Morgan Marquis-Boire Explained

Morgan Marquis-Boire
Birth Date:1979
Birth Place:New Zealand
Other Names:headhntr, Morgan Mayhem
Occupation:Hacker, security researcher
Years Active:1998–2017

Morgan Marquis-Boire is a New Zealand-born hacker, journalist, and security researcher.[1] Marquis-Boire previously served as an advisor to the Freedom of the Press Foundation. He was a Special Advisor to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and advisor to the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute. He was the Director of Security at First Look Media and a contributing writer at The Intercept.[2] He has been profiled by Wired,[3] CNN,[4] Süddeutsche Zeitung,[5] and Tages Anzeiger.[6] He was one of Wired Italy 's Top 50 people of 2014.[7] In March 2015 he was named a Young Global Leader.[8]

In September 2017, Marquis-Boire resigned from his position on the technical advisory group Citizen Lab and the center cut ties with him after it received an allegation of a 2014 sexual assault involving Marquis-Boire.[9] [10] In November 2017, The Verge released a report corroborating ten separate allegations of sexual assault against Marquis-Boire.

Early life

Marquis-Boire was born in New Zealand. He began hacking as a teenager under the name headhntr. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Auckland.

Internet censorship research

Marquis-Boire conducted research into Blue Coat Systems, a Palo Alto company which provides Internet blocking and monitoring solutions. Reports include Some Devices Wander by Mistake: Planet Blue Coat Redux (2013),[11] and Planet Blue Coat: Mapping Global Censorship and Surveillance Tools (2013).[12] This research has been covered in news media including the front page of the Washington Post,[13] the New York Times,[14] the Globe and Mail,[15] and the Jakarta Post.[16]

Following the publication of these reports, Blue Coat Systems announced that it would no longer provide "support, updates, or other services" to software in Syria. In April 2013, the US government's Bureau of Industry and Security imposed a fine of US$2.8 million on the Emirati company responsible for purchasing filtering products from Blue Coat and exporting them to Syria without a license.[17]

Internet surveillance research

Marquis-Boire has conducted research on the global proliferation of targeted surveillance software and toolkits, including FinFisher and Hacking Team.

FinFisher is a suite of remote intrusion and surveillance software developed by Munich-based Gamma International GmbH, marketed and sold exclusively to law enforcement and intelligence agencies by the UK-based Gamma Group. In 2012, Morgan Marquis-Boire and Bill Marczak provided the first public identification of FinFisher's software. Marquis-Boire and collaborators have done investigations into FinFisher including: revealing its use against Bahraini activists,[18] analyzing variants of the FinFisher suite that target mobile phone operating systems,[19] uncovering targeted spying campaigns against political dissidents in Malaysia and Ethiopia,[20] and documenting FinFisher command and control servers in 36 countries.[21] This research has informed responses from civil society organizations in Pakistan,[22] Mexico,[23] and the United Kingdom.[24] In Mexico, local activists and politicians collaborated to demand an investigation into the state's acquisition of surveillance technologies.[25] In the UK, it led to a crackdown on the sale of the software over worries of misuse by repressive regimes.[26]

Hacking Team is a Milan, Italy-based company that provides intrusion and surveillance software called Remote Control System (RCS) to law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Marquis-Boire and collaborators have mapped out RCS network endpoints in 21 countries,[27] and have provided evidence of RCS being used to target a human rights activist in the United Arab Emirates,[28] a Moroccan media organization,[29] and an independent news agency run by members of the Ethiopian diaspora.[30] Following the publication of these reports, the EFF[31] and Privacy International[32] took legal action related to allegations that the Ethiopian government had compromised the computers of Ethiopian expatriates in the US and the UK.

At the 23rd USENIX Security Symposium, Marquis-Boire and other researchers released the paper When Governments Hack Opponents: A Look at Actors and Technology,[33] examining the government targeting of activists, opposition members, and NGOs observed in Bahrain, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates.

Digital campaigns in the Syrian Civil War

From 2012 to 2017, Marquis-Boire reported on digital campaigns targeting Syrian activists with the EFF[34] [35] [36] and Citizen Lab.[37] Many of these findings were translated into Arabic and disseminated along with recommendations for detecting and removing malware.[38]

This work has been on the cover of BusinessWeek,[39] and covered in The New York Times,[40] Al Jazeera,[41] and Wired.[42]

On December 31, 2013, Marquis-Boire gave an interview covering this work on the NPR radio show All Things Considered.[43]

Other work

In 2012, he gave a presentation on the use of targeted malware attacks during the Arab Spring at the Black Hat Briefings in Las Vegas which covered the use of malware campaigns for the purposes of digital surveillance and espionage in Libya, Syria, Bahrain, Morocco, and Iran.[44] His work tracking the digital component of the ongoing Syrian Civil War is in the book Black Code: Inside the Battle for Cyberspace.[45]

He released a paper with Eva Galperin of the EFF on the targeting of the Vietnamese diaspora with malware attacks.[46] This detailed an ongoing state-sponsored hacking campaign targeting prominent bloggers, academics, and journalists.[47] Marquis-Boire has given interviews in the wake of the global surveillance disclosures with Die Zeit,[48] International Business Times,[49] and Dazed.[50] He was named in Al Jazeera's "Media Trends to Watch in 2015".[51]

Shane Huntley and Marquis-Boire co-authored a paper on government targeting of journalists and media organizations presented at Black Hat Singapore 2014.[52] This paper reported that 21 of the world's top 25 media organizations had been targeted by state-sponsored hacking.[53]

In April, 2015, Marquis-Boire spoke at the Western Regional Conference of the Society of Professional Journalists in San Francisco, California and presented a paper entitled "Data Security for Beginners".[54]

At Black Hat USA 2015, held in Las Vegas in August, Marquis-Boire presented a paper entitled "Big Game Hunting: The Peculiarities of Nation-State Malware Research".[55]

Marquis-Boire presented a paper entitled "Security for Humans: Privacy and Coercion Resistant Design" at the Strange Loop Conference in St. Louis, Missouri, in September 2015.[56]

In May 2016, he was in the "State of Surveillance" episode of the HBO series Vice, along with Edward Snowden and Ron Wyden.

Resignation and sexual assault allegations

In September 2017, Marquis-Boire resigned from his position as a senior researcher at Citizen Lab. In October, the organization cut all ties with him after it had been informed that he had been accused of sexually assaulting an individual at the 2014 Cyber Dialogue event. The EFF also released a statement saying that Marquis-Boire was no longer associated with them.[57] In November, The Verge published a report of specific claims of assault and rape, and a second article contained more claims,[58] [59] including alleged quotes and chat extracts where Marquis-Boire admits to having "drunkenly sexually assaulted or raped women — the exact number of which I am currently determining." The number of women quoted in the articled as having been sexually assaulted or raped is at least ten.[60] [61]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Author Archives: Morgan Marquis-Boire . Citizenlab . 12 November 2015.
  2. Web site: Morgan Marquis-Boire Staff Profile . The Intercept .
  3. Greenberg . Andy . July 8, 2014 . The Ex-Google Hacker Taking on the World's Spy Agencies . Wired.
  4. Web site: Segall . Laurie . Laurie Segall . Dec 8, 2015 . This hacker knows if the government is spying on you .
  5. Web site: Tanriverdi . Hakan . Dec 11, 2015 . Dieser Hacker kommt Spionen auf die Schliche .
  6. News: Ayaz . Tugba . Dec 14, 2015 . Hacker mit Popstar-Charme . Tages-Anzeiger .
  7. Web site: 29 December 2014 . Le 50 persone Wired del 2014 .
  8. Web site: Young Global Leaders: Class of 2015 .
  9. Web site: Ronald . Deibert . AN OPEN LETTER ON SEXUAL ASSAULT . Citizen Lab. October 13, 2017 .
  10. News: Jeong . Sarah . November 19, 2017 . In chatlogs, celebrated hacker and activist confesses countless sexual assaults . . November 20, 2017.
  11. Web site: Morgan . Marquis-Boire . Collin . Anderson . Jakub . Dalek . Sarah . McKune . John . Scott-Railton . Some Devices Wander By Mistake: Planet Blue Coat Redux . July 9, 2013.
  12. Web site: Morgan . Marquis-Boire . Jakub . Dalek . Sarah . McKune . Planet Blue Coat: Mapping Global Censorship and Surveillance Tools . January 15, 2013.
  13. News: Nakashima . Ellen . July 8, 2013 . Report: Web monitoring devices made by U.S. firm Blue Coat detected in Iran, Sudan . The Washington Post .
  14. Web site: John . Markoff . Rights Group Reports on Abuses of Surveillance and Censorship Technology . The New York Times . January 16, 2013 .
  15. Web site: Omar El Akkad . Canadian technology tied to online censorship in Pakistan . The Globe and Mail . June 21, 2013 .
  16. Web site: Irene . Poetranto . Time for greater transparency . The Jakarta Post . December 14, 2013 .
  17. Web site: Steve . Stecklow . Dubai firm fined $2.8 million for shipping Blue Coat monitoring gear to Syria . Reuters . April 25, 2013 .
  18. Web site: Marquis-Boire . Morgan . Marczak . Bill . From Bahrain With Love: FinFisher's Spykit Exposed? . July 25, 2012.
  19. Web site: Marquis-Boire . Morgan . Marczak . Bill . Guarnieri . Claudio . The Smartphone Who Loved Me? FinFisher Goes Mobile . August 29, 2012.
  20. Web site: Marquis-Boire . Morgan . Marczak . Bill . Guarnieri . Claudio . Scott-Railton . John . For Their Eyes Only: The Commercialization of Digital Spying . April 30, 2013.
  21. Web site: Marquis-Boire . Morgan . Marczak . Bill . Guarnieri . Claudio . Scott-Railton . John . You Only Click Twice: FinFisher's Global Proliferation . March 13, 2013 . May 22, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140809015927/https://citizenlab.org/2013/03/you-only-click-twice-finfishers-global-proliferation-2/ . August 9, 2014 . dead .
  22. Web site: Bytes for All Petitions Pakistani Court on Presence of Surveillance Software . May 16, 2013 . May 22, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140325190118/https://cyberstewards.org/2013/05/bytes-for-all-petitions-pakistani-court-on-presence-of-surveillance-software/ . March 25, 2014 . dead .
  23. Web site: Cyber Stewards Network and Local Activists Investigate FinFisher in Mexico . November 8, 2013.
  24. Web site: OECD complaint filed by human rights groups against British surveillance company moves forward . June 24, 2013 . May 22, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140626153402/https://www.privacyinternational.org/press-releases/oecd-complaint-filed-by-human-rights-groups-against-british-surveillance-company . June 26, 2014 . dead . mdy-all .
  25. Web site: Renata . Avila . Cyber Steward Network and Local Activists Investigate Surveillance in Mexico . November 8, 2013 . May 22, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140325173815/https://cyberstewards.org/2013/11/cyber-steward-network-and-local-activists-investigate-surveillance-in-mexico/ . March 25, 2014 . dead .
  26. Web site: Jamie . Doward . Crackdown on sale of UK spyware over fears of misuse by repressive regimes . . September 8, 2012.
  27. Web site: Marquis-Boire . Morgan . Marczak . Bill . Guarnieri . Claudio . Scott-Railton . John . Mapping Hacking Team's "Untraceable" Spyware . February 17, 2014.
  28. Web site: Morgan . Marquis-Boire . Backdoors Are Forever? Hacking Team and the Targeting of Dissent . October 10, 2012.
    Web site: Vernon . Silver . Spyware Leaves Trail to Beaten Activist through Microsoft Flaw . . October 10, 2012 .
  29. Web site: Morgan . Marquis-Boire . Backdoors Are Forever? Hacking Team and the Targeting of Dissent . October 10, 2012.
    Web site: Nicole . Perlroth . Ahead of Spyware Conference More Evidence of Abuse . October 10, 2012.
  30. Web site: Marquis-Boire . Morgan . Marczak . Bill . Guarnieri . Claudio . Scott-Railton . John . Hacking Team and the Targeting of Ethiopian Journalists . February 12, 2014.
  31. Web site: American Sues Ethiopian Government for Spyware Infection . Electronic Frontier Foundation . February 18, 2014.
  32. Web site: Privacy International seeking investigation into computer spying on refugee in UK . Privacy International . February 17, 2014 . May 22, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140325190645/https://www.privacyinternational.org/press-releases/privacy-international-seeking-investigation-into-computer-spying-on-refugee-in-uk . March 25, 2014 . dead . mdy-all .
  33. Web site: When Governments Hack Opponents: A Look at Actors and Technology . USENIX . August 20, 2014.
  34. Web site: New Trojan Spread Over Skype as Cat and Mouse Game Between Syrian Activists and Pro-Syrian-Government Hackers Continues . Eva . Galperin . Morgan . Marquis-Boire . Electronic Frontier Foundation . June 19, 2012 .
  35. Web site: Fake YouTube Site Targets Syrian Activists With Malware . Eva . Galperin . Morgan . Marquis-Boire . Electronic Frontier Foundation . March 15, 2012 .
  36. Web site: How to Find and Protect Yourself Against the Pro-Syrian-Government Malware on Your Computer. Eva . Galperin . Morgan . Marquis-Boire . Electronic Frontier Foundation . March 5, 2012 .
  37. Web site: Marquis-Boire . Morgan . Hardy . Seth . Syrian Activists Targeted with Blackshades Spy Software . June 19, 2012 . March 24, 2014.
    Web site: Scott-Railton . John . Marquis-Boire . Morgan . A Call to Harm: New Malware Attacks Target the Syrian Opposition . June 21, 2013 . March 24, 2014. ; Web site: Marquis-Boire . Morgan . Galperin . Eva . Scott-Railton . John . Quantum of Surveillance: Familiar Actors and Possible False Flags in Syrian Malware Campaigns . December 23, 2013 . March 24, 2014.
  38. Web site: Morgan . Marquis-Boire . Cyber Arabs . حملات الأذية: برمجيات خبيثة تهاجم المعارضة السورية . July 3, 2013.
  39. Web site: Stephan . Farris . The Hackers of Damascus . Bloomberg Businessweek . https://web.archive.org/web/20121115193544/http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-15/the-hackers-of-damascus . dead . November 15, 2012 . November 15, 2012.
  40. News: Perlroth. Nicole. Hunting for Syrian Hackers' Chain of Command. 22 July 2013. New York Times. 17 May 2013.
  41. Web site: New report exposes digital front of Syria's civil war . Al-Jazeera . December 25, 2013 .
  42. Poulsen . Kevin . In Syria's Civil War, Facebook Has Become a Battlefield . Wired . December 23, 2013 .
  43. Web site: In Syria, Conflict In Cyberspace Complements Ground War . Robert . Siegel . Morgan . Marquis-Boire . NPR . December 31, 2013 .
  44. Web site: Jennifer . Valentino-DeVries . How Pro-Regime Forces Use Spyware to Target Arab Spring Rebels . Wall Street Journal . July 25, 2012.
  45. Book: Deibert, Ron . Black Code: Inside the Battle for Cyberspace . May 21, 2013 . Signal . 978-0771025334 . 159.
  46. Web site: Vietnamese Malware Gets Very Personal . January 19, 2014 . Morgan . Marquis-Boire . Eva . Galperin . Electronic Frontier Foundation .
  47. Web site: Vietnam's 'cyber troops' take fight to US, France . Chris . Brummit . Associated Press . January 20, 2014 .
  48. Web site: Every government surveillance apparatus can easily be abused . Patrick . Beuth . January 15, 2014 . Die Zeit .
  49. Web site: Big Brother is Watching: Policing of the Future is Here Today Says Morgan Marquis-Boire . David . Gilbert . January 11, 2014 . International Business Times .
  50. Web site: Why David Cameron's plan to ban Whatsapp is ludicrous . Thomas . Gorton . January 16, 2015 . Dazed Magazine .
  51. Web site: Media trends to watch in 2015 . January 3, 2015 .
  52. Web site: Tomorrow's News is Today's Intel: Journalists as Targets and Compromise Vectors . Black Hat Briefings . March 28, 2014 .
  53. Web site: Journalists, media under attack from hackers: Google researchers . Jeremy . Wagstaff . Reuters . Mar 28, 2014 .
  54. Web site: Morgan Marquis-Boire . Society of Professional Journalists . 11 November 2015.
  55. Web site: Black Hat USA Marquis-Boire . UMB Tech . 11 November 2015.
  56. Web site: Security for Humans . Strange Loop . 11 November 2015.
  57. News: Jeong . Sarah . Sexual assault allegations levied against high profile security researcher and activist . . October 13, 2017 .
  58. News: 'We never thought we'd be believed': Inside the decade-long fight to expose Morgan Marquis-Boire . Chloe . Ann-King . . November 29, 2017 . November 29, 2017 .
  59. News: 'When Whisper networks let us down': How communities struggle — and sometimes fail — to stop sexual assault . Sarah . Jeong . . February 28, 2018. February 28, 2018 .
  60. Web site: The hacker who inspired Apple responds to sex assault claims. 21 November 2017.
  61. News: Morgan Marquis-Boire: How a Sexual Predator Thrived in New Zealand . Tess . McClure . . January 22, 2018 . May 28, 2018 .

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