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.