Cats lead Feds to KnightMB (worth 371kBTC) in Romney Tax Hack.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I wonder if the fact that BTC were donated to both the "release" and the "suppress" address ups the ante in terms of charges.  It would be kind of funny if there's some horrible additional offence with which he can be charged because people did send him funds even if the amount was tiny.  I'm guessing that those funds are technically "proceeds of crime".

Oh god.  I'm just reading the search and seizure warrant and they're trying to get him for racketeering offences in addition to the 3 types of fraud.

I see him getting slapped with a $100 fine, teaming up with some French engineer, then start accepting pre-orders for quantum mining rigs in 2014.

[phelix]

edit: redone with btc logo



enjoy: http://memegenerator.net/Cat371

[molecular]

enjoy: http://memegenerator.net/Catmb

Oh I know: IT WAS THE CAT!

That innocent look, it's unmistakably guilt!

[phelix]

edit: redone with btc logo: http://memegenerator.net/Cat371

[naypalm]

So a pile of clothes and a kee kat led the cops to this dude. Cat people be warned.

[MysteryMiner]

So a pile of clothes and a kee kat led the cops to this dude. Cat people be warned.

I highly doubt that cat alone led to KnightMB.

[Fiyasko]

Damn dudes...
Lets take a vote
Coins are lost.
KnightMB still has them.
KnightMB lost them early.
USA Gov has the coins unknowingly
USA Gov has the coins knowingly

Personally, I would prefer to have the coins Lost rather than the USA Gov getting 371k bitcoins.
But at the same time, 371,000/21m is a Huge amount to just "lose" and there wouldnt be any record of it, The whole world could still think "21millions coins out there", But by that time Two Million of them could get lost

[molecular]

Damn dudes...
Lets take a vote
Coins are lost.
KnightMB still has them.
KnightMB lost them early.
USA Gov has the coins unknowingly
USA Gov has the coins knowingly

Personally, I would prefer to have the coins Lost rather than the USA Gov getting 371k bitcoins.
But at the same time, 371,000/21m is a Huge amount to just "lose" and there wouldnt be any record of it, The whole world could still think "21millions coins out there", But by that time Two Million of them could get lost

Damn dude, make a link to poll if you want us to vote.

[thebaron]

Wow, don't get cheap when you're trying to extort someone. Spend the whole $4 to get a new flash drive, lol.

[elux]

So a pile of clothes and a kee kat led the cops to this dude. Cat people be warned.

Well... A USB stick containing the Romney ransom note was delivered to PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Tennessee.

Quite incredibly, KnightMB admits to having had the same exact USB stick in his possession.

From: http://www.thedaily.com/article/2012/11/09/110912-news-romney-tax-raid/

Michael Brown, 34, told The Daily that ...

“They have a flash drive that I believe belonged to me four years ago. In my line of work, I use these flash drives all the time. They get lost or they get taken.”

(Emphasis mine.) Notice how he doesn't say "a flash drive that they believe belonged to me."
By failing to shut up, he manages to incriminate himself in an interview with a newspaper.



Lesson of the day: When implicated in a crime (such as blackmailing a presidential candidate),
don't go to the paper and and tell them that the instrument of the crime belongs to you.

[wachtwoord]

Sigh, nobody ever listens to Miranda.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Surely he's not this stupid: http://forums.timekoin.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=84 by KnightMB » Wed Sep 12, 2012 7:51 am

I looked around, seems to be two stories. One that says the group "Anonymous" has released them and another that some group got them from his tax office. I think the latter is true and the former was a news hoax. I did read a topic over at the bitcoin.org forum about this as well. They seem to think the FBI will track them down right away.

[MysteryMiner]

He is either stupid or innocent.

[SysRun]

This whole mess is not good for bitcoin's image. I'm glad they caught him. (I hope they have the right guy)

I'm surprised they let him keep posting on the internet.

[MysteryMiner]

If he was not caught then everyone will forget about this fake hack.

[Spekulatius]

[repentance]

So a pile of clothes and a kee kat led the cops to this dude. Cat people be warned.

I highly doubt that cat alone led to KnightMB.

Nothing in the article suggests that it was the catte images alone which led them to Brown.  My understanding is that it can be difficult to completely erase data from flash drives - I'm guessing there were other fragments of data on there which were more specific and that's why he can't outright deny having ever possessed the flash drive.

[molecular]

He is either stupid or innocent.

Technically, he could be both.

[molecular]

they forgot to confiscate the cat. They money is in a cat-brain-wallet!

[MysteryMiner]

My understanding is that it can be difficult to completely erase data from flash drives - I'm guessing there were other fragments of data on there which were more specific and that's why he can't outright deny having ever possessed the flash drive.

It is possible to erase data from flash drive that it returns nothing useful when accessed with normal interface. But the wear leveling varies from one model to another and it might be possible to recover bits of data from spare areas.

If he was so stupid to send FBI the drive he used himself then he might as well be stupid enough to not erase the flash drive at all.

He probably made some other mistakes. There is no national database of cats. DNA on flash drive or envelope. If he would do this only with internet and do it properly there is no way FBI could trace him.

I recommend to use Heidi Eraser for non-destructive erase and DBAN for complete nuking of all accessible sectors on drive. Filling the drive from output of /dev/random/ is also acceptable. But never be sure about flash or SSD drives.