The story you thought you knew was the biggest lie ever told.
In 2008, the world watched the epic takedown of DarkMarket, the billion-dollar cyber-underground empire. Renowned journalists Kevin Poulsen (Kingpin) and Misha Glenny (DarkMarket) named the titans of this dark world: American hacking genius Max "Iceman" Butler and the mysterious Turkish administrator, ChaO.
The official story claimed FBI agent Keith Mularski (alias "Master Splyntr") infiltrated DarkMarket in a two-year operation and brought it down. But what if that’s only the version the FBI wanted you to hear?
ChaO: Code, Conspiracy, and Penance reveals the shocking truth: this wasn't an infiltration—it was a challenge initiated by ChaO himself. By daring the FBI agent to catch him, ordering him state-of-the-art computers, and saying "Come and get me," ChaO turned one of the nation's most skilled agents into an unwitting pawn on his own chessboard.
The world learned from WIRED headlines that ChaO had "kidnapped and tortured" informant Mert Ortaç (codenamed "Kier") and plastered his photograph across the entire underworld. As RSA security analyst Uri Rivner said, this caused "cyber-fraudsters to be genuinely afraid for the first time in years." But what was the real reason? This book reveals it was a brilliant counter-espionage operation to expose FBI and Secret Service networks embedded within the forum.
After DarkMarket, Misha Glenny wrote of "The Hunt for Lord Cyric." The whole world was after this ghost, but no one could find him. Why? Because only one person knew the ghost's true identity and remained silent: ChaO.
While ChaO played chess with the FBI, he was fighting for survival against betrayal in his own country. The untouchable "Simons," known as the "true owners of the state," wanted to position him as the "financial mastermind" of the Ergenekon case, the biggest political setup in Turkish history.
Under threat, ChaO created ChatMonster—an untraceable, decentralized communication network. When pressured to turn this system into a weapon for their dirty operations, he refused one of history's most dangerous offers. Were the seeds of ByLock, which ruined millions of lives, sown the day ChaO said "No" to the FETÖ organization?
At the end of this invisible war, he flatly rejected the witness protection program and the promise of a new life in America. ChaO would never be anyone's pawn.
His unbreakable will was forged throughout his evolution: from a kid who broke systems by reverse-engineering Assembly code and challenging telecom giants with a BlueBox, to the architect who created the "ATM Monster" that neutralized the most advanced banking defense systems.
He entered prison an innocent man; the "kid" at the keyboard died, and a "Boss" who ruled an underworld republic was born. A total of 23 years in 23 of Turkey's most horrific high-security prisons. Two successful escapes.
The man who brought systems to their knees had one vulnerability: people. The betrayal of his most trusted right-hand man, Hakkan, and his love for Gülce became his greatest weakness.
After a devastating phone call, ChaO no longer had a reason to fight. Headlines claimed he was captured by the FBI. The truth: he took a "Vow of Silence" of his own free will, facing the ultimate pain. This wasn't surrender; it was penance for a devastating loss.
Written as a letter in prison, censored in 2021 as "objectionable" and "threatening," this book was reborn into freedom on March 2, 2025.
www.chaostruth.com
Known as ChaO, the author is one of the most controversial figures in Turkey's history of cybercrime. Born in the 1970s, he honed his skills in computer programming and system security from a young age.He first came to international prominence as the administrator of the infamous cyber-underground forum, DarkMarket, a role that saw him featured in bestselling books like Kevin Poulsen's Kingpin and Misha Glenny's DarkMarket. Referred to as the "untouchable Turkish administrator" by WIRED and the BBC, ChaO became the primary target of a two-year FBI operation.The author, who has spent a total of 23 years in 23 different high-security prisons in Turkey, details his experiences and the unfiltered truth of the cyber world in his debut book, Chao: Code, Conspiracy, and Penance. The book's initial draft was written while incarcerated and was subsequently censored by court order.After regaining his freedom in 2025, ChaO resides in Istanbul.
