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0 pointsmc326y ago0 comments

Well since we’re guessing it’s also possible this is the tip of the iceberg and that it’s also possible only amateurs do it in plain sight. I’d imagine agencies who tackle this issue have more insight into that realm than an amateur sleuth of online commenters.

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5 comments · 2 top-level

philwelch6y ago· 3 in thread

Maybe. Or maybe child molesters, like most criminals, are criminals because they have a pattern of making poor life decisions and hence it’s perfectly normal for them to make “amateur” mistakes.

pdkl956y ago

Or, as Zoz explained in his DEFCON 22 talk "Don't Fuck It Up!"[1], OPSEC is really REALLY hard. Even people that have the necessary technical background are human and make mistakes. To stay secure in the "dark web" you need to never make a mistake and e.g. forget to turn on your VPN/Tor before logging in somewhere important. I doubt anybody - even people that made the "best" life decisions - could do this successfully without a LOT of very specific, very technical training.

>> "OPSEC is a 24/7 job."

>> "... a lot of OPSEC fails ... [from] the folly of only using privacy tools when you’re up to no good."

>> "For example, investigators could look at who went and downloaded the Tor Browser Bundle right before the bomb threat got called in; or look at everyone who connected to a known Tor entry node at that time, or who accessed the Tor directory servers. [...] no compromise of Tor necessary."

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1q4Ir2J8P8

philwelch6y ago

This is true and this is ultimately how the small minority of genuinely smart criminals get foiled. The vast majority can be pretty dumb though.

SpicyLemonZest6y ago

(Just wanted to say thanks for linking in the video, it was really good.)

zbentley6y ago

Absolutely. I assume that (as horrible as what the people quoted are doing) someone who doesn't predate in the open commits even more disgusting and damaging acts. Given the number of creeps that show up for "level 1" abuse, it seems likely that there are also huge numbers of people doing even worse things.

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