The trial of Ross Ulbricht, the alleged mastermind behind the Silk Road online marketplace, has begun in New York, with the 30-year-old facing life in jail if found guilty.
The site operated like an ebay for illegal goods and services and became particularly popular as a place to buy and sell drugs, firearms and cybercrime-as-a-service.
The users and operators of the site were able to evade detection for nearly three years thanks to the fact it operated on the Dark Web and was only accessible through the anonymising Tor browser. Additional security was afforded by the fact transactions were all carried out using the supposedly untraceable Bitcoin digital currency.
When he was detained by the FBI, Ulbricht was allegedly logged into the Silk Road on his laptop, which also contained chat logs and a diary containing information on the site.
“[Ulbricht was] literally caught with his fingers at the keyboard, running the Silk Road,” the prosecutors told the court.
Ulbricht, however, has always maintained his innocence. Forbes reports that his lawyers have conceded he did set up the site as "an economic experiment", but claimed he was the "perfect fall guy" for the true operators of the website, who took control of the site before any of the crimes Ulbricht is charged with were committed.
Indeed, a person interviewed by Forbes in August 2013 who claimed to be DPR said they had taken over running the site from another, unnamed person, although this could equally mean Ulbricht took over from the original founder.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ulbricht's friends and family also claim he is innocent, with others who had known him during his life, such as his teachers and housemates, expressing surprise at his arrest.
If found guilty on all charges, which include money laundering and computer hacking, as well as conspiracy to traffic narcotics, Ulbricht could spend the rest of his life in jail. The trial continues.
This article originally appeared at pcpro.co.uk
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