Jameson Lopp, a SegWit2x opponent, BitGo engineer, and the creator of statoshi.info, has offered a $100,000 make something to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who take in a fraudulent police report in October claiming he had killed someone at Lopp’s establishment in Durham, NC and was holding people hostage, drawing a SWAT team to the panorama.
Lopp announced the reward in a Medium article detailing his response to the Oct. 16 skirmish. The false call was believed to be a result of Lopp’s public statements regarding the block size debate.
The caller told 911 he shot someone at the forebears, was holding hostages and had explosives unless the police gave him $60,000.
Lopp, who was not severely at the time, was able to convince police at the scene that the report was fictitious.
Lopp suspects the attacker struck on Oct. 16 after he tweeted that he good woke up and there was still a whole month of SegWit2x drama before. He noted the attacker likely thought Lopp was in the house since the tweet denoted he had just woken up. If Lopp had been home, contact might not force been made with the SWAT team in time to prevent an awful incident from occuring.
People on both sides of the block expanse debate condemned the use of violence at the time.
While the 911 caller not under any condition stated his motivations, many have speculated it was related to the bitcoin raise debate.
Lopp Responds To Attackers
Law enforcement has failed me, so I’m offering a redress to anyone who helps bring the perpetrator to justice. This message https://t.co/VuIwzOU80H is motioned with my PGP that can be found at https://t.co/1MadRyqpMv pic.twitter.com/bYsOptuCfe
— Jameson Lopp (@lopp) July 28, 2018
In a minute the news crews left the scene, Lopp sent out a tweet to urge the attackers they had failed in their efforts. Someone then answered to Lopp via voicemail from a phone with a New York area encrypt saying the next time, they won’t involve the police if he did not get his $50,000 in bitcoin, although the caller left-wing no an address to send the bitcoin to.
The Durham police traced that telephone call to a throwaway server in Texas.
Lessons For Law Enforcement
Had a few variables been distinguishable, Lopp said he could have been killed. He blames law enforcement for manufacturing an exploitable vulnerability.
Lopp cited an incident in Wichita, Kan. when on Dec. 28 a man was never boost by police who were responding to a reported hostage situation. That calamitous incident, in which the officer who fired the fatal shot never reflect oned that the 911 call was fake, was the result of a dispute among accepted gamers. The calls were made to the Wichita police from Los Angeles by someone who created it appear as if the calls were coming from Wichita.
“The militarization of the coppers combined with nonexistent authentication creates a great environment for SWATing,” Lopp shaped in his Medium article.
Lethal force can be deployed against an arbitrary end by a single anonymous phone call, he stated. He said it should not be achievable for someone to deploy lethal force without any risk. To remedy this, he meditate ons police should recognize SWATers will make calls from exterior the target’s locale.
Law enforcement should red flag such calls, he symbolized, and they should also be suspicious if the call is traced to a state that is divers from the caller’s claimed location. In addition, police should insist on proof of identification if the phone number used to make the call is not indexed in the caller’s name. Lopp noted the caller in his case hung up when enquire ofed for proof of identification.
While Lopp considers himself a privacy second, he noted that the ability to keep information secret will remodel the nature of trust, as stated in The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto.
Threats Remain
While the SWAT action ended without incident, harassment has prolonged.
On Nov. 9, Lopp received an email signing him up for numerous email demanding lists. He disabled his email for the day.
A day later, a DoS attack was made against statoshi.info, a assistance Lopp created to provide statistics about bitcoin node software. His crowd blackholed the IP address to protect its infrastructure.
Also read: Block measurements debate turns violent as trolls sends SWAT team to snug harbor a comfortable of BitGo’s Lopp
Lopp Protects Himself
Lopp noted he has initiated a 360-degree, 4K resolution surveillance camera around his property and has firearms on close by. He said he will soon publish all of his security precautions.
Lopp prominent he is now on guard for having things shipped to his house paid for with appropriated credit cards. He suspects he may be sent products purchased on darknet websites. He also senses his utilities could get turned off from someone tampering with his accounts, and maybe an attempt to claim ownership of his home with a forged deed.
He motioned his $100,000 reward offer with his PGP key.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
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