Topic: [2018-03-20] US National Security Agency (NSA) Has Been Tracking Bitcoin Users (Read 150 times)

The problem is, which forms of protection are safe and reliable? The US government runs loads of TOR exit nodes. It's widely suspected that some VPNs are just honeypots. For example:


It's pretty scary when you think about it. Even if a VPN proves it has no logs in court, that doesn't mean the NSA isn't packet sniffing behind the scenes. And how do you protect against this:

fully agree with you, everything can be used against you in a negative way

you have a point on this mate,this must be addressed since they were doing this secretly so the only thing that matter is their security,not ours coz they can do anything they want about our data,since our privacy has been invade by this terrorist issues.lets all wish that good management and intentions indeed about this situation

Track users is a violation of their rights and interference in their privacy. The road to hell is always filled with good intentions. Look at the last example. Whales tracked mtgox account and have fallen off the market at the time of the sale of assets. Any information about you can always be used against you. We need to remember this always.

This is precisely the main issue. According to Finsen and FATF reports, crypto-currencies are the least likely tool to finance terrorism. So far, there is no evidence that any terrorist activities were financed with crypto-currency.

sure, why not
let's keep track of users of whatever, it is for our "security", am I right? No??

Why do you say that everyone knows that terrorists use bitcoin? For example, I don't know. You have the facts? It seems to me that these are only elements of the information war of bankers against the use of bitcoins. Someone very rich and powerful spend a lot of money to you to think. I will always be against attempts to regulate cryptocurrencies.

I am also not surprices. The level of terroristic menace is high in the US and as we know criminals turned to crypto for a lilong time ago to hide their teaks and financing. That is not new that soon all of us have been watched, do not know is to for good or for bad.

If the NSA is willing to run exit nodes on Tor, then it is not unlikely that they will track people's Bitcoin activities too. I do not

have a problem with them doing that, if it helps to stop terrorist attacks and even other criminal activities, but the problem is

that they are not just targeting terrorists and criminals. The data they collect on Bitcoin ownership and Bitcoin use can fall

into the wrong hands and innocent citizens can be targeted with this information. 

I yesterday posted about how authorities track users by the coins they withdraw from exchanges, and I wouldn't even be surprised if it goes further than that. At the end of the day, the blockchain is free and open for everyone to browse through, which grants entities such as the NSA valuable information. I always mix coins before sending them to my cold wallets. It doesn't offer any guarantees of course, but at least it grants me an extra layer of privacy that I wouldn't have without mixers being around. People quite often don't realize how much of a precious asset mixers are to our community, but they surely will in the forthcoming years with more and more regulations kicking in. And those who think that mixers are only meant for criminals are just fools. One isn't a criminal for valuing privacy.

Is anyone really surprised? The NSA watches everyone -- even other countries' citizens and chancellors. But uh, I guess it's good (or rather not completely, absolutely bad) that it looks like they're only watching certain groups? That means the average user should be relatively safe from snooping. I wonder what level of anonymity they deem watch-worthy though.

Still, this just means that everyone should be using every kind of protection at their disposal, as you never know who may end up with your data.

Not to be mistaken for another Jason Bourne thriller, the Edward Snowden papers show a US government/bitcoin connection. The Intercept is reporting classified documents leaked by Snowden prove that the US National Security Agency (NSA) in fact was keeping tabs on bitcoin users globally, as evidenced by a report that’s surfaced from March 2013. The timing is curious, with the ink barely dry on an executive order signed by President Trump to ban Americans from transacting with Venezuela’s Petro coin.

In true spy agency style, the report is filled with code names and numbers as well as the cataloging and cross-referencing of data that ultimately helped them to “track down the senders and receivers of bitcoins,” top secret excerpts reveal. The NSA called its bitcoin spying project Oakstar, and the initial focus of the mission was counterterrorism-focused.

It doesn’t appear that the NSA was randomly targeting people. They at least appear to have been monitoring groups that were using the level of anonymity allowed by bitcoin transactions for clandestine purposes, such as money laundering activities. If you’ve ever wondered what a top-secret NSA entry looks like, here’s a glimpse:

“[NSA agent] is hoping to use the access for their mission of looking at organized crime and cyber targets that utilize online e-currency services to move and launder money. These illicit finance networks provide user access to international monetary systems while providing a high degree of anoymity.”

Here’s how it went down. The NSA was seemingly able to use the sophisticated tools available to the US spy agency to collect and analyze internet data, capabilities that were bolstered by let’s call it a super software program that protected the identity of users.

Bitcoin was one of three areas of activity that were being watched, in addition to Liberty Reserve, which has since been shuttered amid money laundering with cryptocurrencies, and one other. Even though bitcoin isn’t the most anonymous cryptocurrency out there, it was the “No. 1 priority” of the NSA.

Network Access
While the blockchain is a public ledger, the NSA didn’t stop there. They apparently gained access to user computer systems, collecting information such as passwords, user sessions and a media access control address. They also seem to have captured personal info such as billing details and IP addresses. The agency was set on uncovering the connection between what they called “bitcoin targets” and the data they had.

As for the timing of the reveal, it could just be a coincidence. But regardless, the more that the government tries to get its grips on the blockchain movement, the more it seems to only embolden the cryptocurrency community to distance themselves further from the centralized financial system.

Source: https://www.ccn.com/big-brothers-watching-bitcoin-whistleblower-papers-reveal/