AlphaBay Takedown Just One Chapter in Dark Web Saga
January 9, 2018
Did the takedown of AlphaBay last summer have much effect, or will black markets on the dark web carry on with business as usual? Both, according to Wired’s article, “The Biggest Dark Web Takedown Yet Sends Black Markets Reeling.” Writer Andy Greenberg details the immediate aftermath as customers of AlphaBay, the largest dark web marketplace in existence, frantically searched for other sources—apparently causing technical difficulties for two of the leading alternatives. He also notes the (reasonable) secrecy around just how the FBI pulled this off, causing other dark web vendors to wonder whether they will be next.
On the other hand, a robust demand for black market goods has been a fact of life for millennia, and that does not stop with AlphaBay’s defeat. Greenberg writes:
Even so, the chaos in the wake of AlphaBay’s disappearance shouldn’t deal a death blow to the dark web’s vibrant drug trade, or even cause much more than a temporary shakeup, says Carnegie Mellon’s Christin. He points to prior dark web crises like the 2013 takedown of the Silk Road, the bust of the Silk Road’s sequel site in late 2014, or the so-called ‘exit scam’ pulled by the dark web market Evolution in 2015, in which its administrators abruptly absconded with their patrons’ bitcoins. Each time, Christin points out, the dark web’s overall business took a temporary dive, but came roaring back more quickly after those setbacks and continued to grow as a whole. AlphaBay, for example, had more than 20 times as many product listings as the original Silk Road. (Some research has found that even bad news about the dark web markets only attracts more users to them.) And AlphaBay’s buyers and customers will eventually find a new home.
And so the adventure continues. What is next in the fight between law enforcement and dark web marketplaces? Stay tuned.
Cynthia Murrell, January 9, 2018
DarkCyber for January 9, 2018, Now Available
January 9, 2018
The January 9, 2017, DarkCyber video news program is now available at www.arnoldit.com/wordpress. (The video is also available on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/249649665.)
The Dark Cyber program (produced by Stephen E Arnold, Beyond Search, and HonkinNews) for January 9, 2017, explains how Trovicor’s IPF collects and analyzes a range of information. This low-profile company, based in Germany, provides lawful intercept technology to more than 35 countries. The company’s robust system has the capability of monitoring the data flows resulting from the actions of a single individual to the actions of a a much larger group of suspected bad actors. Trovicor sells and licenses its technologies to governments, not commercial enterprises.
The January 9, 2017, video answers a frequently asked question about the Dark Web: “Can a person buy an automatic weapon on a Dark Web contraband site?” The answer is provided by the US Government Accountability Office. The GAO studied more than 70 Dark Web merchants offering weapons. More than 15 percent were outright scams, but other vendors were set up to do business and sell in exchange for digital currencies. There are barriers; for example, delivery. The Dark Cyber video provides details and a link to the GAO report.
Dark Web drug markets thrive despite increased pressure from government authorities in Western Europe, the UK, and elsewhere. The reason is simple economics. The cat-and-mouse game means that when one drug site is taken down by law enforcement, another drug site opens. Dark Cyber reports that online drug buyers seek sources of contraband despite the risks of legal action.
Dark Cyber also explains how Dark Web drug economics encourages bad actors to open contraband Web sites despite law enforcement crackdowns. This week’s program answers the question, “Can a person buy an automatic weapon on the Dark Web?” The research conducted by the US Government Accountability Office provided the answer. The study reported that 15 percent of weapon offers were scams, a surprisingly low number if the data are accurate.
Kenny Toth, January 9, 2018
LinkedIn: Not Just for Job Seekers and Attention Junkies
January 8, 2018
Last year I spotted this write up: “Spies Are Watching … on LinkedIn.” My first reaction was, “This is news?” I set the item aside, and I watched my newsfeeds to see if the story had “legs.” It did not. I thought I would document the existence of the write up and invite you, gentle reader, to figure out if this is old news, new news, or just flim flam news.
The main point is that an outfit known as BfV, shorthand for Bundesamt für Verfassungsschut) monitors LinkedIn for espionage actors. The main point of the write up strike me as:
Chinese intelligence has used LinkedIn to target at least 10,000 Germans, possibly to recruit them as informants.
I wonder if other intelligence agencies monitor LinkedIn. I suppose that is a possibility.
The write up include these faked profiles:
“Rachel Li”, identified as a “headhunter” at “RiseHR”
“Alex Li”, a “Project Manager at Center for Sino-Europe Development Studies”
“Laeticia Chen”, a manager at the “China Center of International Politics and Economy” whose attractive photo was reportedly swiped from an online fashion catalog, according to a BfV official
I have not spotted any recent information about the number of faked profiles on LinkedIn. My hunch is that most of the résumés on the service might qualify as faked, but that’s just my supposition.
With Microsoft’s ownership of LinkedIn making small, yet meaningful, changes in the service, I wonder how these “fake” spy-related profiles and discussions, if any, will be filtered.
Next time you accept a “friend” on LinkedIn, will you ask yourself, “Is this fine person a spy?”
Stephen E Arnold, January 8, 2018
Online: Welcome to 1981 and 2018
January 8, 2018
I have been thinking about online. I met with a long-time friend and owner of a consumer-centric Web site. For many years (since 1993, in fact), the site grew and generated a solid stream of revenue.
At lunch, the site owner told me that in the last three years, the revenue was falling. As I listened to this sharp businessperson, I realized that his site had shifted from ads which he and his partners sold to ads provided by automated systems.
From direct control to the ease of automated ad provision created the current predicament: Falling revenue. At the same time, the mechanisms for selling ads directly evolved as well. The shift from many industry events to a handful of large business sector conferences took place. There were more potential customers at these shows, but the attendance shifted from hands-on marketers to people who wanted to make use of online automated sales and marketing systems began to dominate.
He said, “In the good old days of 1996, I could go to a trade show and meet people who made advertising and marketing decisions based on experience with print and TV advertising, dealer promotions, and ideas.”
“Now,” he continued, “I meet smart people who want to use methods which rely on automated advertising. When I talk about buying an ad on our site or sponsoring a section of our content, the new generation look at me like I’m crazy. What’s that?”
I listened. What could I say.
The good, old days maybe never existed.
I read “Facebook and Google Are Free. They Shouldn’t Be.” The write up has a simple premise: Users should pay for information.
I am not certain if the write up realizes that paying for online information was the only way to generate revenue from digital content in the past. I know that partners in law firms realize that running queries on LexisNexis and Westlaw have to allocate cash to pay for the digital information about laws, decisions, and cases. For the technical information in Chemical Abstracts, researchers and chemists have to pay as well. Financial data for traders costs money as well.
Dark Web Criminals Seek Alternatives to Bitcoin
January 8, 2018
Law enforcement has been getting better at using Bitcoin to track criminals on the dark web, so bad actors are exploring alternatives, we learn from the article, “Dark Web Finds Bitcoin Increasingly More of a Problem Than a Help, Tires Other Digital Currencies” at CNBC.
Reporter Evelyn Cheng writes:
In the last three years, new digital currencies such as monero have emerged in an effort to increase privacy. Unlike the open transaction record of bitcoin, monero’s technology hides the name of the sender, amount and receiver. A representative from monero did not respond to email and Twitter requests for comment. Monero hit a record high Monday of $154.58, up more than 1,000 percent this year, according to CoinMarketCap.
Digital currency ethereum is an increasing target for cybercrime as well, according to Chainalysis. Ethereum is up about 4,300 percent this year amid a flood of funds into the digital currency for initial coin offerings, which have raised the equivalent of nearly $1.8 billion in the last three years, CoinDesk data showed. Cybercriminals raised $225 million in ethereum so far this year, Chainalysis said in a report posted Aug. 7 on its website. Phishing attacks — disguised emails or other communication used to trick people into disclosing personal information — make up more than half of all ethereum cybercrime revenue this year at $115 million, the study said. The Ethereum Foundation did not return a CNBC request for comment.
Make no mistake, Bitcoin is still in the lead even with criminals—its popularity makes it easy to quickly convert with no third parties involved. As that popularity continues to increase and the currency becomes more mainstream, though, other options await.
Cynthia Murrell, January 8, 2018
Google and China: The Story Moves Forward
January 7, 2018
Years ago I recall that Google allegedly wanted China to change its ways. One consequence of that “suggestion” was that Google found itself dropping down the Chinese politicos’ list of favorite online companies.
According to “Google Continues China Push with Investment in YouTube Gaming Like eSports Startup,” Google is investing in Chinese companies; for example:
Chushou is a live streaming mobile game platform that is now valued at $120 million following the latest investment round which Google was a part of.
After the 2010 dust up with the Middle Kingdom, Google invested in Mobvoi, a Chinese artificial intelligence company, and set up an artificial intelligence research lab.
Will the ruling entities in China welcome Google’s attempts to return to the good graces of the largest country on earth?
From my vantage point in Harrod’s Creek, Kentucky, my thought formulation is that China has not softened on Google or any American company. In my experience, Chinese authorities are not into the American approach to disruptive innovation.
Worth monitoring how this story unfolds.
Stephen E Arnold, January 7, 2018
Google and the Purloined Letter Tactic
January 6, 2018
I am amused by bright “real” journalists who have a knack for documenting the obvious.
First, however, check out this diagram from a report I wrote in 2004 for a client and published a year later as “The Google Legacy.” (A fair copy is still available by writing benkent2020 at yahoo dot com.)
This is my presentation of the Google “walled garden.” Note that the information I gathered made this approach clear at the same time Google was just starting to catch the attention of “real” journalists.
The diagram makes it clear that if one wants to play in the Google garden, there are a couple of ways in. Neither is without restrictions.
Now consider this write up which is getting some Twitter love on January 6, 2017:
The idea is that Google is — gasp! — now making Chrome less “open.”
The date on the write up? 2004, 2010, 2015? Nah. January 4, 2018.
Talk about old news. Yeah, why not? The puloined letter was in plain site. No mystery. Just human inability to preceive reality.
Stephen E Arnold, January 6, 2018
Loon Balloon Crashes in Kenya. Legal Eagles Take Flight
January 5, 2018
A few days ago I read “Google High Altitude Balloon Crashes in Meru Miraa Farm.” I bopped over to Google Maps and plugged in “Nthambiro, Meru, Kenya.” As you can tell from the screen shot of this “location,” Google Maps provides modest detail and no coordinates for Nthambiro, Meru.
The primary school in the picture is interesting, but I have zero idea where the Loon balloon crashed.
One of my newsfeeds spit out this article today: “Farmer Threatens to Slap Google with Suit over Balloon Crash.”
The lawyers involved in the issue could locate the farm and track down Joseph Nguthari, whose property was trampled by neighbors who wanted to check out the Loon balloons. The write up asserts:
Mr Nguthari says curious residents trampled on his maize, beans and green grams crop while some helped themselves to his Miraa trees causing ‘massive’ damage.
The write up explains that people came in “droves.” Seven acres of crops were “trampled.”
The write up reports that Mr. Nguthari stated:
“The damage was made worse after police officers shot in the air to disperse the crowd that was keen to see the device. People were running in all directions destroying my farm produce. My farmhand also left on that day,” he added. The device was one of 10 balloons deployed for testing in Nakuru, Nanyuki, Nyeri and Marsabit in July last year. It was being navigated remotely to land in a less populated area but strong winds led it to Mr Nguthari’s farm.
I ran the query for the location on Bing Maps. Zip.
From my point of view, legal eagles are able to pinpoint the location of an event which can be converted into a high profile legal attack on Google.
No update is available to us in Harrod’s Creek about the Loon balloons that were to provide Internet access to Puerto Rico.
We’re confident that the alleged “damage” to the crops is no big deal. Google’s legal team can deal with any litigation. However, Google Maps may not be all that helpful.
Stephen E Arnold, January 5, 2018
Give Bing a Chance
January 5, 2018
Google is still the most popular web search engine by far, but should we be giving Bing a closer look? Editor Anmol at the admittedly Microsoft-centric blog MSPowerUser explains, “Why I Prefer Bing Over Google (And You Should Too).” He begins with a little history:
Formerly called as MSN Search, Windows Live Search or Live Search, Bing was unveiled by former CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer on May 28th, 2009 and went live on June 3rd. 2009. Since then, Microsoft is showing its commitment to Bing as an Internet Search Engine rivalling the dominant giant Google. With Windows 8.1, Bing was deeply integrated with the OS with what was called ‘Smart Search’ and this was accessible from the Start Screen. But now a Search Engine is not used ‘just as a search engine.’ Now we use these services to find coffee places around us, book cabs, book movie tickets and more.
True. So why does the author think Bing is best? First, Bing integrates with the very useful Cortana, Microsoft’s digital assistant and, second, it is available across operating systems. Though others might disagree, Anmol feels Bing’s actual search results are as good as Google’s and, besides, it makes some good predictions. Here are the other strengths Anmol cites: a more appealing home page, the Microsoft rewards program, integration with Facebook Messenger, strong local search, package tracking, a capable image-search function, and its advanced math skills. Bing even seems to understand the needs of developers better than Google does. See the write-up for elaboration, including screenshots, on each of these points.
Anmol concludes:
Above are all that I think made me switch to Bing and are keeps me staying. All these features are brought together to life with advanced machine learning algorithms and years of research and hard work. As Microsoft is a productivity-focused Software giant, Bing is something that drives a large part of its revenue by conquering a large amount of market share. Because of their success already I can only see Microsoft offering even tougher competition to its largest rival Google.
Cynthia Murrell, January 5, 2018
Google Images Staring down Some Steep Competition
January 5, 2018
When we are looking for photos online Google Images has become a sort of shorthand for tracking down pics quick. The folks in Mountain View don’t want you to think much about its shortcomings. However, that topic is bubbling up to the surface, as we saw in a recent Free Technology for Teachers story, “5 Good Alternatives to Google Image Search.”
According to the story:
Google Images tends to be the default image search tool of students and adults who haven’t been introduced to better options. Google Images is convenient, but it’s not the best place for students to find images that are in the public domain or images that have been labeled with a Creative Commons license.
One they recommend is:
Unsplash offers a huge library of images that are either in the public domain or have a Creative Common license. If you or your students are using Google Slides, the Unsplash add-on for Google Slides makes it easy to quickly take images from Unsplash and add them to your slides. Watch my video embedded below to see how the Unsplash add-on for Google Slides works.
This should be a wakeup call for Google. The tech giant seems to have a new balloon popped every day. We love competition and we love leaders reinventing themselves to better meet client needs. We consider this to be a win-win no matter how you slice it.
Patrick Roland, January 5, 2018
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
