Silk Road forums
Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: Kevin Rudd on April 30, 2013, 10:34 am
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The website, which can only be accessed through an encrypted network and whose URL changes constantly, is found on part of the internet known as the "deep web" or "dark web", which is not indexed by standard search engines.
Over the last three days the site has been crippled by a series of denial of service (DoS) attacks which involve flooding sites with traffic created by botnets - essentially computers mimicking humans - causing it to crash.
An administrator of the site posted on its forums that the attacks were the work of an individual who had been trying to blackmail the organisation.
The website posted on Saturday that it had received an email from someone, who goes by the handle "Lance G", threatening to crash the site unless it fronted $5000.
Silk Road is now offering $5000 to anyone with any "information that leads to the arrest and conviction of whoever is behind this extortion attempt".
"I think it might be the same hacker that has been doing the same attack on many websites this week and extorting them for money to stop the attack," a Silk Road member told news.com.au. "He has attacked numerous other websites that sell drugs online. He has also attacked bitcoinstore.com."
Silk Road users pay for goods using encrypted digital currency Bitcoins and access the site using the Tor network, making it very difficult for law enforcement to combat the trade.
Debate on the Silk Road forums suggest a competitor had been scamming money to set up a similar website to Silk Road, and referred to a user named Vladimir who had reportedly taken orders and then run off with members’ cash.
It was also suggested that the user may be an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration in the US.
This isn't the first time this kind of scam has been used.
In November last year, internet users in the US, Eastern Europe and Australia had their computers disabled by hackers and were told all their personal files and data would be destroyed if they didn't pay a ransom fee of up $500.
A spokesman for the Australian Federal Police told news.com.au that more individuals and businesses were being "held to ransom" by cyber criminals as "organised criminal gangs and motivated individuals understand the technology of the internet and take advantage of the anonymity that comes with it".
The AFP said it and other law enforcement agencies "would not stand for it".
"These groups can operate from countries with less developed legal frameworks and are increasingly sophisticated, operating from a high level of technical ability," the spokesman said.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/biztech/online-drug-marketplace-silk-road-held-to-ransom-by-hackers/story-fn5lic6c-1226632387149
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wait, how said that someone if offering 5k$ for information's about the hacker?
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So they made a news story from the speculation of the users on this forum?
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I hope they didn't pay the dude who wrote that piece, it's terribly written.
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The next headline will read:
Illegal online drug dealers call cops to catch the hacker thats stopping sales.
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http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/technology/techknow/online-drug-marketplace-silk-road-held-to-ransom-by-hackers/story-fnddkch1-1226632387149
http://www.perthnow.com.au/technology/online-drug-marketplace-silk-road-held-to-ransom-by-hackers/story-fnhqgjzl-1226632387149
http://hotnewsonline.org/silk-road-held-to-ransom-by-hackers/
http://charlestendell.com/silk-road-held-ransom-by-hackers/
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/technology/online-drug-marketplace-silk-road-held-to-ransom-by-hackers/story-fndfk179-1226632387149
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/online-drug-marketplace-silk-road-held-to-ransom-by-hackers/story-fn7bsi21-1226632387149
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I hope they didn't pay the dude who wrote that piece, it's terribly written.
"BY CLAIRE PORTER, TECHNOLOGY EDITOR"
Terrible article, all speculation.
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What the fuck? Who writes off on these stories? Do these "news" organizations not have editors?
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Australian sites?
Must be that user called. Ozfreelancer .
This is all terribly written. And only 5k? Fuck. Pay it.
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I hope they didn't pay the dude who wrote that piece, it's terribly written.
"BY CLAIRE PORTER, TECHNOLOGY EDITOR"
Terrible article, all speculation.
and there was I thinking it was a dude.. just goes to show that terrible writing isn't the preserve of one gender and at her level you'd think she'd know how to string an article together.
What the fuck? Who writes off on these stories? Do these "news" organizations not have editors?
lol apparently she is the editor.. but then it is news limited who, if you're an American, may recognise as the owner of the new york post. that beacon of truth and journalistic credibility.
edited to clarify that I thought it was a dude.
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So a journalist has cobbled together all the speculation from an online forum and made it into a news story?
What an original concept.
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So they made a news story from the speculation of the users on this forum?
They sure made a headline of my speculation...
"I think it might be the same hacker that has been doing the same attack on many websites this week and extorting them for money to stop the attack," a Silk Road member told news.com.au. "He has attacked numerous other websites that sell drugs online. He has also attacked bitcoinstore.com."
That would be me...
The website posted on Saturday that it had received an email from someone, who goes by the handle "Lance G", threatening to crash the site unless it fronted $5000.
That was bitcoinstore.com
Silk Road is now offering $5000 to anyone with any "information that leads to the arrest and conviction of whoever is behind this extortion attempt".
That was also bitcoinstore.com
Debate on the Silk Road forums suggest a competitor had been scamming money to set up a similar website to Silk Road, and referred to a user named Vladimir who had reportedly taken orders and then run off with members’ cash.
Two speculations mashed into one...
This article is horrible and now it is all over the internet and spreading like wildfire.
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Wow, yeah that was some god awful reporting. Only a woman could get away with it...
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What a joke of an article ! Another semi-literate journalist. I wonder how did these people get high school diplomas let alone jobs at major newspapers. It just goes on to show the sorry state of the mainstream journalism.
For what it's worth - I appreciate this fact. The articles like this with no spine, no substance are totally confusing, and I bet the average reader had no fucking clue what he/she was writing about. Hell even I couldn't follow the plot ! :)
Bring it on MM !
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That could also turn out to be some pretty bad publicity for Atlantis......
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Wow, yeah that was some god awful reporting. Only a woman could get away with it...
LOL what?
I'm pretty sure men are just as capable of being shitty reporters as women. just look at Geraldo Rivera :P
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This article is all over the internet and I could have had it say anything because she thought I was the administrator of Silk Road. I fucked up :(
I mentioned this journalist sending me a message yesterday before the article got ran today.
I made an account on there today just to inform them why the site is not operational. I recently got a message from a journalist. They thought I was the site administrator..... lol!
Is it accurate to refer to you as a Silk Road administrator? Or how woud you like to be referred to (I am not naming you at all. Not even your username or anything).
I should have claimed the fame and told them it was the Jews attacking the site.
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Australian sites?
Must be that user called. Ozfreelancer .
This is all terribly written. And only 5k? Fuck. Pay it.
Um... excuse me? Do you think I'm the only journo in Australia or something?
FWIW I wrote them about 30 minutes after it was put up suggesting they had SR mixed up with the Bitcoinstore incident (http://bitcoinstore.tumblr.com/) but apparently they haven't accepted my comment, nor checked facts.
And again...
.... excuse me??
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Australian sites?
Must be that user called. Ozfreelancer .
This is all terribly written. And only 5k? Fuck. Pay it.
Um... excuse me? Do you think I'm the only journo in Australia or something?
FWIW I wrote them about 30 minutes after it was put up suggesting they had SR mixed up with the Bitcoinstore incident (http://bitcoinstore.tumblr.com/) but apparently they haven't accepted my comment, nor checked facts.
And again...
.... excuse me??
Do you mean to tell me that there are other journalists in Australia?
I did the same thing and my comment hasn't been accepted either. FYI it wasn't just a "bitcoinstore incident." The same person did the same attack on and extorted numerous other sites including several other websites that sell illegal drugs.
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Australian sites?
Must be that user called. Ozfreelancer .
This is all terribly written. And only 5k? Fuck. Pay it.
Um... excuse me? Do you think I'm the only journo in Australia or something?
FWIW I wrote them about 30 minutes after it was put up suggesting they had SR mixed up with the Bitcoinstore incident (http://bitcoinstore.tumblr.com/) but apparently they haven't accepted my comment, nor checked facts.
And again...
.... excuse me??
Do you mean to tell me that there are other journalists in Australia?
I did the same thing and my comment hasn't been accepted either. FWI it wasn't just a "bitcoinstore incident." The same person did the same attack on and extorted numerous other sites including several other websites that sell illegal drugs.
Did they all offer a $5K reward?
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Fuck. Pay it.
Clearly you have no idea about how extortion works lol...
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it just goes to show how much information the outside world really has on SR. people may know about it and things happening on it but they have no clue how it works, huh? either way, hope these attackers. i read from another thread its the introduction node being blocked.
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This article is all over the internet and I could have had it say anything because she thought I was the administrator of Silk Road. I fucked up :(
I mentioned this journalist sending me a message yesterday before the article got ran today.
I made an account on there today just to inform them why the site is not operational. I recently got a message from a journalist. They thought I was the site administrator..... lol!
Is it accurate to refer to you as a Silk Road administrator? Or how woud you like to be referred to (I am not naming you at all. Not even your username or anything).
I should have claimed the fame and told them it was the Jews attacking the site.
Am I understanding you correctly here ?
So you went to their site, made an account and then told this poor excuse for a journalist your thoughts on the recent attacks of SR ect ?
And then she has written this piece..
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i read from another thread its the introduction node being blocked.
Except that every other hidden service is running juuuuuuust fine for everyone...
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Am I understanding you correctly here ?
So you went to their site, made an account and then told this poor excuse for a journalist your thoughts on the recent attacks of SR ect ?
And then she has written this piece..
Nope. Someone messaged me and said "I was wondering whether you might be able to tell me the cause of the attack. Do you know who was behind it or their reasons for trying to take SR down?"
I said "Nobody knows who is doing it for certain. Majority of the people suspect it to be atlantis behind the attack. I think it might be the same hacker that has been doing the same attack on many websites this week and extorting them for money to stop the attack. He has attacked numerous other websites that sell drugs online. He has also attacked bitcoinstore.com."
lol
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Am I understanding you correctly here ?
So you went to their site, made an account and then told this poor excuse for a journalist your thoughts on the recent attacks of SR ect ?
And then she has written this piece..
Nope. Someone messaged me and said "I was wondering whether you might be able to tell me the cause of the attack. Do you know who was behind it or their reasons for trying to take SR down?"
I said "Nobody knows who is doing it for certain. Majority of the people suspect it to be atlantis behind the attack. I think it might be the same hacker that has been doing the same attack on many websites this week and extorting them for money to stop the attack. He has attacked numerous other websites that sell drugs online. He has also attacked bitcoinstore.com."
lol
Oh I see now..
That quote was about reddit...
I thought you were saying you had just decided to go and tell this stupid bitch your opinion on whats up.. My bad..
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This reporter is an idiot spreading a fiction. Not only should she be embarrassed but so should her editors and readers.
A site whose url is constantly changing? No research was done on this article.
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i read from another thread its the introduction node being blocked.
Except that every other hidden service is running juuuuuuust fine for everyone...
As they will do. The introduction node is used the first time in a session that you connect to a hidden service and then it is discarded.
It gives tor the information it needs to make the subsequent data connection that you will then use for the rest of your communication.
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Jack N Hoff has become the unofficial spokesperson for SR over the past few days lol
You need to take advantage of your newfound internet celebrity in some way. Just start making outlandish statements and accusations. I saw where you mentioned blaming the Jews. Well, I say that you also blame the Mexicans and the government of Kazakhstan. Prepare a full press release and send it to that reddit journalist.
I made that throwaway account two days ago because I saw everyone whining on there. I didn't expect to be in a news article....
Silk Road was created by a group of Mexican Jews in Kazakhstan! Story tonight at 11
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jews did it
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So they made a news story from the speculation of the users on this forum?
lmfao crazy isnt it
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That could also turn out to be some pretty bad publicity for Atlantis......
How much is known about Atlantis? I understand it to be a relatively new site, and see that it accepts both Litecoins and BTC as exchangeable currencies - which is a definite development in the cryptocurrency arena.
However - and I want to clarify that this is pure speculation on my part (although I think a few other members may have drawn similar conclusions) - I was fucking about on the dark-web (as you do) looking for jobs payable in BTC (without having to get up off my arse) a few months back. Can't remember the site, but had been directed to it by one of the forum threads. Anyway, a job had been posted looking for someone capable of facilitating a ddos attack on an unnamed site for approx 10 days - 2 weeks. No amount stated as payment - only a contact site thru tor. As I don't have access to zombie bot networks or the technical know-how to instigate a ddos attack, I merely scrolled past it.
But now that SR is down and DPR and co are doing their damnedest to get us all back online, it got me wondering. How long has Atlantis been around, and is there any possibility that this ddos job could have been contracted out by it's administrators? - can any vendors or members provide an accurate timescale for this site - particularly as it claims to be able to undercut other virtual black markets without naming them (but I would imagine this is a direct reference to SR and BMR).
I am not making any allegations about Atlantis and the integrity/intent of those who created it, nor do I want to be accused of scaremongering, or even detracting potential business from another viable black market, but really would value the opinions of other members on this, and indeed vendors who have taken the decision to register a vendor account with Atlantis.
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Man I wouldn't mind working for BTC, never really understood the whole dollar representing gold, psh it hurts to think about it. My economics teacher in high school was also the girls volleyball coach so lets just say the class rarely did any economics.
For some reason BTCs make more sense and hold more value to me then traditional currencies.
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That could also turn out to be some pretty bad publicity for Atlantis......
How much is known about Atlantis? I understand it to be a relatively new site, and see that it accepts both Litecoins and BTC as exchangeable currencies - which is a definite development in the cryptocurrency arena.
However - and I want to clarify that this is pure speculation on my part (although I think a few other members may have drawn similar conclusions) - I was fucking about on the dark-web (as you do) looking for jobs payable in BTC (without having to get up off my arse) a few months back. Can't remember the site, but had been directed to it by one of the forum threads. Anyway, a job had been posted looking for someone capable of facilitating a ddos attack on an unnamed site for approx 10 days - 2 weeks. No amount stated as payment - only a contact site thru tor. As I don't have access to zombie bot networks or the technical know-how to instigate a ddos attack, I merely scrolled past it.
But now that SR is down and DPR and co are doing their damnedest to get us all back online, it got me wondering. How long has Atlantis been around, and is there any possibility that this ddos job could have been contracted out by it's administrators? - can any vendors or members provide an accurate timescale for this site - particularly as it claims to be able to undercut other virtual black markets without naming them (but I would imagine this is a direct reference to SR and BMR).
I am not making any allegations about Atlantis and the integrity/intent of those who created it, nor do I want to be accused of scaremongering, or even detracting potential business from another viable black market, but really would value the opinions of other members on this, and indeed vendors who have taken the decision to register a vendor account with Atlantis.
This isn't a DDoS attack and this isn't an easy attack to pull off. A script kiddie couldn't pull this off and it seems none of our members could either because none of them can explain it in detail. Everyone is speculating. So the fact is even if you offered 5 grand for someone to do this, they simple couldn't. If this was as easy as a DDoS attack then it would have happened back in 2011.
A DDoS attack is some newbie ass shit. You don't need to know shit about shit. You can buy everything you need. You can have a custom code written, buy a nice private crypter, or just buy the bots. Hell, you can pay someone cheap. But they couldn't take SR down....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9MuuW0HfSA
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They keep using that word: journalism. I don't think it means what they think it means. ::)
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This is the sort of trash that turns free-thinking individuals into brain-washed tax generating sheep.
Fuck the Australian Media - they're a bunch of useless cunts that deserve to be strung up with their own intestines.
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The next headline will read:
Illegal online drug dealers call cops to catch the hacker thats stopping sales.
And just after that headline, this was seen:
Online drug buyers, jonsing because their supply was cut, beat the fuck out of a man wearing an ANONMYOUS tee shirt. The man was heard screaming 'IT WASN'T ME, IT WASN'T ME!'. To which the buyers replied 'DON'T YOU EVER, EVER FUCK WITH MY SUPPLY'.
FTW
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That could also turn out to be some pretty bad publicity for Atlantis......
How much is known about Atlantis? I understand it to be a relatively new site, and see that it accepts both Litecoins and BTC as exchangeable currencies - which is a definite development in the cryptocurrency arena.
However - and I want to clarify that this is pure speculation on my part (although I think a few other members may have drawn similar conclusions) - I was fucking about on the dark-web (as you do) looking for jobs payable in BTC (without having to get up off my arse) a few months back. Can't remember the site, but had been directed to it by one of the forum threads. Anyway, a job had been posted looking for someone capable of facilitating a ddos attack on an unnamed site for approx 10 days - 2 weeks. No amount stated as payment - only a contact site thru tor. As I don't have access to zombie bot networks or the technical know-how to instigate a ddos attack, I merely scrolled past it.
But now that SR is down and DPR and co are doing their damnedest to get us all back online, it got me wondering. How long has Atlantis been around, and is there any possibility that this ddos job could have been contracted out by it's administrators? - can any vendors or members provide an accurate timescale for this site - particularly as it claims to be able to undercut other virtual black markets without naming them (but I would imagine this is a direct reference to SR and BMR).
I am not making any allegations about Atlantis and the integrity/intent of those who created it, nor do I want to be accused of scaremongering, or even detracting potential business from another viable black market, but really would value the opinions of other members on this, and indeed vendors who have taken the decision to register a vendor account with Atlantis.
This isn't a DDoS attack and this isn't an easy attack to pull off. A script kiddie couldn't pull this off and it seems none of our members could either because none of them can explain it in detail. Everyone is speculating. So the fact is even if you offered 5 grand for someone to do this, they simple couldn't. If this was as easy as a DDoS attack then it would have happened back in 2011.
A DDoS attack is some newbie ass shit. You don't need to know shit about shit. You can buy everything you need. You can have a custom code written, buy a nice private crypter, or just buy the bots. Hell, you can pay someone cheap. But they couldn't take SR down....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9MuuW0HfSA
it must be an inside job some one who knows tor and is heavily involved in the running of it.
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Isn't a ddos attack just a dos - denial of service attack that is distributed? And aren't there a ton of different kinds of dos attacks? So combating a dos attack can be tricky...
I've been extorted before its not fun and as a stuborn as I am, I rather keep a pay off and use it to make sure no one can extort me again. Of course that hasn't actually worked and in the end I gave in rather than ruin my lively hood but meh DPR will find a way, I have no doubt.
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Isn't a ddos attack just a dos - denial of service attack that is distributed? And aren't there a ton of different kinds of dos attacks? So combating a dos attack can be tricky...
I've been extorted before its not fun and as a stuborn as I am, I rather keep a pay off and use it to make sure no one can extort me again. Of course that hasn't actually worked and in the end I gave in rather than ruin my lively hood but meh DPR will find a way, I have no doubt.
Again this is not how you deal with extortion, you should never pay up. In fact that's the opposite of what you should do.
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Isn't a ddos attack just a dos - denial of service attack that is distributed? And aren't there a ton of different kinds of dos attacks? So combating a dos attack can be tricky...
I've been extorted before its not fun and as a stuborn as I am, I rather keep a pay off and use it to make sure no one can extort me again. Of course that hasn't actually worked and in the end I gave in rather than ruin my lively hood but meh DPR will find a way, I have no doubt.
What about distributed denial of service attacks?
Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks typically rely on having a group of thousands of computers all sending floods of traffic to a victim. Since the goal is to overpower the bandwidth of the victim, they typically send UDP packets since those don't require handshakes or coordination.
But because Tor only transports correctly formed TCP streams, not all IP packets, you cannot send UDP packets over Tor. (You can't do specialized forms of this attack like SYN flooding either.) So ordinary DDoS attacks are not possible over Tor. Tor also doesn't allow bandwidth amplification attacks against external sites: you need to send in a byte for every byte that the Tor network will send to your destination. So in general, attackers who control enough bandwidth to launch an effective DDoS attack can do it just fine without Tor.
this is from torproject.org this is not any type of dos or ddos attack, i was playing with my tor proxy settings and put them on SOCKS 4 and got the silkroad site briefly but reloaded and gone, im still playing with it, i will update if i have a break though!
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Yeah should and shouldn't are just words, when faced with it, its different. You gotta do what you have to keep the business going, paying employees, making money etc.
Extorting some businesses are easy, a few well placed reviews can ruin someone long enough to put their business under, alternatively a few weeks in the hospital due to broken bones for not paying up could also put a small business under.
It all depends, at the end of the day, when running a business you have to make personal concessions to make sure your company and it's employees get money, at the end of the day its all about money.
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Yeah should and shouldn't are just words, when faced with it, its different. You gotta do what you have to keep the business going, paying employees, making money etc.
Extorting some businesses are easy, a few well placed reviews can ruin someone long enough to put their business under, alternatively a few weeks in the hospital due to broken bones for not paying up could also put a small business under.
It all depends, at the end of the day, when running a business you have to make personal concessions to make sure your company and it's employees get money, at the end of the day its all about money.
Nah ya should have just got rid of them.
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"Ms. Porter, what you've just written is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this forum is now dumber for having read it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."
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"Ms. Porter, what you've just written is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this forum is now dumber for having read it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."
Love that movie. LOL ;D
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Hmmmm if this was the case about crippling the site with traffic that would be easily overcome quite simply with traffic lights literally so it can't be that common sense prevails alas IF IF IF this is a hacker causing this strife it should be quite easily combated anyway I just hope that this is what DPR says it is and not anything else ???????????
Me personally I just think this will be resolved when a part and flight and someones knowhow is paid for I hope so but then again I'm just thinking out aloud ha ha ha silly me again. ?.
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What the fuck? Who writes off on these stories? Do these "news" organizations not have editors?
Do you not know who Rupert Murdoch is?
The truth is boring. Speculation and controversy is not.
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Fuck. Pay it.
Clearly you have no idea about how extortion works lol...
NEVER negotiate with TERRORISTS! >:( MAKE EM WALK THE PLANK!
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Grr. Argh. Bad monster!
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Fuck. Pay it.
Clearly you have no idea about how extortion works lol...
NEVER negotiate with TERRORISTS! >:( MAKE EM WALK THE PLANK!
Exactly.
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What a joke of an article ! Another semi-literate journalist. I wonder how did these people get high school diplomas let alone jobs at major newspapers. It just goes on to show the sorry state of the mainstream journalism.
For what it's worth - I appreciate this fact. The articles like this with no spine, no substance are totally confusing, and I bet the average reader had no fucking clue what he/she was writing about. Hell even I couldn't follow the plot ! :)
Bring it on MM !
Off topic on whoever is actually doing the hacking attack but I'm glad to see everyone blasting the shady journalism here. I thought I was the only one whose noticed this. I wanted to go into journalism when I was in college, but my school had a crappy program and now I regret not doing it. I feel I can write way better articles then most of these people who supposed get paid to do this. The pattern seems to be with younger journalists who write like their writing a Facebook post. Print journalism doesn't seem to be as bad as this it's primarily online journalism. I just imagine a bunch of spoiled rich girls thinking their Carrie Bradshaw and throwing up crap articles so they can go out for Appletinis with the girls. (Guys too, obviously.) There is just so much more speculation and out right OPINION than actual facts and information in these articles. I'm not the greatest writer ever but I feel I can write one these articles.
"So my bros told me this site was like down and stuff because like a hacker or something totally like asked them for money or ransom or something. Someone on the forums or whatever totally said that so obviously it's true. Personally I don't really do drugs so I don't really care but other people might care but not me. I got a this new app on my phone though that lets me see even more Facebook posts so like and share this article and like me on Facebook and share this on Twitter and follow me on Twitter and on reddit and share this and up vote it on reddit. Dogs are cool, cats suck."
It's like Idiocracy in here. Wasn't the first rule of good writing we all learned in school was being able to keep the "I" out of it? (Yeah I realized how many I's are in this post, but this isn't a professional forum). :-\
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Fuck. Pay it.
Clearly you have no idea about how extortion works lol...
NEVER negotiate with TERRORISTS! >:( MAKE EM WALK THE PLANK!
Exactly.
I volunteer to ass rape every scurvy bastard that has harmed our vessel of liberty and fair trade, as well as cutting off their right ear and right testicle--or ovary if it be women who sail against us.
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The next headline will read:
Illegal online drug dealers call cops to catch the hacker thats stopping sales.
lol