't take someone dying to get it shut down," he said.
Suffolk Police Deputy Chief of Detectives Mark Griffiths said the department's cybercrime and drug investigators are keeping tabs on Silk Road, as well as other drug trafficking sites.
"We are actively monitoring it," Griffiths said. "We work with DEA and the U.S. postal inspector, and keep abreast of all the technological changes."
Nassau police declined to comment on the site and referred questions to the DEA.
Andrew Kratz, a corporate Web security consultant from Southampton, said Silk Road has "perfected" the anonymous online drug trade and will be "tough to take down."
"The people who run that site are very, very good at what they do," Kratz said. "But so is the Department of Justice."
Some thoughts:
First, I get the impression they're getting nowhere right now. Apparently they use "security weaknesses in some encrypted email and instant message software used by Silk Road customers" which sounds to me like "oh, a couple of the dumbest SR users send messages we CAN intercept, but it's all peripheral, with no leads worth following just to bust a couple of stoner kids"
This sounds more ominous; "Federal charges have yet to be brought against the site or its administrators, but another law enforcement source involved in the Silk Road probe said high-tech investigative methods used by the government are helping investigators build a case.". Kinda like, we would NEVER know they had any evidence until they decided they had a water-tight case, then they'll come down like a ton of bricks on everyone at once.
This is interesting; "Among the drug buyers on Silk Road are computer users in Nassau and Suffolk counties, as well as Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, the sources said. The number of customers in the metropolitan area is unclear, because of the difficulty investigators have in tracking Silk Road orders to precise locations." - how can they know this, but only in such a vague way?
Love this disinfo; " Drugs on the site are typically sold at a significant markup, sometimes costing twice as much as their street price." Really? What street is that then, cause I might pay a visit?!
And; "Risks remain the same
Anti-drug activist Alex Rice, 38, formerly of Massapequa, said he routinely speaks to children about the dangers of the site. He said his son, Aaron, narrowly survived an overdose in 2011 from heroin he had purchased from a user on Silk Road." - well Aaron is a dumbass. The risks are different, like Aaron the fuckwit was used to heroin cut to fuck with all kinds of nasty, so as soon as he gets something kinda pure he ODs. Quite a bit different to the risk of it being cut with drain cleaner...
And at the end, speaking truth to power; "Andrew Kratz, a corporate Web security consultant from Southampton, said Silk Road has "perfected" the anonymous online drug trade and will be "tough to take down.""
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They wouldn't suggest they have a case against anybody until they swoop in all at once and get everyone they do have a case against. I don't think they really have cases against anybody except for a few who did stupid things like communicate through Tormail in clear text and stuff like that (or maybe a vendor accepted free samples from LE).
Those few they do have a case against are very weak though and I think would have a very hard time standing up in court (even the federal court's %98 conviction rate). The thing is any prosecutor will tell you they need PHYSICAL evidence for a case to really stick. Going to court with a bunch of bits and bytes leading back to an IP address that anybody in your neighborhood could have been using just isn't going to cut it. Of course they know that no one ever takes their case to trail but the people on SR are a bit more sophisticated and I think they will be in for a surprise how difficult their cases against any of us will be to stick (barring the couple idiots like a few weeks ago who immediately threw up their hands and admitted to everything despite no evidence that would stick).
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Those methods include encryption-cracking technology and the exploitation of security weaknesses in some encrypted email and instant message software used by Silk Road customers, the source said.
Are they implying that they have done this against actual Silk Road customers? Maybe they found decrypted messages on the computers of some of the people that they busted, or they have cracked messages that were encrypted with weak keys.
Anti-drug activist Alex Rice, 38, formerly of Massapequa, said he routinely speaks to children about the dangers of the site. He said his son, Aaron, narrowly survived an overdose in 2011 from heroin he had purchased from a user on Silk Road.
That's right, blame the web site and not the guy who bought heroin and shot it into his own veins. When are people going to take responsibility for their own actions? No, they need the government to protect them from their own stupidity.
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Hahaha way to go DEA, some of the best drug sniffers out there straight up saying that we're smarter than them. ^-^
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I have fallen out a couple times from shooting raw dope here on SR, and my daddy ain't talking to any papers! Then again, he isn't exactly what you would call an "Anti-Drugs activist". I believe his full-time job has him plenty busy.
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Love this disinfo; " Drugs on the site are typically sold at a significant markup, sometimes costing twice as much as their street price." Really? What street is that then, cause I might pay a visit?!
If you find out please do let me know, I'll buy the 1st hit of any drug of your choice
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If the DEA made silk road not sell drugs no more...what would you ax it?
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Silk Road, an online marketplace considered by authorities to be a hub of illegal Internet drug sales, is being used to purchase heroin, cocaine, opioid pills, LSD, Ecstasy and other drugs, according to law enforcement sources.
so.. heroin, cocaine, pills.. they just put the worst drugs in? they forgot the marijuana? Is marijuana so unknown that they don't even put it there? or this article is one of that articles that only gives bad image?
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Love this disinfo; " Drugs on the site are typically sold at a significant markup, sometimes costing twice as much as their street price." Really? What street is that then, cause I might pay a visit?!
If you find out please do let me know, I'll buy the 1st hit of any drug of your choice
It was an article in a new york newspaper. It is true most drugs are cheaper in the street in new york city than they are on Silk Road.
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so.. heroin, cocaine, pills.. they just put the worst drugs in? they forgot the marijuana? Is marijuana so unknown that they don't even put it there? or this article is one of that articles that only gives bad image?
Weed isn't nearly "evil" enough to get a shout-out like that - they're trying to demonize the site by listing the "worst" (read:"most sensationalized") drugs that you can purchase.
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Love this disinfo; " Drugs on the site are typically sold at a significant markup, sometimes costing twice as much as their street price." Really? What street is that then, cause I might pay a visit?!
If you find out please do let me know, I'll buy the 1st hit of any drug of your choice
It was an article in a new york newspaper. It is true most drugs are cheaper in the street in new york city than they are on Silk Road.
Well that can be said for anywhere really, single hits of H or crack cost more on SR because it is a single hit! When it comes to bulk I do not think this is the fact not to mention that even with single hits the quality between SR and the street is a no brainier. You can buy a single gram of fish scale coke from SR for the price you will pay on the street for a gram of some cut up bullshit.
Sure you can pay for the cut but why would you?!
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Great, the media is going to cause cluster traffic for the USPS with all this advertising and marketing, letting a whole new generation of kids in on how to better purchase their needs. Going to have to add two extra weeks of E.T.A.'s for this years holiday shopping
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Silk Road, an online marketplace considered by authorities to be a hub of illegal Internet drug sales, is being used to purchase heroin, cocaine, opioid pills, LSD, Ecstasy and other drugs, according to law enforcement sources.
so.. heroin, cocaine, pills.. they just put the worst drugs in? they forgot the marijuana? Is marijuana so unknown that they don't even put it there? or this article is one of that articles that only gives bad image?
The whole system is fucked up from the DEA. Off topic but how is Weed a Schedule 1 Drug. Does it have the same potential negative and addictive properties such as Meth and Heroin. DEA has no clue and if they ever get close to shutting down SR a new and improved one will emerge. The SR people are just smarter then the DEA IT guys. The only wildcard in all this is the NSA. NSA and the DEA attacking SR could be a potential problem but I am sure the DPR and SR admins have thought of defensive tactics and safeguards and are always trying to improve on them.
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Federal charges have yet to be brought against the site or its administrators, but another law enforcement source involved in the Silk Road probe said high-tech investigative methods used by the government are helping investigators build a case.
THIS IS HOW they operate. Take 12-24 MONTHS to build big case then all come crash down and big busts. Understand this. Not say SR is coming down. They collect evidence. watch. listen. small busts when dumb person make mistakes .exploit weakness nobody know etc
thing that happen last month don be forgot and because no news last month NO mean everything ok. keep in mind and never let guard down.
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Love this disinfo; " Drugs on the site are typically sold at a significant markup, sometimes costing twice as much as their street price." Really? What street is that then, cause I might pay a visit?!
If you find out please do let me know, I'll buy the 1st hit of any drug of your choice
It was an article in a new york newspaper. It is true most drugs are cheaper in the street in new york city than they are on Silk Road.
And in the city, you can have anything delivered right to you door. No need for the USPS...
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So the DEA wants to shut down SR so the drugs can go back to being sold on the street right across from schools with dealers shooting at each other in people's neighborhood and buyers getting robbed at gunpoint with questionable drug quality killing people. Good job DEA. For the first time there is a private discreet avenue where people who want drugs can get them safely and privately, and where people who don't want anything to do with drugs don't have to witness the trade. A win win for everyone. But I guess the DEA would prefer to have the market go back to the streets where little kids get shot in the head from the crossfire of rival dealers going at it. Good job DEA! Deep thinkers you are. Why don't you try picking up a science book sometime instead of a Soldier of Fortune. I know you must like masturbating to all the pictures of the weapons but learning about atoms and electrons is what your job is suppose to be about, not paramilitary Nazi tactics.
If you drug agents thought about it for a second you would realize that some computer nerds on the internet could completely bankrupt, defund, and degun all the Bloods, Crips, and gangbangers terrorizing our cities much how the legal weed trade is bleeding the cartels. Why the fuck would users patronize gang bangers for their drugs when they could get it cheaper, better quality, and with no risk online? If the DEA was smart they would let everyone know about SR so as to get the drug trades out of the streets and entirely on the internet where no one has to witness it if they don't want to.
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Nice posting :'(
Their excuse is their duty to go after everyone breaking these void drug laws.
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The whole system is fucked up from the DEA. Off topic but how is Weed a Schedule 1 Drug.
The first anti-drug laws in the United States were originally motivated by racism. To put it bluntly, marijuana is illegal in the US because migrant mexican farm-workers used to smoke it. When all of the farm-work dried up during the Great Depression they needed a reason to deport them... and marijuana is still illegal to this day.
Of course it's more involved than that, but that IS how it started. If you haven't already, you should check out the 4-part History Channel documentary "Hooked: Illegal Drugs and How They Got That Way". I think you can find it on PirateBay. I've watched that thing several times, simply rife with good info.
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Great post! All the more reason for everyone who has not taken the time to add "layers to their onion" to study up and get with it. It's eat or be eaten out here boys, no two ways about it. You may be pissed learning PGP or Tails for a day, but you will be way angrier when the feds kick your door in. I feel we have reached the point where you will either be above or below the learning curve. Sink or swim.
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... For the first time there is a private discreet avenue where people who want drugs can get them safely and privately, and where people who don't want anything to do with drugs don't have to witness the trade. A win win for everyone. ...
Well worded.
You also get peer reviews so you have more of an idea of what you are putting into you body.
Not to mention all of the knowledge the community shares, making more responsible people.
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http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Schumer-Calls-on-Feds-to-Shut-Down-Online-Drug-Marketplace-123187958.html
Clearnet: Schumer Pushes to Shut Down Online Drug Marketplace
Chuck "The Fuck" Schumer in 2011:
Schumer said it was crucial for DEA and Department of Justice to shut down the site immediately now that is public.
"The DEA has confirmed they are aware of the site, and while they won't confirm or deny that an investigation is underway, from my years of experience, I'd bet my bottom dollar in this instance there is one underway," he said.
Chuck "The Fuck" Schumer in 2013:
"Silk Road is a dangerous and destructive website that facilitates crime and poses a true danger to people across the country," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has called on the federal government to shut down the site.
Chuck "The Fuck" Schumer in 2015:
"I have asked the DEA, the FBI and the Pentagon to remodel our Internet after China and North Korea to protect our children from purchasing dangerous drugs online. I have also asked them to deploy our nuclear weapons arsenal to attack and destroy the Silk Road menace- right after we locate its servers, of course." Senator Schumer then said he would table a bill to temporarily suspend the Constitution until the War on Drugs was won, to give law enforcement the tools it needs to do its job.
8)
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I hope all vendors take extra precaution with their orders. Recent articles I've read media is ordering drugs, DEA has been ordering drugs. I'm sure they try hard to pull clues as to origin of package.
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I hope all vendors take extra precaution with their orders. Recent articles I've read media is ordering drugs, DEA has been ordering drugs. I'm sure they try hard to pull clues as to origin of package.
+1 for a really good point - I hope all you heroic vendors are taking note!
EDIT:
Just read this much more sympathetic article:
CLEARNET
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/26/silk-road-is-the-ebay-of-the-online-drug-trade.html
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Of course it's more involved than that, but that IS how it started. If you haven't already, you should check out the 4-part History Channel documentary "Hooked: Illegal Drugs and How They Got That Way". I think you can find it on PirateBay. I've watched that thing several times, simply rife with good info.
Online here : http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/illegal-drugs/
terp
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I hope all vendors take extra precaution with their orders. Recent articles I've read media is ordering drugs, DEA has been ordering drugs. I'm sure they try hard to pull clues as to origin of package.
So when we risk life in prison committing mail fraud, drug trafficking, drug conspiracy, and a host of other offenses you think we are lackadaisical about it, but when it is posted in a newspaper that we are doing it THEN you think we start to treat it seriously????? Thank god for the media, otherwise I'd have no clue that what I've been doing is illegal and dangerous.
Try hard to pull clues as to the origin of package???? Ummmm, you do realize that everything is postmarked showing the exact post office where it came from and the date it come from there right? Every single packaged sent has always been trackable to within a few hour window of a singular post office. It is stamped on the front of the package for the world to see!
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Well it is nice to know they are focusing on exploiting bugs in IRC software. Time to either isolate the fuck out of your IRC client, preferably loading it from a clean snapshot that you only ever change by updating the underlying chat program, or perhaps consider ditching IRC all together. Although then we are still left with the risk of browser exploits. Attacks like this is why isolation is important, of course the DEA and other feds are going to try to hack us if they cannot get the NSA to share SIGINT with them. I would stay out of IRC if you are not isolating your client, and think of using something more secure than pidgin at that. Also remember that IRC even with OTR is very easy to MITM, don't send sensitive information in plaintext over IRC with OTR unless you have verified key fingerprints through an alternative channel such as SR forum PM system. OTR is super weak to MITM if you use it on an untrusted server, you absolutely need to verify key fingerprints through at least one other channel. Remember to keep browsers hardened, that means fully patched, javascript off for sure, Tor Browser since it has security patches applied as well, and most importantly keep your browser isolated with a virtual machine at all times. Definitely use a 64 bit host and guest OS if your hardware supports it, and if it doesn't consider getting new hardware, with 64 bit OS you can have significant protections from ASLR, provided the OS supports it. If you still use Windows, now is the time to stop. Consider using physical isolation if you can, the best setup would be OpenBSD with another OpenBSD box for routing and physical isolation. Failing that, look into Qubes. Failing that, look into Whonix or possibly even better yet isolating yourself. I don't know how much I trust Whonix honestly, in theory it is based on a good design but in practice we don't know who the fuck it came from, the Qubes people are recognized security researchers. It isn't that hard to isolate yourself with virtualbox, you don't need Whonix to do it for you you can do it in ten seconds yourself.
The feds are not really cracking encryption I am sure of that, what they might be doing is MITM OTR conversations in IRC so remember to verify those fingerprints!
And for all the police keeping watch on us, this is your chance to fight for good. Leak documents, leak the intelligence you have, help us end the war on drugs. Failure to do so makes you an enemy of freedom, and have no doubt that in the end we will win and you will be held accountable for your crimes against humanity long before we are held accountable for our crimes against the state.
And for Alex Rice, you hope it doesn't take someone dying to get it shut down? The war on drugs has led to tens of thousands of people dying and it is still not shut down, so I wouldn't hold your hopes that someone dying will make a difference. Your son almost died from a heroin overdose? Did you know that the cause of most heroin overdoses is the lack of consistency between the purity of different batches of heroin? Another primary cause of heroin overdose is fentanyl being sold as heroin. Both of these things are the direct result of the war on drugs, not the fault of Silk Road. If anything Silk Road will help prevent people from dying, because people get their drugs tested and report on the result, which will stem the flow of fentanyl represented as heroin. Also, the people on Silk Road will leave reports about the strength of different batches of heroin. Also, we have an entire harm reduction forum and even have medical professionals giving free advice on it. You will not find a safer mechanism of drug distribution and use than Silk Road in a world where there is prohibition, but as soon as prohibition ends we will have the ability to self regulate to a much greater extent, and heroin will be sold by companies that have it in their best interests to market it at a correct purity, and who will be legally prevented from selling fentanyl as heroin. So Silk Road did not almost kill your son, the government almost killed your son through the war on drugs. And now you are helping the people who almost killed your son in the fight against the people who gave your son the best chance of using heroin and living. Sorry that the government almost killed your son, hopefully your actions don't now lead to another persons son being killed by them.
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This is interesting; "Among the drug buyers on Silk Road are computer users in Nassau and Suffolk counties, as well as Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, the sources said. The number of customers in the metropolitan area is unclear, because of the difficulty investigators have in tracking Silk Road orders to precise locations." - how can they know this, but only in such a vague way?
Maybe they are looking at traffic to and from tor on an ISP level and guessing that it has something to do with SilkRoad. Also they can buy something, see what the package looks like and where it originated (but not exact drop box) then look for more similar packages coming from that suburb and the destination. Unless they have opened those packages, again they can only "guess" that it's SilkRoad packages.
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Silk Road, an online marketplace considered by authorities to be a hub of illegal Internet drug sales, is being used to purchase heroin, cocaine, opioid pills, LSD, Ecstasy and other drugs, according to law enforcement sources.
so.. heroin, cocaine, pills.. they just put the worst drugs in? they forgot the marijuana? Is marijuana so unknown that they don't even put it there? or this article is one of that articles that only gives bad image?
The whole system is fucked up from the DEA. Off topic but how is Weed a Schedule 1 Drug. Does it have the same potential negative and addictive properties such as Meth and Heroin. DEA has no clue and if they ever get close to shutting down SR a new and improved one will emerge. The SR people are just smarter then the DEA IT guys. The only wildcard in all this is the NSA. NSA and the DEA attacking SR could be a potential problem but I am sure the DPR and SR admins have thought of defensive tactics and safeguards and are always trying to improve on them.
No joke, if they take SR down I know dozens of people who will personally see to it that another one pops right back up in its place. As long as anyone can register to be a vendor, or pay a reasonable fee to do so, and they don't ban encryption etc, it should be safe to use any platform. Taking down SR would be a hollow victory for them, purely propaganda, new sites would pop up within a day to fill the void.
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It's my opinion that this article states nothing new, besides the propaganda title "DEA probes Silk Road". Even the picture in the article is very outdated.
Everybody knows about SR. It's been written up countless times by now. There's nothing here that we don't already know. This was just Newsday's opportunity to jump on the bandwagon.
If the DEA is really building a large 12-24month bust, well, that scares me a bit, but everyone should take the precautions that we already know.
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The primary new bit of information I see in this article is that they are focusing on the IRC server.
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"Those methods include encryption-cracking technology and the exploitation of security weaknesses in some encrypted email and instant message software used by Silk Road customers, the source said."
I would suggest anybody still using Privnote or any of those other peripheral sites. Please just don't. At least not in any connection to SR. Also linking accounts to other sites such as Atlantis and BMR should just not have been done in the first place.
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Ah yeah I forgot all about privnote since it is so retarded it brings my IQ down so much every time I think about it that I forget it. Stop fucking using privnote!
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Love this disinfo; " Drugs on the site are typically sold at a significant markup, sometimes costing twice as much as their street price." Really? What street is that then, cause I might pay a visit?!
If you find out please do let me know, I'll buy the 1st hit of any drug of your choice
It was an article in a new york newspaper. It is true most drugs are cheaper in the street in new york city than they are on Silk Road.
I highly doubt that good MDMA can be purchased for 30/gram in any state in the union.
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I highly doubt that good MDMA can be purchased for 30/gram in any state in the union.
Especially not NYC. NYC is an expensive market. Hell they don't even have a steady supply. They are probably selling good doses for $50! Compare that to the Bay area where you can get a kilo of pure powder for $10k or a good strong single dose for no more then $10. The media doesn't know shit about pricing. Just look at Breaking Bad. They have a POUND of crystal on there going for $40,000 when buying 400 pounds! A kilo (2.2 pounds) of pure crystal (not blue crap) in real life goes for $7,500 in Nogales, $12,500 in Tucson, $15,000 in Phoenix, or $20,000 in Kansas City when buying only 10. They are off by a factor of 8!