Gangster Linux

by Pao Tzu

2001-03-05 14:04:38

Pao Tzu: On The Beat

Picture a world in which criminals utilized powerful cryptography to do their everyday business... wouldn't that next ounce be cheaper? How about your RAM?

I always envisioned linux, PGP, and cheap used hardware as the ultimate future of contraband sales networks. When PGPFone came out, I thought the technology was finally in reach, but then Phil Zimmerman turned into a Windows corporate suit after talking to congress.

So anyway, I still have this concept of the cellular PGP message machine: crypto drug dealer voice mail system. It would make it easier for fellow criminals to do business - especially money laundering, drug trafficking, and car theft - in an organized, efficient, and secure manner. Take for example the situation with car theft. Anyone who has lived in the Bay Area, N.Y., or L.A... or even have played GTA 1/2... knows that organized car theft is easier when in proximity to a intense maritime economy. Cars can be stolen, altered, and sent abroad to other gangster countries like Turkey and Russia.

There is an organization in Vallejo which specializes in creating new stolen car depots throughout the area. To receive new information on the whereabouts of such a warehouse, one has to mail correspondence to an ever changing address which is only available by word of mouth. What if word of mouth could be converted into a PGP key? This would allow the techno-savvy gangster to plug their victim's cellular phone right into their laptop, dial the net, and receive the latest information on where to drop the car for a grand before the alarm has even stopped sounding.

Police surveillance, especially with the recent advent of infrared mono/binoculars, makes it very difficult for the little man to find a good location. It is often the case that rival gangs discover spots are being watched and fail to inform their rivals because they don't want to talk to them. As a result, affiliated gangs also fail to communicate, often resulting in the loss of a large drug front, usually to the tune of 1-2 kilos. With the gangster linux cellular messaging center, each gang can exchange cryptography keys to ensure that this kind of miscommunication does not take place and without fear of interset communication.

Larger criminal organizations, like the marijuana grower cartels in Humboldt, Trinity, Mendocino, Del Norte, and Klamath, often fail to adequately communicate information about chopper surveillance in much the same fashion as petty heroin and crack dealers. The breakdown occurs because of the lack of secure communication channels. Information about the movement of police convoys is sometimes relayed over shortwave radio, but often the information is unreliable and possibly fake. To authenticate the true drug cartel involvement, a crypto key exchange system could be put into place in the form of a gangster linux cellular message center server. The server could inform growers not only of chopper movement, but of potential greyhound/amtrak/trailways riders trusted to smuggle finished products... right while they are still on the airplane.

paco@pigdog.org