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The creator of the data leak platform confessed to a criminal past.
Thomas White, one of the founders of Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets), recently revealed information about his criminal past. After serving a five-year prison sentence, White shared details of his activities with 404 Media.
DDoSecrets, created by White and Emma Best in 2018, has become a key platform for publishing large-scale data leaks, filling a niche previously occupied by WikiLeaks. However, it turned out that prior to founding DDoSecrets, White was deeply involved in criminal activities on the darknet.
In late 2013, after the FBI shut down the well-known drug marketplace Silk Road and arrested its creator, Ross Ulbricht, White took on the role of his successor. Under the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts 2.0, he, along with Defcon user (later identified as former SpaceX employee Blake Bentall), launched Silk Road 2.0. According to National Crime Agency investigator Paul Choles, White "was the boss" of this operation.
White's criminal activities were not limited to drug dealing. In November 2014, he was arrested and a search of his flat in Liverpool by police found a laptop containing 464 images of child abuse in Category A, the most severe classification. In addition, it was revealed that White discussed with the administrator of Silk Road 2.0 the idea of creating a website for pedophiles, claiming that it can make money. He later explained that his words were said more as a provocation for reflection and did not reflect his true intentions.
Despite his criminal past, White began working with Emma Best in 2015, using the pseudonym The Cthulhu for various archiving and data leakage projects. This collaboration eventually led to the creation of DDoSecrets in 2018, where White worked on technical aspects, including domain registration and server configuration. According to him, law enforcement and intelligence agencies probably knew about his involvement, since the server was initially registered in his name.
Emma Best confirmed that everyone involved in DDoSecrets knew about Thomas White's past. Information about this was not made public earlier to ensure the safety of the team's work and avoid possible legal problems for White related to his participation in the project.
White's case remained under strict restrictions on media coverage until its conclusion. In 2019, he was sentenced to five years and four months in prison after pleading guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering and making indecent images of children. He claims that he was not directly involved in the work of DDoSecrets while serving his sentence.
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Thomas White, one of the founders of Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets), recently revealed information about his criminal past. After serving a five-year prison sentence, White shared details of his activities with 404 Media.
DDoSecrets, created by White and Emma Best in 2018, has become a key platform for publishing large-scale data leaks, filling a niche previously occupied by WikiLeaks. However, it turned out that prior to founding DDoSecrets, White was deeply involved in criminal activities on the darknet.
In late 2013, after the FBI shut down the well-known drug marketplace Silk Road and arrested its creator, Ross Ulbricht, White took on the role of his successor. Under the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts 2.0, he, along with Defcon user (later identified as former SpaceX employee Blake Bentall), launched Silk Road 2.0. According to National Crime Agency investigator Paul Choles, White "was the boss" of this operation.
White's criminal activities were not limited to drug dealing. In November 2014, he was arrested and a search of his flat in Liverpool by police found a laptop containing 464 images of child abuse in Category A, the most severe classification. In addition, it was revealed that White discussed with the administrator of Silk Road 2.0 the idea of creating a website for pedophiles, claiming that it can make money. He later explained that his words were said more as a provocation for reflection and did not reflect his true intentions.
Despite his criminal past, White began working with Emma Best in 2015, using the pseudonym The Cthulhu for various archiving and data leakage projects. This collaboration eventually led to the creation of DDoSecrets in 2018, where White worked on technical aspects, including domain registration and server configuration. According to him, law enforcement and intelligence agencies probably knew about his involvement, since the server was initially registered in his name.
Emma Best confirmed that everyone involved in DDoSecrets knew about Thomas White's past. Information about this was not made public earlier to ensure the safety of the team's work and avoid possible legal problems for White related to his participation in the project.
White's case remained under strict restrictions on media coverage until its conclusion. In 2019, he was sentenced to five years and four months in prison after pleading guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering and making indecent images of children. He claims that he was not directly involved in the work of DDoSecrets while serving his sentence.
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