Ex-CIA Software Engineer Goes on Trial for Vault 7 Leak

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ex-cia-engineer-goes-on-trial-for-massive-leak-11580741119

by pcvarmint • 6 years ago

123 122 6 years ago

degenerate2• 6 years ago

Mr. Schulte wasn't charged immediately, and in conversations with authorities he denied leaking classified information. But by early April he faced a different legal peril: while searching Mr. Schulte's devices, agents found evidence of child pornography, opening up a new line of investigation. Mr. Schulte was arrested in August 2017 on federal child-pornography charges.

Yeah, sure they did.

Aaronstotle• 6 years ago

Looks like it was taken down already, that was fast.

degenerate2• 6 years ago

Link still works - try again.

nothrabannosir• 6 years ago

Same here:

In response to a request we received from 'US Digital Millennium Copyright Act' the page is not currently available.
If you need it for research, investigation or other purposes, please, inquiry via email, or...

LeoTinnitus4• 6 years ago

Actually the thing is, CP isnt clearly defined. It's what anybody ASSUMES is CP, as well as what a lawyer can convince a jury it is.

So if he just had some Loli hentai, they could charge him with CP, even if it isn't CP.

pc86• 6 years ago

Can explain what you mean by "it's what anybody assumes is CP?"

Alex3917• 6 years ago

So if he just had some Loli hentai, they could charge him with CP, even if it isn't CP.

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/16/national/supreme-court-st...

RHSeeger• 6 years ago

You can be charged for possession of child porn for pictures of yourself, and be charged as an adult for it (even though you're a minor as far as the images are concerned). The rules are overly broad to give the courts/cops the ability to stop the bad guys. The problem comes in when, in many cases, they're using those powers in a way that makes _them_ the bad guys; but then it's too late.

numpad03• 6 years ago

Isn’t it wryly hilarious that lots of CP clauses in laws, terms and agreements are used like some sort of one harmless OS bundled app, that every vuln PoC take advantages of in demos, completely irrelevant to the intended benefits of the ‘app’?

Like, hey, this type of content is less compatible with ads. Means sudo mark it CP. We don’t like this person have publicity here. Means hey mister CP.

Everyone’s only interested in CP and it’s disgusting and we gets to decide what’s CP, so what’s CP stands for? CP means CP of course!

zionic12• 6 years ago

Abusing children is evil, fullstop. That said the current laws around CP are horrifically ripe for abuse by the sate.

FBI agents got a "covert search warrant", entered his house without him knowing, then magically find unencrypted CP on his drives. This is the same agency that can interview you, not record it, write up their version of your "interview" as a "form 302", then later charge you for lying to them if anything in their written version of your testimony is later shown to be false (no intent required on your part, if you said it rained last tuesday and it didn't you are guilty of lying to federal agents). No one should trust anyone with that kind of power, and you'd be naive to suggest such power has never been abused.

alasdair_2• 6 years ago

no intent required on your part, if you said it rained last tuesday and it didn't you are guilty of lying to federal agents)

While I completely agree that "lying to a federal agent" is a charge that is open to abuse, it's worth noting that the lie needs to be material in order for a crime to have been committed.

bdamm3• 6 years ago

The point of the parent's comment was to sarcastically note that agents can plant CP and people like you will simply assume that the accusation is correct. It very well may not be. We simply don't know.

giancarlostoro2• 6 years ago

Would you not still have the right to a lawyer who would probably record the same conversation?

Don't talk to any law enforcement without a lawyer. No matter how innocent you think you are. You may be the only suspect and any answer could be misconstrued against you. Sometimes it's not even personal or intentional.

Uc67s8b• 6 years ago

When they need to destroy you they will plant CP on your machines.

Look at what they did to Pad? dock.

Things are not always as they seem.

SamuelAdams2• 6 years ago

This is why you never talk to LEO's without a lawyer. If you have the time I highly recommend watching this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE

linuxdude314• 6 years ago

This is why if forced to speak to federal agents, it is often recommended qualify every response to any question you are asked with, "to the best of my knowledge" or similar qualifiers.

From a prominent legal blog:

'"A statement made to the “best knowledge” of a person does not mean that the person asserts the truth or accuracy of the statement or that the statement is based on that individual’s personal knowledge.'

Similar to undergoing an investigation for SF-86 process all questions are asked "To the best of your knowledge..." leaving you room to make accidental mistakes without incriminating yourself.

markus_zhang• 6 years ago

I just wonder why a lot of those persecutions resulted in some findings related to child pornography...

duxup8• 6 years ago

The speed a witch folks will imply there is a conspiracy at every turn on HN seems to be increasing with time.

shadowgovt5• 6 years ago

HN is passing the Eternal September threshold; this is a standard pattern with any open-subscription message board as T approaches infinity.

I'm old enough to remember transitioning my interaction from /. to HN to get more professional discussion of industry topics. That was a long time ago, and there's no reason to assume most of /. hasn't followed me here by now.

Edit: for those downvoting me, I'd appreciate a clarification on whether I was "off-topic," "troll," "flamebait," or something else; this is not the granularity of feedback to which I am accustom. ;)

rbanffy5• 6 years ago

We are always surprised by unbelievably convenient coincidences favoring whoever has the ability to cause them.

It's astonishing that, during the vetting process and over the course of his employment, his alleged sexual preferences were never a cause for concern. These people can't keep secrets from their employers because any secret they keep is a possible liability.

mindslight• 6 years ago

It would obviously be better if the original article had itself examined the glaring motives. But since we can not rely on mass media to actually do critical reporting, it's good for someone else to say it. When convenient narratives are repeated without questioning, it warps people's perspectives.

zionic12• 6 years ago

See my child comment for a more in depth response, but to your point I believe it is naive to assume intelligence agencies would not weaponize something as powerful as a CP accusation.

dsfyu404ed2• 6 years ago

It's pretty well established that people federal law enforcement wants gone are allegedly pedophiles or otherwise abusing children at an exceptionally high rate compared to the general population. In the absence of other information some skepticism is warranted.

Kuinox• 6 years ago

Why do you think this is conspiracy ?

nyolfen• 6 years ago

it’s a symptom of elite and institutional deligitimatization and it’s everywhere

spyridonas• 6 years ago

So you believe that an agent working for CIA on Vault 7 didn't know how to encrypt his hard drive ?

mzs4• 6 years ago

The guy had multiple layers of plausible deniability encryption for a creepily categorized collection of CP. Investigators were able to see it when he unlocked his cellphone which held relevant stored passwords.

As to why this happens more often than you might expect, it's because people that share classified info are all around bad. It's surprisingly uncommon that they are being blackmailed cause of the CP for example.

Also this was very young children being abused, horrible indefensible stuff.

tsimionescu3• 6 years ago

it's because people that share classified info are all around bad

Now this statement requires some serious proof. Most of the high profile whistle-blowers have been heroes standing up against the odds to at least let everyone of us know what the state is doing.

Camping people like Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden 'all around bad' is shameful.

zionic12• 6 years ago

Source?

Ancalagon• 6 years ago

Seems like this is a good time to ask the question: Why the heck would any (good) engineer work for the CIA?

EDIT: I realize now after re-reading this comment that it could definitely come off as very abrasive. I won't alter it so everyone can see the original. Sorry if I offended anyone, I purely meant it from the standpoint of an engineer who has control of their own career (and likely desires more money/status) and understands the kind of precedent this creates and what it means for preservation of self if one were to work in the CIA.

reroute1• 6 years ago

What's the answer to 99 out of 100 questions?

Money.

loeg2• 6 years ago

The money isn't compelling. It's below market and requires more hoop-jumping than most employers.

blackearl• 6 years ago

That's why you work for a private company that works on government contracts. Working directly for gov doesn't pay

muratsu3• 6 years ago

Some people probably believe in the mission and prefer to work for the organization. Not everyone is motivated by stock options or benefits, etc.

craigc• 6 years ago

And what exactly is the “mission” here? Overthrowing democratically elected governments in other countries? Assassinating foreign agents? Starting coups in other parts of the world? Running global drug trafficking operations?

mariuolo• 6 years ago

Yes, he probably was an idealist who grew disillusioned by what he saw.

Otherwise why risk divulging state secrets?

domikazi• 6 years ago

What about the ability to create exploits with the intention of being malicious to foreign actors?

non-entity• 6 years ago

Actually, I looked out of curiosity once, a while back and they have some moderately interesting work available which is more than I could say for a large swath of the jobs out there.

That being said, the pay was insulting for the skills desired and location (DC metro supposedly isn't cheap). I personally wouldnt work for the out of principle and probably wouldnt ever qualify (no degree, plus I have expressed views that would probably disqualify me anyway)

compuguy2• 6 years ago

Seriously? Being a cleared engineer, especially in the Washington DC area is a pretty decent career. Demand is pretty good these days with the current move from on prem facilities to the cloud as well...

lonelappde4• 6 years ago

Money, location, excitement for spycraft, their sense of patriotism.

neonate• 6 years ago

https://archive.md/IY71v

rbanffy5• 6 years ago

I wonder if https://www.npmjs.com/package/nsaname is updated with all the leaked names.

Ex-CIA Software Engineer Goes on Trial for Vault 7 Leak

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