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Communications Software Open Source Privacy

James Dolan, Co-Creator of SecureDrop, Dead At 36 (gizmodo.com) 188

Posted by BeauHD from the rest-in-peace dept.
The Freedom of the Press Foundation is reporting that James Dolan, former Marine and co-creator of the whistleblower submission system SecureDrop alongside Aaron Swartz and Wired editor Kevin Poulsen, has died at age 36. He reportedly took his own life. Gizmodo reports: First deployed as StrongBox with The New Yorker, organizations such as the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Associated Press, and Gizmodo Media Group have all come to rely on SecureDrop -- which allows highly secure communication between journalists and sources in possession of sensitive information or documents. As an industry tool, it has become invaluable for reporters. Dolan joined the Freedom of the Press Foundation to maintain SecureDrop after co-creator Aaron Swartz took his life in 2013 at age 26, as pressure mounted in a federal investigation against him that many felt was overzealous. Memorial services have not yet been announced, and presently the circumstances of Dolan's death are not known.
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James Dolan, Co-Creator of SecureDrop, Dead At 36 More

James Dolan, Co-Creator of SecureDrop, Dead At 36

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  • How convenient (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Stormwatch ( 703920 ) <(rodrigogirao) (at) (hotmail.com)> on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @04:43PM (#55896387) Homepage

    People who annoy governments tend to kill themselves, isn't that strange?

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Lunix Nutcase ( 1092239 )

      Yeah it was probably the Reptilians working with the Bilderberg Group and the Clinton Foundation

      • Yeah it was probably the Reptilians working with the Bilderberg Group and the Clinton Foundation

        Everyone knows those are just fronts for the Bavarian Illuminati.

        • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Now we know who killed Seth Rich. And maybe even Vince Foster?

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by Anonymous Coward

            What about Gary Webb?

      • No...word on the street is he had started an investigation into the Pastafarian's. You do NOT mess with His Noodly Appendage.

      • Yeah it was probably the Reptilians working with the Bilderberg Group and the Clinton Foundation

        Don't forget the Mafia, Teamsters, and Freemasons. [theonion.com]

      • Yeah it was probably the Reptilians working with the Bilderberg Group and the Clinton Foundation

        Get with the times. The Deep State has absorbed all those groups and is the current danger to everything.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:How convenient (Score:5, Interesting)

      by jfdavis668 ( 1414919 ) on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @04:47PM (#55896419)
      People who work for SecureDrop tend to kill themselves, also a bit strange.

    • Another alternative explanation: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Smart people are usually more prone to depression that dumb ones.

    • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @05:00PM (#55896527)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • It certainly wouldn't be the most suspicious death by someone who ran afoul of the US Intelligence Community [wikipedia.org].

      That being said I wouldn't assume there was foul play in this case, people do regularly kill themselves, even people whom other people have a good motive to kill.

      And from the sounds of it he was no longer involved with the project, if you were going to try pressure someone in the hopes of uncovering a source, and then kill said someone to shut them up, he wouldn't really be the logical target.

    • People who annoy governments tend to kill themselves, isn't that strange?

      People who join military and engage in violent conflict and then leave the military have a massively higher rate of mental illness than the general population.

      So it could be that or covert murder.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        I wonder if it's more to do with then having the skills to be successful at suicide. I'm not saying it's all because of that, but for example the majority of the difference between male and female suicide rates is mostly due to men picking more reliable methods.

        In any case, military veterans should get more help.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Mashiki ( 184564 )

          It's not that men pick a reliable method. It's that when men pick a method of suicide they're picking a method that they're ensuring *will* kill them. They also don't care what they look like after they're dead, they don't care if it's violent, they only care that it gets that final job done. Compare this to women who will go out of their way to use methods of suicide that don't damage their appearance.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

            You said it's not what I said, then repeated what I said as your alternative theory...

            I... I mean... What?!

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Mashiki ( 184564 )

              No, you don't understand the difference, reliable means a high chance of success. When a guy decides to pop himself off he's not going for reliable, he's going for a method that's final. That's why suicide by gun make up a huge number here in North America. The chances of you walking away from putting a .44, 9mm or .38 snub to your head and walking away is next to nil.

    • Yes. I'd say Kevin Poulsen is now starting to feel depressed...

    • Yep

      Also, all the rest of these comments suck.

    • Alternate explanations (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      The foil-hatted crowd tends to assume that there is some shadowy consiracy of "men in black" types who go around killing people who are troublesome, but there are alternate explanations that require no such paranoia.

      Consider the Cliven Bundy case (whether you support him, hate him, or ignor him, the CASE is worth consideration).

      When you do something that offends elements of a massive powerful government, your life can become to some degree miserable, and not everybody is cut out to withstand that level of s

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jsepeta ( 412566 )

      "suicided" by the NSA

    • People who annoy governments tend to kill themselves, isn't that strange?

      Just another case of a serial suicide(r). Nothing to see here, move along.

  • You know we're all thinking it.

    Yeah I might believe that if the other creator of SecureDrop had not also "taken his own life".

    Truly the Deep State protects its own. Good luck to the next person to take over maintenance! Maybe you'll make seven years if you only drink water you purify yourself from random streams.

    • Even as a conspiracy minded person, I do think it's likely he took his own life.

      Trying to stage a suicide in an uncontrolled environment is risky. So if I was going to believe in a conspiracy in this case I'd believe induced depression through poison was more likely, hell I think induced depression through radiation is more likely.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        It's actually very easy to fake a suicide, you only need to control one thing: the person who rules it a suicide.

      • So you're saying we used Cuban technology? Or did we subcontract the job out to the Cubans?

      • If the conspiracy was of quality, you'd be convinced.

      • So... Murder by induced suicide rather than straight out murder staged to look like suicide is what you're saying?

    • Or it's simply that intelligence level is linked to higher occurence of mental illness.

      https://www.sciencedaily.com/r... [sciencedaily.com]

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Kendall is a Trump apologist though. So take everything he says with a grain of dogshit.

    • Yeah I might believe that if the other creator of SecureDrop had not also "taken his own life".

      Unfortunately for the foil-hatted around here, there is a well researched phenomenon known as "suicide contagion", whereby people who know someone who has committed suicide are themselves at a higher risk of suicidal behaviour [sciencedirect.com] -- as high as a 65% increased risk.

      Yaz

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by arth1 ( 260657 )

      Yeah I might believe that if the other creator of SecureDrop had not also "taken his own life".

      He did not take his own life. It was already his. You can only take the life of someone else, not your own.

      This euphemism for suicide needs to die. It's disrespectful, implying the person perpetrated a crime or sin. Saying "ended his life" is better.

  • Suicide, or murder (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I'm starting to think that a lot of this feels like government sanctioned murder against individuals trying to help society by revealing the truth of matters.

    This whole thing stinks.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by arth1 ( 260657 )

      It doesn't have to be murder, but there should be a special hell for those who drive others to suicide hiding behind the letter of the law.

  • Both founders commit suicide? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @04:46PM (#55896411)

    I don't always wear a tinfoil hat, but when I do...

  • Same thing with Gaydar. Both founders fell off high balconies, several years apart. Coincidences can seem significant. Usually, they're not.

  • Quickly and Painlessly (Score:5, Insightful)

    by 31415926535897 ( 702314 ) on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @05:24PM (#55896663) Journal

    He did himself in the quickest and most painless way possible with three gunshot wounds to the back.

    I don't know what happened in real life, but these things always look suspicious.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I thought it was common knowledge that suicide always happens by 3 gun shot wounds to the back of the head by 3 different weapons, after which the deceased then either crawls into a suitcase, or drives to Fort Marcy Park. I'm told that's normal in Washington.
       

    • Coincidence always does. Given the general suicide rate combined with stress levels in certain white collar fields it would be more suspicious if he didn't.

      • Coincidence always does. Given the general suicide rate combined with stress levels in certain white collar fields it would be more suspicious if he didn't.

        You talk like america was post-collapse USSR

  • And if you believe that was an accident, you'll believe James did himself in.

    Cold War III

  • He probably suffered from a deep depression or was bipolar. That is fairly common in the industry. He will be missed.

  • "He reportedly took his own life" (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Wow. Did he piss off the Clintons? Because that's what happens to people who piss off the Clintons: they "commit suicide"

    • Yeah, no surprise Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones and Linda Tripp were found slumped over in the same hot tub.

  • Remember when the government has Hans Reiser framed as a way to get back at him for developing ReiserFS? It seems a lot of Slashdot does, because they're posting basically the exact same shit for this story as they were for that one.

  • Was it the CIA? NSA? AP? Wikileaks? Trump, Hillary, or Russia's FSB? Swap your tinfoil hat for your betting beanie and put your money where your mouth is!

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