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Ex-CIA coder behind WikiLeaks ‘Vault 7’ cache found guilty of espionage
- ransom1538 4y agoWhy can't these super ninja CIA hackers click on FileVault on their mac book pro?
- ncmncm 4y agoThe jury should have been asking exactly that. Obviously the guy could. And just as obviously, this CIA unit was fully equipped to make it look like he failed to. It was their everyday job. None of their "evidence" passes the smell test. The child porn thing is an obvious extortion tactic: plead guilty to this or we'll try you for that!
- say_it_as_it_is 4y agoCoincidentally had child porn on his machine.
- bobthechef 4y ago
- AustinDev 4y agoThe go to ‘sprinkle some crack on em’ tool in the alphabet toolbox.
- bostonsre 4y agoHe had state secrets on his machine.. why would they need to do this or what would they gain from doing this?
- jdmonty 4y agoMakes him look really scummy?
- sedatk 4y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32090407 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32090407
- dredmorbius 4y agoImpeaching the witness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witness_impeachment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witness_impeachment
- brian_cunnie 4y agoIANAL, but I don't think they can introduce child pornography charge in the espionage trial--they severed the two trials, and the ex-CIA coder hasn't yet been convicted of child pornography (it's the later trial), so it doesn't fall under the "Prior Conviction" umbrella.
- dredmorbius 4y agoFair point. There are other potential prosecutorial benefits. There's still the court-of-public-opinion element. Such a charge might give allies / witnesses for the defence pause to come forward. Facing multiple independent counts also increases pressure, costs, and distracts attention for the defendant against any one case. Given the defendant here is representing himself, that may be a major hurdle. (Last sentence here is a stealth edit FYI.) Whether the CP charges are justified or strategic I really can't say. The practice of digging up additional dirt on defendants in specific instances is a venerable tradition however.
- boomboomsubban 4y agoHow would they know he had state secrets on his computer? And how could they convince a judge they knew he had those secrets without admitting to illegal activities themselves?
- sedatk 4y agoIf there was such a tool, why wasn't it used for others like Chelsea Manning?
- daenz 4y agoNot every leak and leaker is the same. If a tool/procedure like that existed, it would probably be used on people who could generate positive public perception of their actions. Apparently the "vault 7" leak was centered around how devices were hacked to spy on private citizens and consumers. The public has a soft spot for people who leak things that expose direct invasions of privacy. Chelsea Manning on the other hand leaked documents that I don't believe would influence public opinion of them very easily (diplomatic cables and different military things). If you were going to break the law (planting evidence) to smear the character of someone, smear the person who has a higher chance of the public siding with.
- sterlind 4y agothen why wouldn't they have used it against Edward Snowden? he revealed a whole mass surveillance operation, along with misconduct by NSA agents, and there was a lot of popular support for him. I still agree they could have smeared him, but I don't think it's improbable that the porn was actually his. Pedophiles are skilled at opsec, keeping secrets and doing unsavory things, so their background suits working in IC if they can conceal their behavior. And if discovered by a foreign intelligence agency, they'd be easy to extort into spying. Vault 7 released a fair bit of code, didn't it? It would benefit state adversaries to leak that publicly, by burning exploits the CIA's using.
- boomboomsubban 4y agoHow would it work with Snowden? "Yknow the guy who flew to Hong Kong and stated he deleted all his data? Turns out he still had one computer he forgot that just so happens to be jam packed with illegal porn." Much easier to trap him in Russia and claim he's a foreign agent.
- newsclues 4y ago
- smitty1e 4y agoLiving by the sword could result in dying thereby.
- boringg 4y agoI think all the comments miss that this comment is said as a joke. I don't think OP is meant that they literally did that - it would be a particularly dumb law enforcement move that would jeopardize the entire case.
- krapp 4y agoPlenty of people believe the government literally does that all the time, as a matter of routine.
- Terry_Roll 4y agoWhat word causes the ultimate form of cognitive dissonance in males?
- smeagull 4y agoASD love doing that too. I think they got it from the Americans.
- kornhole 4y agoThis one is very hard to believe. A guy who worked on advanced hacking tools and was able to get out that much data without trace does not know how to use encrypted hidden volumes nor shred his hard drives?
- wombat-man 4y agoMaybe he did. Maybe he wasn't able to shred in time.
- Bud 4y agoEasy for me to believe. Highly intelligent and skilled people are often also very arrogant and think they can't get caught. Or, they have blind spots. Or, they just get careless about certain things.
- yucky 4y agoEdward Snowden was the exception, not the rule.
- spoonjim 4y agoLeakers tend to be optimists and idealists. But it’s cynics and misanthropes who are the best at opsec.
- bearmode 4y agoThis leaker wasn't motivated by idealism, he was just a dickhead trying to get back at his employer.
- spoonjim 4y agoI don’t find that extremely surprising. The Catholic Church scandals have shown that child sexual abuse is much more widespread than anyone would like to think, and with all of the teenagers out there taking nude pictures there could easily be underage porn out there that people don’t even know is illicit. Between intentional and unintentional possession there is probably a significant percentage of the population who they could get on this charge.
- superb-owl 4y agoIf you're going to illegally leak sensitive information, give it to journalists, not WikiLeaks. Good journalists know how to balance public safety and public interest, and have the resources to redact dangerous information. WikiLeaks is much more anarchic and leans heavily towards total disclosure.
- jdmonty 4y agoCaveat emptor leaking anything to “journalists”
- dehrmann 4y agoCaveat narrator. Alternatively, caveat proditor.
- goldenkey 4y agoIt's not like casual secrets are usually leaked. Trust doesn't mean blindness. If I agree to conceal your secrets and then you tell me you are doing unspeakable acts against me and the rest of the country, why the fuck wouldn't I out you? All of this trust, honor, integrity humdrum only makes sense when it's reciprocated. These principles are predicated on bidirectionality but for some reason, macho nationalists love to act like these principles are some one-sided blood pact, made in a sacrificial fashion by "real" men. These agents are able to keep their mouths shut while their soul withers to dust. It's clearly not out of strength, more out of cowardice, ingroup identification, and learned psychopathy. Lame! Fuck the spooks and the skunks they rode in on!
- dredmorbius 4y agoThen there's the case of Reality Winner and the Intercept's bungling: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_Winner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_Winner That despite the EFF's technologist Micah Lee being on the Intercept's staff. (Lee was not consulted in managing the documents.) The ICIJ seem to have robust practices and a proven track record. I'm aware of their handling multiple leaks and not compromising any sources. https://www.icij.org/ https://www.icij.org/
- trauco 4y agoA recent deep dive into this case from The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/06/13/the-surreal-case-of-a-cia-hackers-revenge https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/06/13/the-surreal-ca...
- throwoutway 4y agoThe article says he felt slighted by the CIA. What was the reason? Did he not get a promotion?
- mise_en_place 4y agoIt's crazy how much power government bureaucrats have. They can instantly ruin someone's life if they want to. They're unelected and leech off of the taxpayer as well. Our government should be run like a public, for-profit corporation, with each taxpayer as shareholder.
- Arainach 4y agoThe government is not a corporation. It most certainly should not be driven by profit. It exists to deliver value and do things that no private corporation would do, and to be a check on corporate power.
- aaaaaaaaata 4y ago> It most certainly should not be driven by profit. Stop right there, because it currently is. Where do we go from here, is the question?
- CryptoBanker 4y agoAh yes, the super profitable US government that still finds itself trillions of dollars in debt
- aaaaaaaaata 4y ago> Ah yes, the super profitable US government that still finds itself trillions of dollars in debt Can't believe I have to spell this out, but am happy to — it's the individuals making it up who are benefitting...obviously the organization has not been benefiting/improving from good leadership for some time.
- cmeacham98 4y agoBecause large private corporations are well known for never ruining an individual's life. This is satire, right?
- shreyshnaccount 4y ago
- HeckFeck 4y agoWe all knew they were doing it, this leaker's only crime is discrediting the agencies convenient brushoff where they'd label everyone a "conspiracy theorist" for even considering they have these capacities. "Spooks in my wires?! It's more likely than you think!"
- josephd79 4y ago1 guy, 34 terabytes of data?
- IYasha 4y agoHalf way thru the article I feel confused. How can hi-grade IT specialist make so many ridiculous mistakes building up his own safety measures? I mean, when you put your bluetooth pin-pass on a sticker at home is one thing, but when you deal with THIS - ... hardly believable.