Whistle-blower sites like Wikileaks have been a thorn in the side of people everywhere who have something to hide. They’ve published all sorts of sensitive material that has shed light on the behind-the-scenes goings-on of governments, corporations and other secretive organisations, much to those entities’ chagrin. But what they haven’t done, is sell that information for profit.

But now there’s a new website in development, and it’s not quite as altruistic. It’s called Slur, and it’s a decentralised and anonymous marketplace that sells all sorts of data that could be of value to third parties, including stolen databases, military intelligence, zero-day software exploits and so forth. It’s basically a data supermarket, with no limitations on what could potentially be up for sale.

And guess which currency it trades in? Yes, that’s right loyal reader, it’s Bitcoin, the digital, anonymous, hard-to-track form of exchange that already has a reputation for funding dodgy internet endeavours.

“Slur is written in C and operates over the Tor network with Bitcoin transactions through libbitcoin,” a blurb on the site explains. “Both buyers and sellers are fully anonymous and there are no restrictions on the data that is auctioned. There is no charge to buy or sell on the Slur marketplace except in the case of a dispute, where a token sum is paid to volunteers.”

While Slur claims that sensitive information should actually be made freely available, the site believes feels that by providing a monetary motivation, it will encourage more whistle-blowers.

“Financial incentive in an anonymous framework will produce a greater yield of leaked information than from, say, the ideology that drove patriots like Edward Snowden. For every idealist willing to selflessly sacrifice their freedom, assets and even risk their lives for a greater good, there are 1 000 psychopaths willing to anonymously sell out their peers for material gain.” Clearly, the people behind the site are students of human nature, then.

And what information are they hoping to auction off once the website comes out of its beta April? The website lists the following:

•    Trade secrets.
•    Designs for every type of consumer product.
•    The source code for proprietary operating systems and high-end CAD software.
•    Zero day exploits. For the market defined value rather than a price determined by the corporations under the guise of a bounty with the veiled threat of legal action should the researcher choose to sell elsewhere.
•    The details of backdoors covertly installed inside industrial and consumer hardware and software.
•    Stolen databases. Corporations will no longer be able to get away with an apology when they fail to secure their customers confidential data. They will have to pay the market value to suppress it.
•    Proof of tax evasion from disgruntled or underpaid employees. Both the IRS and the public have an interest in that information and corporations will have to bid to suppress it – a very quantifiable and predictable payoff for the seller.
•    Military intelligence relevant to real-time conflicts.
•    Aerospace and defense designs.
•    Evidence relevant to ongoing trials.
•    Unflattering celebrity photos and videos.
•    The complete databases of social media sites like Facebook.
•    Proof of government corruption. Close to an election.

A site like this could either be incredibly useful or very dangerous, depending on what side of the auction you’re on. But since so much corporate and government data is expected to make its way there, expect a lot of heat on the Tor network from law enforcement in the coming months as Slur nears its official launch date.

If you are in Africa and still want to blow the whistle on wrong-doing, the much-easier (but less-profitable) Afrileaks is at your disposal.

[Image – CC by 2.0/Michelangelo Carrieri]