The FBI Drug Market Rumor, Blue Checkmarks, and Government Backdoors
From Hacker And The Fed by Chris Tarbell & Hector Monsegur
February 26, 2026 · 55 min
About this episode
Chris and Hector discuss the rumor of the FBI running a dark web drug market and explore various security issues.
Chris and Hector break down a headline that made it sound like the FBI was running a dark web drug market and separate rumor from reality. They revisit how confidential sources actually work, the fallout from past undercover operations, and why media framing matters. The conversation then shifts to zero click exploits sold to foreign actors, the risks behind LinkedIn identity verification, and a security researcher who found a simple but devastating vulnerability only to be threatened by lawyers. Join our Patreon for weekly bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/c/hackerandthefed Send HATF your questions at questions@hackerandthefed.com
People in this episode
Hosts: Chris Tarbell, Hector Monsegur
Topics covered
- FBI
- dark web
- drug market
- confidential sources
- zero click exploits
- identity verification
- vulnerability
Keywords
- FBI
- dark web
- drug market
- zero click exploits
- vulnerability
- confidential sources
- media framing
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: FBI, LinkedIn, Patreon
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