Bitcoin, CIA, Honeypot

[coin revolution]

I have heard that the CIA has set up its own nodes. There are those who say that they are building their own bitcoin network to follow the people involved in illegal activities and that they follow the transaction traffic.

Is it possible? Could the states follow their bitcoin by setting up their own nodes in this way?

[LoyceV]

Could the states follow their bitcoin by setting up their own nodes in this way?

That would just create more nodes. All it adds for "the CIA" is knowing an IP, assuming you broadcast your transaction through that specific node. And you can easily hide your IP.

It would be naive to think governments are not trying to track certain transactions, but I doubt they're interested in me.

[OmegaStarScream]

People who are involved in illegal activities are usually aware of the risks and take precautions such as hiding their IPs and using mixers so even If that happens , It's not going to be something easy to track.
It's however something to be afraid of , If for example the governments are running the mixers. There are no open source mixers in the market so you should think twice before using an unknown service.

[kiklo]

I have heard that the CIA has set up its own nodes. There are those who say that they are building their own bitcoin network to follow the people involved in illegal activities and that they follow the transaction traffic.

Is it possible? Could the states follow their bitcoin by setting up their own nodes in this way?

Sure, easier way is they setup their own dark web site, so when you buy illegal items , they get your btc address and shipping address and email address.

If they want you , they will get you.  Cross Referencing Data is a Powerful Tool.

 

[davis196]

I have heard that the CIA has set up its own nodes. There are those who say that they are building their own bitcoin network to follow the people involved in illegal activities and that they follow the transaction traffic.

Is it possible? Could the states follow their bitcoin by setting up their own nodes in this way?

The CIA will again waste the money of the tax payers and provide no result.
They might hit the average bitcoin user ,but the real criminals will stay safe.

[ranochigo]

I have heard that the CIA has set up its own nodes. There are those who say that they are building their own bitcoin network to follow the people involved in illegal activities and that they follow the transaction traffic.

Is it possible? Could the states follow their bitcoin by setting up their own nodes in this way?

You don't have to get a node in order to track transactions.

CIA can definitely setup nodes to try to track users but the degree of accuracy is extremely low that they probably won't even try. Transactions are relayed by nodes and the IP it originated from is not indicated. It would be impossible to see if a transaction has originated from that IP address or it was simply relayed by that node. If you use Tor, it would be much more difficult.

The degree of accuracy can increase if you control a huge percentage of nodes in the network. This is called Sybil attack.

[kiklo]

All of you guys hiding your IP? 

Did you hide your Mac address?
http://superuser.com/questions/802421/can-a-website-see-know-my-mac-address-even-if-i-use-a-vpn

My question is that can a website see my MAC address or can they have an information about that I'm the same person under these conditions:

   

It depends on the web site you are accessing and what special scripts run on their servers.

For example:

When you connect to a wifi hotspot, you will first be directed to a login web page where you have to enter your credentials to be given farther access to the Internet. If you check the address bar of that login page, you will discover your MAC address in there and most likely the MAC address of the router you are connecting to. You don't need to have installed any special software on your computer. A script, which is downloaded by the browser from the server where the login web page is located, does that. That is, the script reads the information about your network adapter and creates the complex string placed in the browser address bar.

After you login, the information about your MAC address sent by your computer and your credentials (user id and password) are placed in a database by the wifi hotspot provider. From that moment, on every time you connect to that wifi network (regardless of the physical hotpsot), your MAC address will be checked against the database. If the credentials are still current and valid you will be given access to the Internet, without the need of another login.

Your MAC address and/or your credentials can be farther used by the wifi hotspot provider to monitor and limit your access to the network based on length of access, time of access, amount of data transferred, type of data accessed, etc.

To answer the original question, a web site can read your MAC address, but they need to have special scripts on their servers and force your browser to download them.

Did you Block / Remove all Cookies.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2865297/super-cookies-can-track-you-even-in-private-browsing-mode-researcher-says.html

'Super cookies' can track you even in private browsing mode, researcher says

Either one and you are Busted. Fake IP or not. 

 

[pedrog]

They don't need to run a network of nodes, they just need to run a few popular mixers.

People like to use mixers to keep their 'financial privacy' and seem to not realize they know nothing about who runs those mixers and what their intentions are.

[coin revolution]

People who are involved in illegal activities are usually aware of the risks and take precautions such as hiding their IPs and using mixers so even If that happens , It's not going to be something easy to track.
It's however something to be afraid of , If for example the governments are running the mixers. There are no open source mixers in the market so you should think twice before using an unknown service.

You are absolutely right. And how safe are the services we use to hide the identity?
For example, some nodes of the Tor servers are controlled by the states. The data stream is being tracked there.
There is more in the States than the technology we use.