Cloudfare is a content delivery network. CREDO is a cellphone company. But what do these two have in common, other then 21st century technology? They also quite a relationship with the FBI. In fact, Cloudfare and CREDO are still gagged by the FBI.
Well, the gag is partial. Last week, Cloudfare admitted the FBI demanded customer data from them. Why do we know this? Because the FBI lifted a gag order…somewhat. You see, there are some things Cloudfare can’t talk about because part of the gag order still remains. Furthermore, CREDO challenges national security letters. Let me explain. Over the years, they believe the FBI sent 60 national security letters a day. These letters told the companies to share customer data without the customers’ knowledge.
But Cloudfare and CREDO are fighting back in court. Cloudfare’s Kenneth Carter said they were in a lawsuit. This lawsuit is a fight to determine if NSL’s (national security letters) are unconstitutional. But Cloudfare has an ally. That ally is CREDO. Cloudfare and CREDO argue these letters let the FBI stop Americans from using free speech. They also believe they have a good case, too. Company reps say the gag order alone are great examples of why they should ban NSL’s.
But Cloudfare and CREDO aren’t the only ones tech companies fighting government surveillance. For several years now, people in IT support, and computer repair, and managed IT services, and many others in the tech industry spoke out. Plus, we’re just five days from changing US Presidents. So far, the President-Elect hasn’t been exactly sympathetic when it comes to tech privacy. Maybe that will change. I hope so. I can only hope the meeting with Silicon Valley leaders went well, and they brought up this very subject. But as time goes on, I think voices like Cloudfare and CREDO will only get louder and louder. We can only hope, right? Do you think Cloudfare and CREDO will win this fight?
How many remember the TV show Chuck from the late 2000s and early 2010s? It was about a consumer servicing man who was an undercover agent. But computer repair company Geek Squad allegedly has undercover agents, too. Geek Squad: Are you spying on us?
So here is the story. Tech news website Techdirt?tweeted on this subject. Consequently, they say the FBI paid Geek Squad technicians. Their mission: to investigate crime on their customers. Techdirt isn’t the only one talking about Geek Squad. Tech journalist Zack Whittaker also claimed their Geek Squad technicians got FBI rewards for spy activity. It’s not much though. At best, the reward is $500. That sounds like a cheap amount for an informant, doesn’t it?
But wait…there’s more. Hence, these undercover techs caught some real criminals. In California, an Orange County doctor brought his computer in. The Geek Squad tech found child pornography on it. But this tech was an FBI informant. He reported the doctor. In November 2014, the law indicted the doctor on two counts of child pornography. So there is some good here. But are they crossing legal boundaries? Furthermore, just how cozy is this private tech company with the FBI?
Well, according to Whittaker’s tweets, very cozy. The relationship goes back to 2007. From what I’m reading, being informants is about the only thing Geek Squad has going for them. Don’t take my word for it. In our computer service shop, we served some of their dissatisfied customers. But I digress. I’m glad they caught the doctor. But that’s just one case out of thousands. I’m sure there are thousands of innocent people that are getting spied on. These people did nothing to deserve this treatment. I believe this is a violation of our Fourth Amendment. You see, there has to be probable cause to search and seize somebody. Simply bringing a messed up computer in a shop is hardly probable cause for anything! Once again, too many people are having their privacy trifled by the government and corporate America. Are they going too far?
Here’s what many say about 2016: “Thank God it’s almost over!” So believe me, most of us in computer repair feel the same way. But one headline that dominated the news this year is Russia hacking, particularly during the 2016 election. Russia hacking: how did this happen?
Before I go any further, I shall report the latest episode in this real life soap opera. The Obama Administration put sanctions on Russia. Such sanctions include kicking 35 Russian agents out of the USA. They also include penalties for some top Russian intelligence leaders. This Russian organization is called the G.R.U. Here is the full story.
Is it true? But if so, how did Russia hacking affect an election? According to one New York Times stories, it’s all about Moscow convincing top leaders in managed IT services.? This includes people like Aleksandr B. Vyarya. Vyarya was a Russian computer programmer. His job was to fight cyber crime. Then the Kremlin urged him to hack for his country. But he refused. Then he feared consequences. Hence, he fled to Finland. But for every refusal, you have dozens of Russians eager to join this cyber warfare. Those involved in Russia hacking include Russian CEOs to political leaders to military personnel, and criminals. Their work is secretive. Their offices are isolated bunkers. They communicate in code. We’ll never know who most of these guys are.
Russia hacking is real. I’m still don’t know about the election part. They could have interfered in the election. Russia has the manpower and capabilities to do it. But did they? Or are the Democrats using Russia hacking as a scapegoat for their loss? But there are many recent stories of Russia hacking US government agencies. We can’t deny this. Also, how will Putin react to these sanctions? Will this encourage more cyber warfare in the name of payback? And what is Trump going to do after he is sworn in on January 20, 2017? Where do USA and Russian relations go from here?
Let’s face it: we live in a surveillance state. Those of us in managed IT services know it and see it. While others in computer repair fix it on a regular basis. But how much is too much? So lets look at the Google potential lawsuit: What will happen?
Well actually, thanks to a Google project manager, the Google potential lawsuit becomes reality. The Google potential lawsuit complains of internal spying. This spying includes employees snitching on each other. But apparently, this spying program encourages that. The lawsuit says this program violates California labor law. And that’s not all.
Furthermore, the lawsuit said Google leaders told employees not to write about potential illegal activities. The lawsuit also says why they told them this. The lawsuit says Google leaders didn’t want wrong information going to the law. Also, the suit says Google bans employees from writing novels about any company in Silicon Valley. That is, unless they have the Google’s approval. As a result, Google plans to fight this with everything they have. They call the Google potential lawsuit ‘baseless’. But if the plaintiff wins, Google could lose as much as 3.8 billion dollars.
So who is the manager behind the Google potential lawsuit? We don’t know. The only description they gave is ‘John Doe’. That right there is a warning flag. If you call yourself fighting for a worthy cause, shouldn’t you have the confidence to let yourself be known? We’re talking about one of the most respected companies in the world, not an underground crime ring. But some of this Google potential lawsuit has merit. I can see forbidding employees to write novels about your company. A lot of people can get hurt that way. But forbidding them to write about anybody in Silicon Valley?! That’s a bit much. And encouraging employees to snitch? Hey, I don’t like the whole ‘stop snitching’ culture on the streets. But encouraging employees to tattle takes ‘see something, say something’ to the extreme. What will happen of this Google potential lawsuit?
There is little love between IT leaders and President-elect Donald Trump. But Washington and Silicon Valley must co-exist. Everybody knows this. So IT leaders attend Trump’s tech summit. Hence, the summit takes place Wednesday in New York City.
Those attending will include Google/Alphabet CEO Larry Page, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Also attending will be Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and IBM CEO Ginni Rometty. In addition to all this, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will be attending. We don’t know about Elon Musk’s attendance. But these IT leaders see this as an opportunity. Furthermore, IT leaders expect a lot from President-elect Trump. They want tax reform. They also want America’s IT tech industry to be the most competitive. So do I. We all should.
Of course, there will be awkward moments. Bezos was vehemently anti-Trump. His Washington Post attacked Trump on many subject. Let’s not forget ?the conflict between Trump and Apple. This started over a phone allegedly used by one of the San Bernadino shooters. Trump believed Apple should give the phone info to the Feds. Apple doesn’t fell that way. Next month, Donald Trump becomes our US President. What will happen then. And what about Peter Thiel, who was a die hard Trump supporter?
There’s a lot of hostility toward him right now. As a result, Thiel may not attend. But don’t you think there’s going to be a lot of hostility anyway? Let’s face it. Most people in this meeting supported Trump’s rival, Hilary Rodham Clinton. Hopefully, they can put that behind and do what’s best for the country. What does this meeting have to do with IT? Lots. I can’t stress this enough how powerful our industry is in this nation. Furthermore, Washington and Silicon Valley need each other. They many not like each other, but they need to work together and respect each other. Maybe this meeting will heal wounds. We can only hope so. What do you think will become of this Wednesday summit?
Remember last summer, when everyone thought Russia?hacked the Democratic National Committee? But apparently, there’s more to the story! Much more. Attention: Russia hacked Republican National Committee!
So, this comes from US intelligence officials. And they are highly confident of this. Furthermore, intelligence officials believe Russia hacked the Democrat National Committee as well. They allegedly did it by hacking their computer systems. But wait, there’s more. Agents believe Russia leaked hacked documents to Wikileaks. That’s how Wikileaks?were able to report on so much dirt, especially on the Democrats. Then why didn’t these documents attack the Republicans? For months, they said they were never hacked. But now, we learn different. As one can expect, officials have no comment.
President-elect Trump’s transition people addressed the Russian hacking issue. Basically, they said it’s time to move on. Another government official said Russia’s hacking on the Republicans wasn’t as successful. But it did happen. We’ll never know how many files they got. Did Russia do this to help Trump win? We’ll probably never know that either. But the CIA and NSA stated that certain Russian officials conducted the cyber attacks. I have a feeling President Obama will want to find out all he can about this before January 20.
So what does this have to do with the IT field? Quite a bit. This is just another reminder the IT industry effects everything we do these days. This includes politics. It took some great IT minds, from overseas, to hack into not one, but two US political parties. Did they sway the election? We’ll probably never know that. Maybe it did. Maybe not. But it shows you how powerful IT can be. Not only that, this story reminds me how global IT is. Note the hackers didn’t come from the US. They came from Russia. What lessons are there for 2020?
