Secrets of a ransomware negotiator
“There’s something about forty bucks,” Shader argued, “that has to do with the fact that’s the price above which you start getting nervous about lack of recourse.” He proposed a business that would provide eBay traders with escrow and payment services—“a branded infrastructure for safe and convenient person-to-person commerce.” It would make people
... See moreRandall E. Stross • eBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists at Work
In the future, the Other Internet also believes we won’t necessarily interact with money as individuals but as collective “wealth squads.” They talk about how fractionalization can create opportunities and group resilience that would previously have been impossible to achieve alone.
Victoria Buchanan • Vol.17: Victoria Buchanan: Surrealism, World Saving Luxury + Fractional Work
The technology of the Information Age makes it possible to create assets that are outside the reach of many forms of coercion. This new asymmetry between protection and extortion rests upon a fundamental truth of mathematics. It is easier to multiply than to divide.
James Dale Davidson, Lord William Rees-Mogg • The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age
The federal government offers the only hope of a coordinated, intelligent response to threats to the system: there is no private-sector mechanism. To that end the DOE had begun to gather the executives of the utility companies, to educate them about the threats they face. “They all sort of said, ‘But is this really real?’” said MacWilliams. “You ge
... See moreMichael Lewis • The Fifth Risk
What happened next, in retrospect, seems faintly incredible. With no one left to argue with him, Sam threw the switch and let Modelbot rip. “We turned it on and it instantly started making us lots of money,” said Nishad. And then they finally found the $4 million worth of missing Ripple. First they figured out its travel itinerary: it had been sent
... See moreMichael Lewis • Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
An entirely new realm of economic activity that is not hostage to physical violence will emerge in cyberspace. The most obvious benefits will flow to the “cognitive elite,” who will increasingly operate outside political boundaries.