Ugly kids are cheaper – The Besa Files
Another story from the dark web “murder-for-hire” site hack. Read The Curious Case of Besa Mafia first. There are stories of people paying real money, verifiable through the blockchain, that have come out of the hack. Both targets and their would-be killers can be identified, so it’s only fair to leave those to the authorities for […]
The Little Texas Hit that Wasn’t
The hack of dark web “murder-for-hire” outfit Besa Mafia, which I wrote about a couple of days ago. has provided a treasure trove of stories of people who are prepared to go to extreme measures to be rid of someone in their lives. Most never got further than the initial enquiries. A few parted […]
Hitting on the Aussies – the Besa Mafia files
Before the recent hack confirmed definitively what rational people already knew – i.e. that the dark web “murder-for-hire” site was a scam – it was a little disconcerting that Besa Mafia’s No.1 FAQ was Do you have people in Australia? Now a thorough search of the leaked mails and orders has found no evidence that […]
The curious case of Besa Mafia
Disturbing revelations have come out of a dark web hire-a-hitman site Drugs, hacking services, stolen financial and personal information and fraud-related services are the staple products of the darknet markets. But there has always been websites offering far more sinister wares – poisons, human beings and hitmen. Such sites are overwhelmingly amateurish, poorly worded fakes, designed […]
You wanted darker web?
Last week I poked fun at torture and murder on the dark web. I’m writing on the same topic today, but I’m not laughing. A few months ago I wrote about the apparent over-representation of Australians in all things dark web. This blog touches on that too, but you won’t find me smug and vaguely […]
Waiting in the Red Room
“There will be bacon” It started, as these things are wont to do, on 4Chan or Reddit. A couple of days ago; anonymous people posting anonymously “WHOA! Is this Real??” They gave no explanation, just an onion (i.e. dark web) link. The curious, of course, clicked. And they were greeted with a message: It went […]
On being part of the stolen genre
What do me and Charles Bukowski have in common? Okay, that may be a little hyperbolic, but for the answer you are going to have to check out my guest blog for the Melbourne Writers Festival.
If you found it by browsing, it’s probably not dark web
Fun fact: the proper technical term for dark web sites is hidden services. It’s easy to forget what this implies, but as I’ve been researching the past couple of months for a new book, I’ve been reminded of how the dark web is designed to work. When people ask what’s on the dark web, those […]
Putting the party into Crypto
Once it was thought only crazy people wearing tinfoil hats believed their movements were being tracked all the time. Now it is only crazy people who don’t. According to the media, “a new kind of party craze has many Australians scrambling for invitations“. Crypto parties aren’t actually that new, but they are certainly getting more popular. I […]
Mea culpa – Silk Road prosecutors respond to SSBD story
Yesterday I posted Silk Road moderator Peter N’s story. It gained a lot of attention from supporters and haters alike. It also got noticed by someone else. And I’m no longer sure which category they belong in. n I was surprised to receive not only a comment on the blog, but also a personal email […]