Four Horsemen of the Infocalypse

    Drug trafficking, money laundering, terrorism and pedophilia.

    They were beaten by such people and will continue to be beaten in terms of privacy and anonymity. New forms of encryption inaccessible to hacking, computer networks with a high degree of anonymity, cryptocurrencies. To push through the restriction of one of these technologies, they often resort to the images of drug dealers, financial speculators, terrorists and pedophiles. These four groups - these are the four riders of the Infocalypse.

    The term plays similar to biblical characters. The four horsemen of the Apocalypse are catastrophes and cataclysms that precede the second coming of Jesus Christ and the Last Judgment. The four horsemen of the Infocalypse also wreak havoc and destruction, but on the global Web. This is done with the consent and approval of millions of people.

    For the first time, the term "Four Riders" began to be used by Timothy May around 1988 when discussing the low prevalence of cryptographic tools among ordinary people. In 1994, the term is spoken in his “ Cipheronomicon , ” a cryptopunk document that describes the ideas and effects of cryptanarchism. "Shifronomikon" is issued in the format of questions and answers. A document from the early nineties discusses digital currencies, the right to privacy on the Web, and killing exchanges .

    One paragraph of the document reads:

    8.3.4 “How will privacy and anonymity be attacked?”

    [...]

    Like many other “hacker" things - as a tool for the Four Horsemen: drug dealers, money launderers, terrorists and pedophiles.

    Other similar discussions include a reference to this term. The list of Four Horsemen may vary slightly. Sometimes it includes "pirates" who illegally download copyrighted works. In a message dated October 16, 1995, serial killers are listed on the same mailing list among riders. In the discussion, a formula was born on how to push any decision.

    • We have a technology that needs to be stopped. Do we have any moral reason or practical need to prohibit it? If not, then you need to choose a strong source of fear: pedophiles, terrorists, drug dealers, scammers or anyone else, for example, serial killers. You can one of the groups, but you can several.
    • Announce loudly that this group of people is resorting to our technology. It doesn’t matter that scary, frightening monsters use other technologies much more often: paper mail, SIM cards and payphones bought in transit, cash.
    • Declare that the only way to put an end to the Four Horsemen’s actions is to cover up this technology or start tightly regulating it. For example, if we are talking about messaging tools, then this is either a complete ban or listening. It's not scary that messaging through our technology was constitutional right. If the first paragraph was carried out honestly, no one will have questions. On the contrary, everyone will only be grateful.

    The terrorists


    The purpose of terrorism is terror, that is, intimidation of ordinary civilians. Not surprisingly, the image of a terrorist is often used to justify otherwise unpopular decisions.

    A recent example of this attitude was the story of the iPhone terrorist from San Bernandino. In December 2015, a terrorist attack occurred in the United States, 16 people were killed and 24 injured. Sayed Rizvan Farouk and Tashfin Malik, who were killed in a shootout with the police, fired. Among the things the couple found, the iPhone 5C, issued by Farouk by the employer. One of the functions of the smartphone is password encryption, and it has been activated.

    The court ordered Apple, the manufacturer of the smartphone, to produce special firmware for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The tool was supposed to disable security features. Applerefused and tried to appeal the decision. As a result of several weeks of proceedings, the FBI nevertheless disclosed data on the phone, but using a third-party instrument purchased for an unnamed amount. Judging by the statement by the head of the FBI, the hack cost more than $ 1.3 million. Apple's hacking details were denied .

    Apple’s fears were justified by the fact that such a tool would help the FBI to crack iPhone encryption, or at least better understand how it is implemented. It was possible to leak private keys for signing firmware. Everything that happened was actively covered in the media, and politics showed interest in the situation. And many of themsided with the FBI: they called on Apple to make a backdoor for the common good. Senators, heads of law enforcement agencies and ordinary people demanded to weaken the defense.

    The value of the extracted data is unclear. From them it became clear that Farouk did not contact anyone in the FBI interests for 18 minutes. Some more interesting details are not reported. Real terrorists are not so technologically literate. For example, terrorists in France used regular SMS, rather than secure messengers with end-to-end encryption.

    Illegal Trading


    With the advent of working implementations of cryptocurrencies based on blockchain technology, a relatively anonymous payment for goods and services has become possible. The “dark” side of the Internet allows anonymous distribution of information. Ordinary, law-abiding people go to Tor to protect privacy or bypass the lock. Buyers receive or transmit bitcoins only because this system is convenient for them.

    Nevertheless, often these systems propose to ban or at least explore the possibility of wiretapping: there are exchanges on the darknet where drugs, stolen credit cards and weapons can be bought, as if on eBay. Tor was originally created to ensure privacy, and before cryptocurrencies, payment systems with a dubious reputation already existed. Even before the Internet, illicit goods were somehow sold for cash.

    Children


    At the end of the 19th century, many states experienced industrialization processes, which imposed their effects on the social structure. Fertility has declined. An individual child began to receive much more attention from his parents.

    Along with this, a special attitude has appeared in European culture towards childhood as a sacred period of development, and towards children as with an innocent, sweet and priceless, defenseless and pure creatures. The standards of morality have changed. By the end of the last century, children became potential victims, so all possible external dangers for them had to be eliminated. From now on, children need adult protection.

    Although most of the described is positive, there have been negative consequences. An emotional reaction “think about children” has formed. Those who use it often demonstrate that they consider their actions important for protecting children. Often this phrase sounds in a context divorced from children and resembles an instrument of moral panic. Indeed, how can you contrast yourself with child safety?

    Therefore, caring for children appears regularly in discussions of the legality of censorship. Many materials are considered unsuitable for children, so their distribution is very limited. These include sexual nature and violence, sometimes something exotic - information about suicides or homosexual contacts. Society may be so concerned about the integrity of infantile children that - with pleasure or in silence - it will approve the prohibition of the dissemination of any information.

    Distribution of pornography involving children is prohibited and prosecuted, as well as sexual intercourse with a child. Any hosting provider is ready to immediately expel a client who will post porn on his server with a model younger than 18 years old. The owners of sites where you can upload photo and video material are familiar with the need to moderate user-posted content.

    Although site operators and the companies that provide them with power quickly remove such materials, some countries have additional filters.

    Digital pirates


    On the Internet, you can exchange files based on client-server architecture or using peer-to-peer networks. For many, the Internet is not just a source of news and a channel of communication with the outside world, but also a way to download movies, games, music and books. It’s rare in which countries hosting providers turn a blind eye to placing files or launching torrent trackers at leased facilities. Almost always, the client is asked to delete files or even point to the door.

    Lost profits often appear in arguments for regulating the Internet. Rightholders claim to suffer losses and demand to ban or restrict access to pirated sites. However, statistics show that cinema revenues are growing year by year. Among the pirates themselves moreActive buyers and collectors.

    Dozens of hours of video are uploaded to YouTube per minute. Neither financially nor physically, the site could not filter the content manually. The process is automated by the Content ID system, which determines the availability of protected content. For creators of videos, the problem is the game against this system and copyright holders. Abuse of the YouTube complaint system is a big annoyance for site users. At the same time, the copyright holders themselves are still unhappy and often accuse YouTube of indulging piracy. There are calls to ban and tightly regulate.



    Sometimes the Four Horsemen come together to remind them that they are real.

    “Undernet is a place for communication between pedophiles, perverts, drug dealers and other freaks. First you need to find them all, catch and land them, and then you can close the network. ”
    Denis Davydov, Executive Director of the Safe Internet League, Izvestia, August 16, 2013 .

    “New laws on data networks will strengthen our ability to violate the ideas of terrorists, criminal gangs and organized gangs of pedophiles.”
    Conservative Party of Great Britain, Guardian, April 22, 2015 .

    “Gamma does not endorse or facilitate the misuse of Gamma products and systems by any government agency. These products and systems have effectively helped in many countries in the actions of the police and other government agencies against the threats of terrorism, drug cartels, other forms of organized crime and pedophile gangs. ”
    Gamma Group , a company that develops wiretapping software for government agencies in many countries of the world,“ BBC ", October 15, 2015 .

    The assumptions of the Four Riders state that only criminals want the right to privacy. And if you sacrifice privacy, the complex problem of the level of terrorism will be solved. In reality, the desire to have a protected privacy is natural for human nature, and mass surveillance is unlikely to help.

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