“Follow the money,” the shadowy figure known as Deep Throat whispered to a pair of intrepid D.C.-based reporters during the dark days of Watergate more than 40 years ago.
The maxim has stayed the same in the ensuing decades, but the technology has changed. Following the money, and the people behind making the money move, has become a lot harder. The web has a lot of shadows, the shadows hide a lot of bad actors, and sometimes those actors contain multitudes. And the money is only a byproduct of malice or intent from those actors.