It looks like the days when concerned individuals share the inner secrets of corporations and governments only due to their nagging consciences are numbered, from here on in they will do so for nothing more than a fast buck.
A new WikiLeaks-style website has recently been announced that will
reward its contributors with Bitcoins in exchange for information.
If the most valuable commodity is information then it is about to get its own hypermarket; DarkLeaks will allow uses to sell leaked data to the highest bidder in an anonymous blockchain-powered environment where anything goes.
DarkLeaks is being developed by unSystem who are behind DarkWallet, and DarkMarket an anonymous ebay-style marketplace which unlike Silk Road operates on the P2P model so that there is no central point of failure for law enforcement to take down.
The DarkLeaks system is so secure that it does not even allow communication between the seller and the buyer of information. Their website states: “The software uses bitcoin’s blockchain to encrypt files which are released when payment is claimed by the leaker. Files are split into segments and encrypted. These segments are unlocked only when the leaker reveals the key by claiming his bitcoins.”
There are also no limits on the type of content that can be bought and sold. Everything from evidence of corporate corruption to naked pictures of celebrities is up for grabs. UnSystem developer Amir Taaki has told CoinDesk that platforms like DarkLeaks provide a financial incentive for insiders to reveal information thereby “devaluing business models based around proprietary secrecy”.
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This is going to be a BIG problem for corporations.
Those without a counterespionage strategy will hurt first.