Peanut Butter Toast Encryption! American couple leaks Navy secrets with food, gets Monero as reward

The FBI arrested a former Navy nuclear engineer and his wife last Saturday, for allegedly leaking Navy military secrets over the past year and receiving as much as $100,000 in cryptocurrency as payment.

US Navy Classified Information Leak Case

The central figure in this legal case, Jonathan Toebbe, was formerly employed by the US Navy as a nuclear engineer. Due to the nature of his work, he had access to certain classified documents and data. According to the Department of Justice, Jonathan Toebbe sent a package to a foreign government in April last year, containing samples of classified data and instructions on how to establish a long-term relationship with him to continue obtaining official secrets. Subsequently, Jonathan Toebbe communicated with the foreign government buyer through encrypted emails.

In the initial correspondence, Jonathan Toebbe provided a Monero (XMR) address and requested the use of this cryptocurrency for payment, believing it would effectively conceal their financial transactions.

Between June and October this year, Jonathan Toebbe and his wife, Diana Toebbe, engaged in several transactions involving the sale of Navy classified data using unconventional methods. For instance, they concealed SD cards containing encrypted data in half-eaten peanut butter sandwiches, which were then placed at prearranged secret locations. Once retrieved by the other party, Jonathan Toebbe would transmit the decryption keys. However, to Jonathan Toebbe's surprise, the foreign government buyer he believed he was dealing with turned out to be an undercover FBI agent. The couple was arrested by the FBI on October 9 and faced trial on December 12. Throughout this period, they received a total of $100,000 in Monero payments.

Characteristics of Monero

Unlike common cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, where wallet addresses, amounts, and transaction times are publicly traceable on the ledger, Monero uses technologies like "stealth addresses" and "ring signatures" to completely obfuscate transaction information, making it untraceable and popular for transactions on the dark web.

However, with the US government offering incentives last year for solutions to track Monero transactions, individuals developing tools for Monero tracing stand to receive substantial rewards. This trend is expected to continue reducing instances of illicit activities in the cryptocurrency space.