–FBI Seizes Silk Road Underground Black Market Website (October 2 & 3, 2013) US law enforcement officials have taken down Silk Road, an underground black market forum known for distributing illegal drugs and offering hacking services for hire and hacking products for sale. Silk Road, which was reachable only through the Tor network, conducted transactions exclusively in Bitcoins. The operation included the arrest of Silk Road’s operator Ross William Ulbricht. Ulbricht is being charged with narcotics trafficking conspiracy, computer hacking conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy.

http://www.scmagazine.com/fbi-brings-down-silk-road-underground-market/article/314691/

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/10/feds-take-down-online-fraud-bazaar-silk-road-arrest-alleged-mastermind/

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/10/silk-road-raided/

Text of Complaint:

http://media.scmagazine.com/documents/54/ulbrichtcriminalcomplaint_13437.pdf

 –Bitcoin Value Drops After Silk Road Seizure (October 3, 2013) The value of Bitcoin has dropped in the wake of the FBI’s seizure of the Silk Road website, which included US $3.6 million in bitcoins. One possible explanation is investors were shying away from the virtual currency because of its association with the underground site known for its shady dealings. The FBI was able to seize the bitcoins by obtaining their encryption keys from confiscated computer equipment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24381847

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/bitcoin-industry-reeling-as-authorities-shut-down-silk-road-online-marketplace/2013/10/02/961b105a-2ba1-11e3-97a3-ff2758228523_story.html

 –Proposed Legislation Would Reform Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (October 1, 2013) Two US legislators are sponsoring a bill that would reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). The proposed legislation is a companion bill to one introduced in the Senate earlier this year. Among its provisions are the creation of an Office of the Constitutional Advocate to argue for civil liberties during court proceedings and a requirement that the Attorney General declassify or summarize certain FISC decisions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/10/01/the-house-is-divided-over-almost-everything-but-fisa-court-reform-might-be-able-to-unite-it/

 –NSA Admits to Cellphone Location Data Gathering Pilot (October 2 & 3, 2013) The NSA has acknowledged that in 2010, it initiated a test project to collect wholesale cellphone location data on regular citizens, but ended the program in 2011 because it did not provide “operational value.” NSA director General Keith Alexander said on Wednesday, October 2, that sample cellphone location data were collected “to test the ability of [the NSA’s] system’s to handle the data format, but that data was not used for any other purpose.” Alexander had evaded answering a question about the subject last week in a hearing. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) suggested that there is still “significant information” that has not been disclosed.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-had-test-project-to-collect-data-on-americans-cellphone-locations-director-says/2013/10/02/65076278-2b71-11e3-8ade-a1f23cda135e_story.html

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/03/nsa_admits_tracking_us_cellphones/