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Web War One

Keith Mularski stood at the podium, his PowerPoint presentation filling an LCD big-screen at his back. In front of him were fifteen senior FBI officials and Justice Department lawyers, sitting around the conference room table at Justice headquarters. They were riveted. Mularski was proposing something that had never been done before.

Group I "sensitive circumstances" authorizations were a rare thing in the bureau. Mularski first wrote out a twenty-page proposal, addressing every aspect of the plan and gathering legal opinions from FBI lawyers for each. The FBI's general counsel was excited about the possibilities; if it were approved, the operation could set a precedent for future online undercover work.

The biggest obstacle for the Justice Department's Undercover Review Committee was the third-party liability issue of letting crimes unfold over a website owned and operated by the U.S. government. How would Mularski mitigate the damage so innocent people and institutions wouldn't suffer? Mularski had an answer at the ready. The criminal activity on DarkMarket was going to take place whether the FBI ran the forum or not. But with the bureau controlling the server, and Master Splyntr leading the site, the FBI could potentially intercept large amounts of stolen data that would otherwise flow freely through the black market. His proposal stipulated that any financial data would be sent immediately