[ars]

> Yes, however the contents of the free sample seems very real.

The only people who could verify if it's real are the Equation Group themself. For anyone else it's impossible to verify - it's just some names.

So: If it's real the Equation Group will bid - probably a lot. If it's fake no one will bid.

So it'll be easy to tell which it is.

[objclxt]

> If it's real the Equation Group will bid - probably a lot.

Why? You have no guarantee what you're bidding for will remain private, and you don't want to give it legitimacy by bidding. Who's to say if it's real the Equation Group wouldn't bid, under the assumption that it's already out there and you have absolutely no guarantees that anyone you're dealing with would keep their word.

[ars]

They would bid to try to track them, not to try to keep it private.

[tedmiston]

Please ignore; corrected below.

> So it'll be easy to tell which it is.

~~How can you tell how others have bid?~~

[pr0zac]

Its bitcoin. https://blockchain.info/address/19BY2XCgbDe6WtTVbTyzM9eR3LYr...

[ars]

https://blockr.io/address/info/19BY2XCgbDe6WtTVbTyzM9eR3LYr6...

[jandrese]

Wouldn't the Equation Group just hack their systems and erase the code?

[ars]

Can they? The real world is not like a TV show - you can't just hack into any arbitrary system and expect you'll get in.

Some systems you can get into some you can't.