NamakemonoReview of "Tracers in the Dark" (4.5 stars): Thrilling True Crime
Matt
HATE CRYPTOCURRENCY? Then this true crime book is all about how criminal Bitcoin users were caught and arrested.
LIKE CRYPTOCURRENCY? This book will teach you a lot about Bitcoin's journey so far and how the criminal underworld misunderstood it.
(I am wrapping up the final audio chapters of Tracers in the Dark and its been a fun listen)
📚 https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593628164
#Cryptocurrency #Bitcoin #BTC #AndyGreenberg #LibroFM #Books #Audiobooks #NowReading
Tracers in the Dark Audiobook on Libro.fm
From the award-winning author of Sandworm comes the propulsive story of a new breed of investigators who have cracked the Bitcoin blockchain, exposing once-anonymous realms of money, drugs, and violence. “I love the book… It reads like a thriller… These stories are amazing.” (Michael Lewis)Over the last decade, a single innovation has massively...
Strypey@littlealex
> we will see a lot of colateral damage and deaths in the next weeks. The fault is not with Israel
"What does it feel like to have been looking at that in 2017, and now not only is AI the buzzword of the moment but also we’ve seen evidence that the IDF is bombing Gaza based on the output of AI tools?"
#AndyGreenberg, 2024
https://www.wired.com/story/meredith-whittaker-signal/
Just how does one "use the population as human shield" when one is randomly targeted? Curious minds are keen to know.
Signal Is More Than Encrypted Messaging. Under Meredith Whittaker, It’s Out to Prove Surveillance Capitalism Wrong
On its 10th anniversary, Signal’s president wants to remind you that the world’s most secure communications platform is a nonprofit. It’s free. It doesn’t track you or serve you ads. It pays its engineers very well. And it’s a go-to app for hundreds of millions of people.
"We also see a boost when a big organization mandates the use of Signal, so the European Commission in 2020 endorsed Signal as the only messenger they recommended for members. So with things like that, effectively everyone switches at once."
#AndyGreenberg, 2024
https://www.wired.com/story/meredith-whittaker-signal/
FFS. I'm sorry, but this is as batshit as giving BorgSoft a backdoor into every desktop and laptop used in EU government (which is what using Windows or Office365 does).
(1/3)
Signal Is More Than Encrypted Messaging. Under Meredith Whittaker, It’s Out to Prove Surveillance Capitalism Wrong
On its 10th anniversary, Signal’s president wants to remind you that the world’s most secure communications platform is a nonprofit. It’s free. It doesn’t track you or serve you ads. It pays its engineers very well. And it’s a go-to app for hundreds of millions of people.
"In a world where Elon Musk seems to have proven that practically no privately owned communication forum is immune from a single rich person’s whims, Signal stands as a counterfactual: evidence that venture capitalism and surveillance capitalism—hell, capitalism, period—are not the only paths forward for the future of technology."
#AndyGreenberg, 2024
https://www.wired.com/story/meredith-whittaker-signal/
Intriguing to see Wired - the Pravda of SillyCon Valley vulture capitalism - publishing sentiments like this.
Signal Is More Than Encrypted Messaging. Under Meredith Whittaker, It’s Out to Prove Surveillance Capitalism Wrong
On its 10th anniversary, Signal’s president wants to remind you that the world’s most secure communications platform is a nonprofit. It’s free. It doesn’t track you or serve you ads. It pays its engineers very well. And it’s a go-to app for hundreds of millions of people.
Anthony Collette 
/ LoistavaThe Bitcoin Blockchain
“It was a permanent record of often-traceable payments that had served as the perfect honeypot, a trap for anyone seeking financial anonymity online in order to commit crime. And it had persisted for years.”
Tracers In The Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency
by Andy Greenberg
“Bitcoin is often portrayed as an untraceable method of payment that facilitates illicit activities by enabling criminals to make and receive payments without being tracked. This depiction implies that users transacting in Bitcoin can do so completely anonymously — that their identities will not be exposed. However, that is not necessarily the case. While Bitcoin offers increased privacy compared to traditional payment methods involving a third-party intermediary such as a credit card provider, it is still not as anonymous as a cash transaction. In fact, there are many ways a person’s identity could potentially be exposed in Bitcoin transactions.”
— FinTech Weekly
The Bitcoin Blockchain — far from being a completely anonymous, distributed ledger of transactions — turned out to be pseudonymous, offering several ways to tie an encrypted transaction to a specific individual.
“But what if the centerpiece of this dark economy held a secret, fatal flaw? What if their currency wasn’t so cryptic after all? An investigator using the right mixture of technical wizardry, financial forensics, and old-fashioned persistence could uncover an entire world of wrongdoing.
Tracers in the Dark is a story of crime and pursuit unlike any other. With unprecedented access to the major players in federal law enforcement and private industry, veteran cybersecurity reporter Andy Greenberg tells an astonishing saga of criminal empires built and destroyed. He introduces an IRS agent with a defiant streak, a Bitcoin-tracing Danish entrepreneur, and a colorful ensemble of hardboiled agents and prosecutors as they delve deep into the crypto-underworld. The result is a thrilling, globe-spanning story of dirty cops, drug bazaars, trafficking rings, and the biggest takedown of an online narcotics market in the history of the Internet.”
☑️ I truly enjoyed this engaging page-turner, and found myself looking forward to picking up the book again and rejoining this globe-hopping whack-a-mole adventure.
Over and again, a simple dynamic repeated: a new technology was developed, considered to be rock-solid, but within a few years (or less) turned out to be far weaker than expected: the blockchain, bitcoin mixers, Monero.
Perhaps we might consider looking at an older privacy technology with over 180 years of continual use. There may be something of value there, some aspect useful for our modern needs. Much can go wrong (or right) in 180 years — and 180 years of data is quite a luxury.
#TracersInTheDark
#AndyGreenberg
#BookReview
#BooksOfMastodon
@agreenberg
09b0c91e55c5fb88.jpg
The Bitcoin Blockchain
“It was a permanent record of often-traceable payments that had served as the perfect honeypot, a trap for anyone seeking financial anonymity online in order to commit crime. And it had persisted for years.”
Tracers In The Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency
by Andy Greenberg
“Bitcoin is often portrayed as an untraceable method of payment that facilitates illicit activities by enabling criminals to make and receive payments without being tracked. This depiction implies that users transacting in Bitcoin can do so completely anonymously — that their identities will not be exposed. However, that is not necessarily the case. While Bitcoin offers increased privacy compared to traditional payment methods involving a third-party intermediary such as a credit card provider, it is still not as anonymous as a cash transaction. In fact, there are many ways a person’s identity could potentially be exposed in Bitcoin transactions.”
— FinTech Weekly
The Bitcoin Blockchain — far from being a completely anonymous, distributed ledger of transactions — turned out to be pseudonymous, offering several ways to tie an encrypted transaction to a specific individual.
“But what if the centerpiece of this dark economy held a secret, fatal flaw? What if their currency wasn’t so cryptic after all? An investigator using the right mixture of technical wizardry, financial forensics, and old-fashioned persistence could uncover an entire world of wrongdoing.
Tracers in the Dark is a story of crime and pursuit unlike any other. With unprecedented access to the major players in federal law enforcement and private industry, veteran cybersecurity reporter Andy Greenberg tells an astonishing saga of criminal empires built and destroyed. He introduces an IRS agent with a defiant streak, a Bitcoin-tracing Danish entrepreneur, and a colorful ensemble of hardboiled agents and prosecutors as they delve deep into the crypto-underworld. The result is a thrilling, globe-spanning story of dirty cops, drug bazaars, trafficking rings, and the biggest takedown of an online narcotics market in the history of the Internet.”
☑️ I truly enjoyed this engaging page-turner, and found myself looking forward to picking up the book again and rejoining this globe-hopping whack-a-mole adventure.
Over and again, a simple dynamic repeated: a new technology was developed, considered to be rock-solid, but within a few years (or less) turned out to be far weaker than expected: the blockchain, bitcoin mixers, Monero.
Perhaps we might consider looking at an older privacy technology with over 180 years of continual use. There may be something of value there, some aspect useful for our modern needs. Much can go wrong (or right) in 180 years — and 180 years of data is quite a luxury.
#TracersInTheDark
#AndyGreenberg
#BookReview
#BooksOfMastodon
@agreenberg
The Bitcoin Blockchain
“It was a permanent record of often-traceable payments that had served as the perfect honeypot, a trap for anyone seeking financial anonymity online in order to commit crime. And it had persisted for years.”
Tracers In The Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency
by Andy Greenberg
“Bitcoin is often portrayed as an untraceable method of payment that facilitates illicit activities by enabling criminals to make and receive payments without being tracked. This depiction implies that users transacting in Bitcoin can do so completely anonymously — that their identities will not be exposed. However, that is not necessarily the case. While Bitcoin offers increased privacy compared to traditional payment methods involving a third-party intermediary such as a credit card provider, it is still not as anonymous as a cash transaction. In fact, there are many ways a person’s identity could potentially be exposed in Bitcoin transactions.”
— FinTech Weekly
The Bitcoin Blockchain — far from being a completely anonymous, distributed ledger of transactions — turned out to be pseudonymous, offering several ways to tie an encrypted transaction to a specific individual.
“But what if the centerpiece of this dark economy held a secret, fatal flaw? What if their currency wasn’t so cryptic after all? An investigator using the right mixture of technical wizardry, financial forensics, and old-fashioned persistence could uncover an entire world of wrongdoing.
Tracers in the Dark is a story of crime and pursuit unlike any other. With unprecedented access to the major players in federal law enforcement and private industry, veteran cybersecurity reporter Andy Greenberg tells an astonishing saga of criminal empires built and destroyed. He introduces an IRS agent with a defiant streak, a Bitcoin-tracing Danish entrepreneur, and a colorful ensemble of hardboiled agents and prosecutors as they delve deep into the crypto-underworld. The result is a thrilling, globe-spanning story of dirty cops, drug bazaars, trafficking rings, and the biggest takedown of an online narcotics market in the history of the Internet.”
☑️ I truly enjoyed this engaging page-turner, and found myself looking forward to picking up the book again and rejoining this globe-hopping whack-a-mole adventure.
Over and again, a simple dynamic repeated: a new technology was developed, considered to be rock-solid, but within a few years (or less) turned out to be far weaker than expected: the blockchain, bitcoin mixers, Monero.
Perhaps we might consider looking at an older privacy technology with over 180 years of continual use. There may be something of value there, some aspect useful for our modern needs. Much can go wrong (or right) in 180 years — and 180 years of data is quite a luxury.
#TracersInTheDark
#AndyGreenberg
#BookReview
#BooksOfMastodon
@agreenberg
Tarnkappe.info📬 Lesetipps: DODI von DODIrepacks im Krankenhaus und Twitter Blue
#Lesetipps #AndyGreenberg #Crackwatchcom #DODI #DODIRepacks #ElonMusk #hossamkiller #TeamXecuter #TwitterBlue #XMPP https://tarnkappe.info/lesetipps/lesetipps-dodi-von-dodirepacks-im-krankenhaus-und-twitter-blue-273391.html
#Lesetipps #AndyGreenberg #Crackwatchcom #DODI #DODIRepacks #ElonMusk #hossamkiller #TeamXecuter #TwitterBlue #XMPP https://tarnkappe.info/lesetipps/lesetipps-dodi-von-dodirepacks-im-krankenhaus-und-twitter-blue-273391.html
The Bitcoin Blockchain
“It was a permanent record of often-traceable payments that had served as the perfect honeypot, a trap for anyone seeking financial anonymity online in order to commit crime. And it had persisted for years.”
Tracers In The Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency
by Andy Greenberg
“Bitcoin is often portrayed as an untraceable method of payment that facilitates illicit activities by enabling criminals to make and receive payments without being tracked. This depiction implies that users transacting in Bitcoin can do so completely anonymously — that their identities will not be exposed. However, that is not necessarily the case. While Bitcoin offers increased privacy compared to traditional payment methods involving a third-party intermediary such as a credit card provider, it is still not as anonymous as a cash transaction. In fact, there are many ways a person’s identity could potentially be exposed in Bitcoin transactions.”
— FinTech Weekly
The Bitcoin Blockchain — far from being a completely anonymous, distributed ledger of transactions — turned out to be pseudonymous, offering several ways to tie an encrypted transaction to a specific individual.
“But what if the centerpiece of this dark economy held a secret, fatal flaw? What if their currency wasn’t so cryptic after all? An investigator using the right mixture of technical wizardry, financial forensics, and old-fashioned persistence could uncover an entire world of wrongdoing.
Tracers in the Dark is a story of crime and pursuit unlike any other. With unprecedented access to the major players in federal law enforcement and private industry, veteran cybersecurity reporter Andy Greenberg tells an astonishing saga of criminal empires built and destroyed. He introduces an IRS agent with a defiant streak, a Bitcoin-tracing Danish entrepreneur, and a colorful ensemble of hardboiled agents and prosecutors as they delve deep into the crypto-underworld. The result is a thrilling, globe-spanning story of dirty cops, drug bazaars, trafficking rings, and the biggest takedown of an online narcotics market in the history of the Internet.”
I truly enjoyed this engaging page-turner, and found myself looking forward to picking up the book again and rejoining this globe-hopping whack-a-mole adventure.
Over and again, a simple dynamic repeated: a new technology was developed, considered to be rock-solid, but within a few years (or less) turned out to be far weaker than expected: the blockchain, bitcoin mixers, Monero.
Perhaps we might consider looking at an older privacy technology with over 180 years of continual use. There may be something of value there, some aspect useful for our modern needs. Much can go wrong (or right) in 180 years — and 180 years of data is quite a luxury.
#TracersInTheDark
#AndyGreenberg
#BookReview
#BooksOfMastodon
@agreenberg
