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SCP-4960 Euclid ~ medium confidence
SCP-4960
Expected annual
$1.4M
One-time setup
$425K
Annual recurring
$1.4M
Personnel
8
Estimated one-time setup costs are approximately $425,000 (suite buildout, specialized hardware, OPSEC and archival setup, shell-company formation and decommissioning). Annual recurring costs are about $1,350,700, driven primarily by security and research staffing, commissioning/animation budgets, site overhead, and OPSEC/finance/archival operations.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $425K
Facilities $300K
[#1] Dedicated Class-A suite construction (secure room, reinforced walls/doors, HVAC isolation, communications, dedicated power, small anteroom, CCTV/alarm integration). Midpoint of $150k–$450k used.
Decommissioning And Transfer $42K
[#25] One-time costs to securely archive/destroy holdings, close sockpuppets, and legal wind-down. Midpoint of $10k–$75k used.
Equipment $35K
[#2] Monitors, framed display cases, archival mounting, secure digital displays, surge protection, blackout blinds, environmental monitoring. Midpoint of $10k–$60k used.
Initial It Opsec Hardware $31K
[#11, #15] Initial OPSEC/IT hardware and secure archival server/air-gap setup. Includes initial laptops/VPN appliances ($2k–$10k) and secure server/air-gap ($10k–$40k); midpoints used and summed.
Shell Company Setup $16K
[#10] One-time legal and financial setup for shell companies and merchant accounts. Midpoint of $3k–$30k used.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $0
[]
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $1.4M/yr
Staff Wages $554K/yr
[#4, #5] Security staffing (6 guards, wages+benefits/training ≈ $338,000) and assigned research staff (senior researcher + junior technician ≈ $216,000).
Facilities Maintenance $250K/yr
[#3] Pro-rated Site-17 overhead allocation (facility upkeep, site security infrastructure, administrative overhead). Midpoint of $100k–$400k used.
Commissioning Budget $150K/yr
[#7] Ongoing commissioning of graven images and animations (refreshed every two weeks). Conservative-year commissioning budget chosen (between $52k–$260k; midpoint-ish).
Cover Story And Legal $67K/yr
[#10, #20, #23] Combined recurring legal/cover costs: banking/processing fees, PR/cover-story budget and international regulatory/legal mitigation. Includes monthly banking fees ($200–$1,000/mo), PR/disinformation components, and legal counsel estimates; aggregated conservatively.
Research And Monitoring $50K/yr
[#24] Periodic review and research budget for Procedure 166-Anahita efficacy (experiments, data analysis, artist workshops). Conservative midpoint chosen from $25k–$150k.
Contingency Reserve $50K/yr
[#19] Annualized reserve to cover emergency commissions, account bans, or rapid contractor hiring. Conservative provision within $25k–$150k range.
Mental Health And Compliance $40K/yr
[#6] Part-time psychologist/consultant and staff counseling for handlers; midpoint of $25k–$60k used.
Auditing And Finance $35K/yr
[#18] Finance oversight, account refreshes, reconciliation and occasional external audits. Midpoint of $20k–$70k used.
Licensing And Ndas $25K/yr
[#13] Copyright/license buyouts and NDA/licensing payments to artists. Midpoint of $10k–$50k/yr used.
Animation Retainer $20K/yr
[#8] Animation studio retainer/rush fees ($10k–$60k/yr retainer; individual project fees separate and folded into commissioning budget). Conservative estimate used.
Security Incident Reserve $20K/yr
[#21] Annualized fund for incident response (digital/physical breaches). Per-incident estimate $10k–$200k; a modest annual reserve provided.
Opsec And It Services $18K/yr
[#11] VPN/proxy services, VPS, account automation infrastructure and ongoing IT subscriptions. Midpoint of $6k–$30k/yr used.
Sockpuppet Accounts $15K/yr
[#9] Creation/maintenance costs for fake identities, virtual numbers, purchase credits and site fees. Midpoint of $6k–$24k used.
Payment Platform Fees $15K/yr
[#12] Platform/transaction commissions (5–15% of commissioning budget). Applied as ~10% of commissioning budget (~$150k).
Supplies And Consumables $12K/yr
[#22] Office supplies, printing, cleaning, food/amenities for SCP, laundry, small maintenance items. Midpoint of $5k–$20k used.
Content Moderation And Takedowns $10K/yr
[#14] Costs to remove/delink public traces, takedowns and moderation support. Conservative mid-range of $2k–$30k used.
Training And Procedure Maintenance $10K/yr
[#17] Training staff on Procedure 166-Anahita, OPSEC best practices and documentation refreshers. Midpoint of $5k–$20k used.
Archival Storage And Backups $6K/yr
[#15] Recurring storage, backups, integrity checks and migrations ($2k–$10k/yr).
Logistics And Transport $3K/yr
[#16] Shipping of physical works, secure couriers, customs handling. Midpoint-ish within $500–$5,000/yr.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $1.4M/yr
88.0% probability / year
Normal uneventful year with regular commissioning cadence, routine maintenance, and no major incidents.
regular commissioning schedule no account or legal incidents site operations normal
🚨 Minor Incident $1.6M/yr
10.0% probability / year +$200K vs baseline
Minor OPSEC/account compromise or takedown requiring emergency legal/PR response and short-term surge commissioning.
sockpuppet accounts banned moderate leak of images legal takedown required
🚨 Major Breach $1.9M/yr
2.0% probability / year +$500K vs baseline
Significant exposure or coordinated legal/regulatory action requiring large-scale cover rebuild, heavy PR/legal fees, and possible relocation or reclassification effort.
large-scale data leak front company compromise regulatory/legal enforcement action
👥 Personnel 8 total
Role Count Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent 6 [#4] 24/7 guard coverage: 2guards per shift, 3 shifts = 6 guards (wages + benefits included in staff_wages).
Research Scientist 1 [#5] Primary senior researcher/handler (senior-level privileges) accounted in staff_wages.
Technician / Research Assistant 1 [#5] Junior technician assigned to daily checks, procedure supervision, and record-keeping accounted in staff_wages.
📋 Confidence Notes
Many line items are described in the analyst notes but ranges are wide (particularly commissioning/animation, PR/legal, and incident costs). Estimates use conservative midpoints where ranges exist; actual costs could vary materially if commissioning intensity or breach frequency differs from assumptions.
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