As the affair of Satoshi Nakamoto’s email hijacking drifted further toward farce today, an older story re-emerged as observers noted similarities between current events and an attempt to hijack bitcoin evangelist Roger Ver’s online identities in May.
No details of Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity have yet emerged from the latest incident, and the ‘ransom’ bitcoin address his alleged email hacker posted online seems to have stalled at only 1.55 BTC of its 25 BTC target (see image below).
New identity hunt
With Satoshi’s identity apparently safe once more, attention has turned to that of the perpetrator.
The home page of Twitter account ‘@LulzClerk’, which the alleged hacker had provided in an interview with Vice‘s Motherboard blog, listed alternate online handles which seemed familiar: ‘Savaged’ and ‘Nitrous’ were also used by the person or persons involved in the Roger Ver hacking/blackmailing incident.
It is possible those identities had been hijacked, however, or were put there deliberately to mislead, but as Ver told CoinDesk:
“There isn’t 100% hard proof, but the person is using all the same names and images as my hacker and is even claiming himself to be the same person. His attitude also seems to be very similar.”
Ver also noted that the 37.6 BTC bounty/reward he offered the public to deter the hacker at the time (and which worked effectively, forcing the perpetrator into a hasty retreat) remained unclaimed, as the alleged attacker had still not been positively identified.
Several posts on popular forums like Reddit and Bitcoin Talk had identified and ‘doxxed’ (ie: revealed multiple personal details online) an individual alleged to be that person several times over the past few months, but Ver said he has not seen any real evidence to support the claim.
The bounty website
Ver and his associates are also in the process of building a formal website with details and conditions of the reward.
To claim the 37.6 BTC, an informant should submit all documentary evidence they possess to block chain certification site Proof of Existence, and to the proper law enforcement agencies.
Should that result in an arrest leading to a conviction, the informant must then contact Ver via the website and use the timestamp provided by Proof of Existence to prove their information was responsible.
Ver said this system allows the informant to remain anonymous if desired, providing only a bitcoin address to receive the reward. If no informant identifies themselves, or if law enforcement apprehends the perpetrator without help, he will donate the 37.6 BTC to charity.
If the website idea proves popular, Ver added, more bounties could be offered to solve several other notorious bitcoin mysteries, including those responsible for hacking Mt Gox and Bitcoinica.
“I’m sure the public will have lots more ideas,” Ver concluded.
Hacker image via Shutterstock