EvilZone

Thank you for that reply and the links.  The bad guy will post again and will be conversing with them.  I think that rules out a couple of those options.  You have given me plenty to make the details convincing.  I will continue plodding along but will have more questions.

This is great.  Can you easily point me to some instructions on how one would set up an IRC network via tor?  I can google but maybe there is already a resource you are familiar with?  I don't want to DO it, just describe it with some accuracy.


Either one of the group leaked the address or there is a badass....a state actor or even worse.  That is the mystery that starts off the story and your comments have been very helpful.

Looks like diminishing returns for Bitcoin botnets.  May drop the idea or I could set this a few years ago.


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/24/bad_news_malware_infections_are_mining_bitcoin_good_news_theyre_not_making_any_money/


I like the idea of IRC just because it is a service that most readers would not even be familiar with and has a sort of "techxotic" feel to it.  So if it is possible to keep an IRC room fairly secure from outside interference I will go with that.  My initial research led me to believe that someone security conscious might not use IRC. 

They are not (initially at least) worried about government hacks but it needs to be surprising enough that someone breaks in that they begin to suspect one another.

Greetings!  I am writing a novel, and want the technical aspects to be realistic.  I am hoping that members here might not mind answering a few questions from time to time.  I am not looking for step by step instructions, just enough info and description to make certain passages authentic.  Here are a few questions off the bat to give an idea.  If this is in the wrong forum or if this solicitation is unwelcome, then moderators please feel free to move or delete.




1.  If you had a very tech savvy group looking to engage in fairly regular, or even persistent group chat, what service would they choose?  I want a service that has enough security that when someone unexpected shows up in their group chat they are rather alarmed.


2.  One idea I had was skype, invite only, with password on the chat.  How hard would that be to break into? Mainly using for messaging, not voice or video.




3.  One character does computer repair...his own small business, just out of his home.  I want him to be placing some malware on the machines he services so that they mine bitcoins for him.  Now, over a few years he probably does not access more than...I dunno...two or three hundred systems, though he could write the malware to spread somehow.  Point being, he is not going to get rich doing this, but it's free income.  Assuming the two or three hundred consumer grade machines, what's a realistic value for the bitcoin he might mine?  I know there are several variables, but could he make a couple hundred dollars a month or would that be unreasonable?  What if he accessed a few small businesses so that we could up the number of machines? No, I will not ask for an actual program to do this, though the anatomy/ pseudocode of such a script  might be helpful. Or is this not even realistic to begin with?

Very long first post...don't mean to be rude. Thanks for any interest!