Re: [tor-talk] Operation Onymous against hidden services, most DarkNet markets are down

[Jon Tullett <jon.tullett@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 7 November 2014 05:39, Juan <juan.g71@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Thu, 6 Nov 2014 15:51:15 -0500
> "Jim Smith" <jimsmitty@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Usually you won't go through the trouble of using Tor unless your
>> privacy is being attacked. Once you start using Tor it's easier to
>> justify surveillance because of Tor's reputation. Now after all that
>> you have to figure out how to be anonymous while doing business. We
>> haven't mentioned how to avoid phone tapping, hidden microphones, and
>> people following you in the streets. Tor is a very small piece to the
>> privacy/anonymity puzzle.
>
>
>         So why would people be tracked in the first place? Are
>         you saying that the US government nazis track all of US
>         subjects all the time, and that's how they find people who run
>         'hidden' services?

Well, I wouldn't want to rule anything out :) But in this case, we're
talking about hidden services which proxied for drug dealers. Whatever
your personal feelings about it, the war on drugs is a given. So the
reality is that there are enormous intelligence and law enforcement
operations targeting people in the drug trade. If one of them starts
to operate (or do business with) a hidden service, is it so unlikely
that that service could get caught up in the investigation?

If anything, I'd have thought that the coordinated takedowns lend
credibility to that argument - it's not like dealers would only do
business through a single marketplace at a time. Compromise or turn a
big dealer or two, and you'd probably be able to target a whole lot of
marketplaces at once.

I'm not saying that's what happened, just that it offers a plausible
option that doesn't require additional tinfoil hattery beyond the
norm.

-J

PS: I also think that it's a bit aggressive to describe anyone who
offers discussion or argument as a "pentagon lackey". But then I'm
probably one of them myself, right? :p
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