Notices by razhael (razhael@infosec.exchange)

For visibility:

If you work in cyber I'd be grateful if you could get in touch if (a) your bosses have asked you to keep quiet on social media about the Krebs-SentinelOne affair (b) you know of any cyber or disinfo research that's being suppressed for fear of crossing the administration.

I'm on Signal at: raphaelsatter.01

Reddit post here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/cybersecurity/comments/1jx4gmk/hey_cyber_folks_im_the_journalist_behind_the/

As for the industry, it often casts itself as working at the frontline in fighting threats to Western freedoms, election interference, and foreign disinformation.

So surely the move to punish Krebs for defending the truth about America's elections - and to punish SentinelOne for the 'offense' of having hired him - would draw widespread, public indignation, right?

Chris Krebs is at every other conference. His leadership of CISA, his novelty socks, his pineapple pizza jokes, and his dramatic Nov. 2020 standoff with Trump have all contributed to making him something of a cyber mascot.

Microsoft's response yesterday to the news that their former exec had been blackballed by the president?

"Nothing to share at this time."

Well, turns out not so much.

Let's start with Krebs' former employer, Microsoft. Krebs worked as a DC-based director for the software giant between 2014 and 2017, one of last jobs before helming CISA.

Microsoft's CEO Brad Smith told Congress in 2021 that:

"There is no value that is more fundamental and timeless in our country than our commitment to democracy."

https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2021/03/12/technology-and-the-free-press-the-need-for-healthy-journalism-in-a-healthy-democracy/

THREAD: When Chris Krebs and his workplace, SentinelOne, was singled out by Donald Trump on Wednesday, I thought it was an opportunity to weigh the cybersecurity industry's rhetoric against their real world actions.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-signs-orders-targeting-two-ex-officials-who-criticized-him-2025-04-09/

I was idly reading this @jwz post on advertising for events (something I know nothing about) and I think I've just had a very unwelcome insight into the past 20 years of online news, paywalls, and the collapse of US journalism.

https://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/log/2025/01/13.html

News: Israeli private investigator Aviram Azari, a key figure in the hack-for-hire industry, is being released from U.S. prison today and will be sent back to Israel.

(Screenshot is from a Department of Justice email to one of Azari’s victims)

The original investigation - here: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-hackers-appin/ - has also been subject to attempts to remove it from the internet.

This is the second attempt to delete Appin's Wikipedia article; the first one was defeated this past December.

The author @pluralistic was among those who argued for its preservation.

*Someone* seems keen to delete Wikipedia's article on Appin, the cyber mercenary firm we wrote about last year:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Appin_(company)_(2nd_nomination)