Project PM: Crowdsourcing Research of the Cyber-Intelligence Complex

Presented at HOPE X (2014), July 19, 2014, 4 p.m. (60 minutes)

In April 2013, the FBI sought information on what the journalist Barrett Brown was doing with an open source collaborative wiki that he founded called Project PM, and were equally as curious about what kind of dirt he had on his hard drives about the government contractors and intelligence firms he investigated on that site. Edward Snowden's leaks about the NSA have since exposed only the tip of the iceberg with regards to how much the U.S. intelligence community is capable of, and those efforts are largely assisted by the likes of companies who Project PM set out to research: Ntrepid, Abraxis Hacking Team, Cubic, Endgame, Palantir, and others. Now, more than ever, is the time to collect and analyze open source information about the shadowy companies who operate on behalf of the U.S. government, often without being held accountable.

Presenters:

• Lauren Pespisa
  Lauren Pespisa is a Boston Web developer and activist currently involved with Project PM and the Barrett Brown case.
• Kevin Gallagher
  Kevin Gallagher is a systems administrator and activist who is interested in privacy and freedom of information. After Barrett Brown's arrest, he created Free Barrett Brown, a support network, advocacy organization, and legal defense fund. To that end, he has been responsible for much of the public efforts that have been put forth regarding Brown's defense. He now works for Freedom of the Press Foundation.
• Joe Fionda
  Joe Fionda is a data intersectionality and privacy enthusiast who works as an actor, producer, and journalist. He is in the upcoming documentary called The Hacker Wars, premiering at the Toronto Film Fest in September, and has appeared on Boardwalk Empire, Law and Order: SVU, and Power, among others. He is a staunch defender of journalists and the 99 percent in the fight against income inequality.
• Andrew Blake
  Andrew Blake is a journalist who has worked closely on issues concerning Anonymous and hacktivism for a number of outlets. He's appeared on RT and HuffPost Live to discuss computer crimes and the intelligence sector, and covered the case of WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning for vice.com.

Links:

• http://x.hope.net/schedule.html#projectpmc
• https://infocon.org/cons/2600/HOPE X (2014)/[HOPE X] Project PM - Crowdsourcing Research of the Cyber Intelligence Complex.mp4
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuPehtqUt6o

Similar Presentations:

• BSidesLV 2014 / The Only Way to Tell the Truth is in Fiction: The Dynamics of Life in the National Security State
• DEF CON 21 (2013) / The Growing Irrelevance of US Government Cybersecurity Intelligence Information
• DEF CON 23 (2015) / Applied Intelligence: Using Information That's Not There