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Hacking. Disinformation. Surveillance. CYBER is Motherboard's podcast and reporting on the dark underbelly of the internet.
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Before Clark was arrested, Motherboard and an independent security researcher known as La Moustache revealed in September 2015 that a “Roger Clark” or “Thomas Clark” likely based in Thailand was Variety Jones. That investigation was based on a cache of emails Variety Jones sent as well as other documents, files, and chat logs. That material revealed the backroom dealings of Silk Road, including a planned encrypted email service and Bitcoin exchange, and showed that in some cases it was Variety Jones that ordered certain Silk Road employees around.In his own journal, Ulbricht constantly pointed to Variety Jones as an inspiration. He wrote that Variety Jones “helped me see a larger vision,” and that he “was the biggest and strongest willed character I had met through the site thus far.”Clark previously pleaded guilty on January 30, 2020, the press release adds.Subscribe to our cybersecurity podcast, CYBER. Subscribe to our Twitch channel.Do you know anything else about Roger Thomas Clark or other dark web figures? We'd love to hear from you. Using a non-work phone or computer, you can contact Joseph Cox securely on Signal on +44 20 8133 5190, Wickr on josephcox, or email joseph.cox@vice.com.