Jacob Appelbaum
Encyclopedia
Jacob Appelbaum is an independent computer security
researcher and hacker. He is currently employed by the University of Washington
, and is a core member of the Tor project
. Appelbaum is known for representing Wikileaks
at the 2010 Hope conference. He has subsequently been repeatedly targeted by US law enforcement agencies, who obtained a court order for his Twitter account data, detained him 12 times at the US border after trips abroad, and seized a laptop and several mobile phones.
Appelbaum, under the handle "ioerror", has been an active member of the Cult of the Dead Cow
hacker collective since 2008, and is the co-founder of the San Francisco hackerspace
Noisebridge
with Mitch Altman
. He has worked for Greenpeace
and has volunteered for the Ruckus Society
and the Rainforest Action Network
. He is also a photographer and ambassador for the art group monochrom
.
, Personal Experiences: Bringing Technology and New Media to Disaster Areas, and A Discussion About Modern Disk Encryption Systems. The former covered his travels to Iraq
- crossing the border by foot, the installing of Internet satellites in Kurdistan, and his visit of New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina
. The latter talk discussed the legal and technical aspects of full disk encryption
. At the 2006 23rd Chaos Communication Congress, he gave a talk with Ralf-Philipp Weinmann titled Unlocking FileVault: An Analysis of Apple's Encrypted Disk Storage System. The duo subsequently released the VileFault free software
program which broke Apple's FileVault
security.
Appelbaum has also collaborated on several other high-profile research projects, including the cold boot attack
, SSL certificate authorities
and smart parking meters.
on 29 July 2010, Appelbaum was detained for three hours at Newark airport by agents, according to anonymous sources. The sources told CNET
that Appelbaum's bag was searched, receipts from his bag were photocopied, and his laptop was inspected, although in what manner was unclear. Appelbaum reportedly refused to answer questions without a lawyer present and was not allowed to make a phone call. His three mobile phones were reportedly taken and not returned. On 31 July he spoke at DEF CON
and mentioned his phone being "seized". After speaking, he was approached by two FBI agents and questioned.
According to CNET
in an interview with Appelbaum, he told them that "other people who appeared in the address book of [his] seized cell phones also have encountered trouble at borders or in airports".
On December 14, 2010, the US Department of Justice obtained a court order compelling Twitter
to provide data associated with the user accounts of Appelbaum, as well as several other individuals associated with Wikileaks
, including Julian Assange
and Birgitta Jónsdóttir
. While the order was originally sealed, Twitter successfully petitioned the court to unseal it, permitting the company to inform its users that their account information had been requested.
When Appelbaum returned from a vacation in Iceland on January 10, 2011, he was again detained by US Customs agents for 30 minutes at the Seattle airport. According to Appelbaum, the agents "specifically wanted laptops and cell phones and were visibly unhappy when they discovered nothing of the sort. I did however have a few USB thumb drives with a copy of the Bill of Rights encoded into the block device. They were unable to copy it."
Similarly, Appelbaum was detained in Houston, Texas while returning from a trip to Siberia on April 12, 2011. He was again subject to detention on arrival in Seattle on June 14, 2011.
After being detained at Keflavik Airport on October 27, 2011 when returning to the United States Appelbaum wrote about the experience on BoingBoing.net.
Computer security
Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
researcher and hacker. He is currently employed by the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, and is a core member of the Tor project
Tor (anonymity network)
Tor is a system intended to enable online anonymity. Tor client software routes Internet traffic through a worldwide volunteer network of servers in order to conceal a user's location or usage from someone conducting network surveillance or traffic analysis...
. Appelbaum is known for representing Wikileaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
at the 2010 Hope conference. He has subsequently been repeatedly targeted by US law enforcement agencies, who obtained a court order for his Twitter account data, detained him 12 times at the US border after trips abroad, and seized a laptop and several mobile phones.
Appelbaum, under the handle "ioerror", has been an active member of the Cult of the Dead Cow
Cult of the Dead Cow
Cult of the Dead Cow, also known as cDc or cDc Communications, is a computer hacker and DIY media organization founded in 1984 in Lubbock, Texas. The group maintains a weblog on its site, also titled "Cult of the Dead Cow"...
hacker collective since 2008, and is the co-founder of the San Francisco hackerspace
Hackerspace
A hackerspace or hackspace is a location where people with common interests, often in computers, technology, science, or digital or electronic art can meet, socialise and/or collaborate...
Noisebridge
Noisebridge
Noisebridge is an award winning anarchistic educational hackerspace in San Francisco, inspired by the Chaos Computer Club and other hacker organizations. It is a registered non-profit California corporation, with IRS 501 charitable status...
with Mitch Altman
Mitch Altman
Mitch Altman is a San Francisco-based hacker and inventor, best known for co-founding 3ware , his pioneering work in Virtual Reality at VPL Research and inventing TV-B-Gone. He is also President and CTO of Cornfield Electronics.-Early life and education:Altman grew up in Rogers Park, Chicago,...
. He has worked for Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
and has volunteered for the Ruckus Society
Ruckus Society
The Ruckus Society is a nonprofit organization that sponsors skill-sharing and direct action training camps for activists from impacted communities working on social justice, human rights, and environmental justice...
and the Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network is an environmental organization based in San Francisco, California, USA. The organization was founded by Randy "Hurricane" Hayes and Mike Roselle in 1985, with the financial help of Fund for Wild Nature....
. He is also a photographer and ambassador for the art group monochrom
Monochrom
monochrom is an international art-technology-philosophy group, founded in 1993. Its offices are located at Museumsquartier/Vienna ....
.
Research and Activism
In 2005, Appelbaum gave two talks at the 22nd Chaos Communication CongressChaos Communication Congress
The Chaos Communication Congress is an annual meeting of the international hacker scene, organized by the Chaos Computer Club. The congress features a variety of lectures and workshops on technical and political issues....
, Personal Experiences: Bringing Technology and New Media to Disaster Areas, and A Discussion About Modern Disk Encryption Systems. The former covered his travels to Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
- crossing the border by foot, the installing of Internet satellites in Kurdistan, and his visit of New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. The latter talk discussed the legal and technical aspects of full disk encryption
Full disk encryption
Disk encryption uses disk encryption software or hardware to encrypt every bit of data that goes on a disk or disk volume. Disk encryption prevents unauthorized access to data storage. The term "full disk encryption" is often used to signify that everything on a disk is encrypted, including the...
. At the 2006 23rd Chaos Communication Congress, he gave a talk with Ralf-Philipp Weinmann titled Unlocking FileVault: An Analysis of Apple's Encrypted Disk Storage System. The duo subsequently released the VileFault free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
program which broke Apple's FileVault
FileVault
FileVault is a system which encrypts files on a Macintosh computer. It can be found in the Mac OS X v10.4 "Tiger" operating system and later....
security.
Appelbaum has also collaborated on several other high-profile research projects, including the cold boot attack
Cold boot attack
In cryptography, a cold boot attack is a type of side channel attack in which an attacker with physical access to a computer is able to retrieve encryption keys from a running operating system after using a cold reboot to restart the machine from a completely "off" state...
, SSL certificate authorities
Certificate authority
In cryptography, a certificate authority, or certification authority, is an entity that issues digital certificates. The digital certificate certifies the ownership of a public key by the named subject of the certificate...
and smart parking meters.
Investigation and Detainment
Upon returning to the US from the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
on 29 July 2010, Appelbaum was detained for three hours at Newark airport by agents, according to anonymous sources. The sources told CNET
CNET
CNET is a tech media website that publishes news articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. Originally founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition...
that Appelbaum's bag was searched, receipts from his bag were photocopied, and his laptop was inspected, although in what manner was unclear. Appelbaum reportedly refused to answer questions without a lawyer present and was not allowed to make a phone call. His three mobile phones were reportedly taken and not returned. On 31 July he spoke at DEF CON
DEF CON
DEF CON is one of the world's largest annual computer hacker conventions, held every year in Las Vegas, Nevada...
and mentioned his phone being "seized". After speaking, he was approached by two FBI agents and questioned.
According to CNET
CNET
CNET is a tech media website that publishes news articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. Originally founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition...
in an interview with Appelbaum, he told them that "other people who appeared in the address book of [his] seized cell phones also have encountered trouble at borders or in airports".
On December 14, 2010, the US Department of Justice obtained a court order compelling Twitter
Twitter subpoena
On 14 December 2010, the United States Department of Justice issued a subpoena accompanied by a national security letter to Twitter in relation to ongoing investigations of WikiLeaks...
to provide data associated with the user accounts of Appelbaum, as well as several other individuals associated with Wikileaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
, including Julian Assange
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange is an Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks with the stated purpose of creating open governments.WikiLeaks has published material...
and Birgitta Jónsdóttir
Birgitta Jónsdóttir
Birgitta Jónsdóttir is a member of parliament of Althing, the Icelandic parliament, formerly representing the Citizens' Movement, but now representing The Movement. Her district is the Reykjavík South Constituency. She was elected to the Icelandic parliament in April 2009 on behalf of a movement...
. While the order was originally sealed, Twitter successfully petitioned the court to unseal it, permitting the company to inform its users that their account information had been requested.
When Appelbaum returned from a vacation in Iceland on January 10, 2011, he was again detained by US Customs agents for 30 minutes at the Seattle airport. According to Appelbaum, the agents "specifically wanted laptops and cell phones and were visibly unhappy when they discovered nothing of the sort. I did however have a few USB thumb drives with a copy of the Bill of Rights encoded into the block device. They were unable to copy it."
Similarly, Appelbaum was detained in Houston, Texas while returning from a trip to Siberia on April 12, 2011. He was again subject to detention on arrival in Seattle on June 14, 2011.
After being detained at Keflavik Airport on October 27, 2011 when returning to the United States Appelbaum wrote about the experience on BoingBoing.net.
External links
- Official site
- Researchers Find Way to Steal Encrypted Data at New York Times
- How to bypass FileVault, BitLocker security at CNETCNETCNET is a tech media website that publishes news articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. Originally founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition...
- BoingBoing interview with Appelbaum on "The Afghan War Diaries"