Chris Tarbell is a former FBI special agent and cybercrime investigation specialist who brought down Ross Ulbricht and Silk Road, and Hector Monsegur (aka Sabu) of LulzSec and Anonymous. Please support this podcast by checking out Lex’s Links!
In Lex Fridman’s podcast #340, he interviews Chris Tarbell who is a former FBI special agent and cybercrime investigation specialist. Tarbell is most well-known for his work in taking down Ross Ulbricht and Silk Road, as well as Hector Monsegur (aka Sabu) of LulzSec and Anonymous. In the interview, Tarbell discusses his experiences working in cybercrime investigations as well as providing some insight into the minds of some of the most notorious hackers in recent history.
One key point that Tarbell makes is that many hackers do what they do out of a sense of curiosity and challenge. They are often interested in seeing how far they can push systems and see what they can get away with. This can be seen in cases like Ulbricht, who created Silk Road as an online black market where buyers and sellers could conduct transactions anonymously. He was motivated by a desire to create an online marketplace that was immune to regulation and law enforcement.
Tarbell also provides some interesting insights into the mindset of Sabu, who was arguably one of the most notorious hackers in history. Sabu was known for leading attacks on high-profile targets like Sony, PayPal, and Mastercard
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0:00 – Introduction
1:16 – Silk Road
11:39 – Mass surveillance
15:50 – Operation Onion Peeler
21:06 – Hacker Avunit
31:56 – Ross Ulbricht and Silk Road
44:39 – Edward Snowden
46:44 – NSA surveillance
58:51 – Silk Road murders
1:07:37 – Dark web
1:11:39 – Ross Ulbricht’s arrest
1:19:37 – Aaron Swartz
1:22:55 – Donald Trump and the Mar-a-Lago raid
1:26:01 – Tech companies and censorship
1:35:00 – War in Ukraine
1:38:58 – Anonymous and LulzSec
1:49:10 – FBI
1:52:11 – Personal threats
1:57:57 – Hector Monsegur a.k.a Sabu
2:11:07 – Cyber attack threats against civilians
2:27:55 – Most secure operating system
2:31:44 – Cyber war
2:39:38 – Advice for young people
2:44:50 – FBI’s credibility
2:53:21 – Love
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0:00 – Introduction & sponsor mentions:
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1:16 – Silk Road
11:39 – Mass surveillance
15:50 – Operation Onion Peeler
21:06 – Hacker Avunit
31:56 – Ross Ulbricht and Silk Road
44:39 – Edward Snowden
46:44 – NSA surveillance
58:51 – Silk Road murders
1:07:37 – Dark web
1:11:39 – Ross Ulbricht's arrest
1:19:37 – Aaron Swartz
1:22:55 – Donald Trump and the Mar-a-Lago raid
1:26:01 – Tech companies and censorship
1:35:00 – War in Ukraine
1:38:58 – Anonymous and LulzSec
1:49:10 – FBI
1:52:11 – Personal threats
1:57:57 – Hector Monsegur a.k.a Sabu
2:11:07 – Cyber attack threats against civilians
2:27:55 – Most secure operating system
2:31:44 – Cyber war
2:39:38 – Advice for young people
2:44:50 – FBI's credibility
2:53:21 – Love
"I don't want my children to have access to drugs so I'm gonna make it harder for everyone.."
When was the vote on rather or not this dude should be allowed to have kids??
Silk road.. Brings back memories of how much cash I could of had if I didn't keep my bitcoin in some dumb site that stole it all.. Totally forgot about my 2.4( was only like 80 bucks back then) bitcoin till I saw the news that it was 20 grand each.. Went through my Google email to find my account and learned mtgox was hacked.. Twas a sad day
Plot twist: Lex is avunit
I am AV unit
Plot twist: Lex is AVUnit
I like the fact that the agent did acknowledge that even though a tech company is a private company, if they're working hand in hand with the government, it kind of means they aren't. In my opinion anyway. It's at least an argument for why the 1st amendment might apply even though it's private
One of my favorite podcast yet.. Random
I ❤️❤️❤️ this topic. Great shout.
1:22:16 the FBI can't pick and choose? Uhh no investigation into the hunter Biden laptop, people that took pictures inside the building on January 6th r facing 20 years, but blm protesters that burned down building and police stations didn't even get arrested. This doesn't add up
This guys demonstrated really poor networking experience
Thanks for the interview. I found it very insightful and informational and shockingly emotional. I understand the feeling of realizing what we can really do to each other for good or bad.
Plot twist. Chris is AVunit.
Same people who screaming free Ross Ulbricht are the same people who claim is was completely justified to raid Trumps house in Florida. Crazy.
This is so fascinating. Thank you to all of our law enforcement that truly aims to keep people safe at the end of the day. No matter how Libertarian I am, Silk Road was dangerous and I couldn't imagine what it may have turned into in today's state with the current fentanyl crisis.
This FBI agent seems more concerned with teaching his kids how to get away with crimes than anything else…🧐
15:30 This is a fair talking point had the POTUS not been completely deranged and unhinged. He was literally spewing false information out as the most powerful man in the world. This type of "freedom of speech" is not protected as such. You can save that nonsense for your family gatherings etc. Do as you choose. But once your "free speech" endangers the lives of innocents it is no longer protected speech and warrants a ban or being censored. It's not rocket science. Don't say stupid shit.
This guy uses the same excuse the Nazis used during the Nuremburg Trials, "Just doing my job, just following orders, so it's not my fault, doesn't matter if it's right or wrong, just doing my job maaaaan."
No accountability for anything, "government paid me money so i'm just doing my job."
No respect for people like this NPC government pawn.
If your wondering what's in your fbi file you can use freedom of information act and request it
But can't talk to his wife about his classified work?
. .✨ At 27:58 is he intimating how there’s a ‘Robin Hood’ worth interviewing, hacking the Federali’s who are the true gangsters ? . . they stole from and deleted McAfee after he exposed them . .
Good to see one of the faces of the main problem our society has.
Plot twist… Lex is AVUNIT.
Everyone of your pod casts are a breath of fresh air. Thank you.