Slashdot Mirror


Tor Project Confirms Sexual Misconduct By Developer Jacob Appelbaum (theverge.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: The Tor Project, a nonprofit known for its online anonymity software, says it has verified claims that former employee Jacob Appelbaum engaged in "sexually aggressive behavior" with people inside and outside of its organization. "We have confirmed that the events did take place as reported," Shari Steele, Tor's executive director, tells The Verge. In a blog post today, Steele says that Tor began an investigation into Appelbaum's behavior after several people came forward with allegations of misconduct in late May. In a statement made in June, he said the allegations were "entirely false." He resigned from the Tor Project in May. "I want to thank all the people who broke the silence around Jacob's behavior," Steele writes. "It is because of you that this issue has now been addressed. I am grateful you spoke up, and I acknowledge and appreciate your courage." Steele says that Tor is now implementing a new anti-harassment policy, as well as a process for submitting complaints and having them reviewed. The changes will be put in place this week. Tor also announced last month that it would replace its entire board of directors.

27 of 410 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Rule of thumb: believe the man by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is a case of hipster he said she said. SJW 'logic' likely applies.

    http://jacobappelbaum.net/ This site reeks of typical SJW style faux fear of intimidation.

  2. Rule of thumb: not so much. by SeattleLawGuy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This kind of accusation is usually BS to frame politically dangerous people.

    Um. No. Seriously and respectfully ask some of your female friends what kind of misconduct they've experienced in the workplace. You may be amazed.

    --
    Real lawyers write in C++
    1. Re: Rule of thumb: not so much. by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The only troublesome events I've had with other coworkers was in some of the management positions I held where I had to take some disciplinary action for tardiness or poor work. Once I had to terminate someone, and I have to say that of all the hard things I've had to do in my professional and personal life, that was just about the hardest thing I ever had to do. The individual was a very nice person, someone who I personally liked a lot, but for a lot of reasons, some of them not their fault, they just couldn't do the job, and after multiple chances, the management team decided they had to go, and I, being direct supervisor, was the lucky recipient of that task.

      Now I have seen some pretty deplorable behavior between other workers. I've seen bullying, both subtle and not so subtle, and have seen two coworkers enter a sexual relationship. None of these were my supervisors, and I wasn't their's, so it did not affect me personally, but I'd say that good people and shitty people are pretty much evenly divided between men and women.

      The worst boss I ever had was a man, however. A petulant, ill tempered asshole who took out his shitty marriage on his employees, to the point where, after a ten minute session of the most vile berating because she had forgot to make a new pot of coffee, she just ran out the door in tears. She came back an hour later, and actually fucking apologized to that creep, mainly because she was a single mother with a young child, and couldn't afford to be unemployed. That certainly taught me a good deal about situations of relative power and impotence, and while not sexual abuse, was a kind of hostility and abuse where I did see people stick with the job, simply because they needed to pay the bills.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  3. Re:Rule of thumb: believe the man by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Some of the accusations sound legit, some not so much. Lovecruft's claims she was fondeled after agreeing to sleep in the same bed as JA. What adult in their right mind sleeps in the same bed with another grown person of the opposite sex, then gets suprised to be frisked? Maybe I just wasn't raised the same way. I wouldn't even share a hotel room with another adult besides a explicit SO.

    There were other claims which are still contested, such as the Nick Farr incident. The "victim" came out and said people blew things out of proportion and people misinterpreted what they saw.

    More drama than Shakespeare.

  4. Let's be certain first,.. by AbRASiON · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ever since gamergate my concepts of fair reporting, harassment, he said she said have been seriously adjusted. There was totally horrible people, saying horrible things, but it seems only one side of the story is ever reported, making people more and more jaded and cynical of the media.

    Stories such as Linus specifically having to avoid spending any time with females one on one as he's been "targeted for take down". Situations of outright false claims against people, proven clear and still people write incorrect articles about them, deliberately.

    This story may well be correct, however in the very very least, I will no longer blindly leap into "condemn them, silence them!!" mode as is intended. I am particularly skeptical when a "harassment policy" is put in place too, as those have been going a general indicator of people "meddling in the name of righteousness " regardless if there was even a problem in the first place.

    Be wise and if you read the article at least try to find multiple sources and preferably the other side of the story. At least GG taught me take stuff on the Internet with again of salt finally.

    P.s off topic , I used to see posts whining about how awful Slashdot mobile is, I thought the people were exaggerating. They aren't, it's a warcrime.

    1. Re:Let's be certain first,.. by AbRASiON · · Score: 4, Informative

      Regardless of your stance on the situation itself, my point was that it revealed to me just how the media work, they all seem to copy each other,run with the groupthink and any analysis,questioning, critical opinions, in almost ANY capacity are discarded as "hate speech" and the person branded as not with listening to.

      I don't particular want to reference it either, specifically due to dismissive replies like yours. however it did appear to be the awakening bell for a large quantity of quantity of people to at least try and investigate things and not blindly trust everything written.

    2. Re:Let's be certain first,.. by lucm · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This is a two-way street. Sure, "targets" like Linus have to be careful, but it's becoming even more difficult for actual victims of male semi-celebrities because they are called liars and sluts on top of having gone thru an unpleasant experience.

      Have you seen how people treated the women who made those complaints against Assange?

      For some reason when it's tech-related celebrities there's a cloud of immunity and endless waves of defenders that have no more information, just strong opinions. We laugh at people who still defend Bill Cosby, but when it comes to Assange, Applebaum or even Gore it's a different story. It's smear campaigns, NSA operations, corporate greed, etc. It's never a fucking immature asshole who crosses the line.

      It's as if in tech there's saints and serial killers, nothing in between. Girl goes to a bar with a guy and guy puts his hands down her pants? He's just "hitting on her", she shouldn't have gone there if she didn't want it. Girl parties with guy, goes home with him, has safe sex with him, then wakes up from a booze blackout to find him fucking her without a condom? She asked for it, she shouldn't have been in his bed if she didn't want to give him a blank check to fuck her bareback while she's passed out. And/or she's a NSA shill.

      I've always being very skeptical of the whole "rape culture" thing, the switch rape and all that. Always figured it was people aspiring to some kind of heroic role in a society that has no real issues left. But the more I see the posts here about Applebaum and Assange, the more I'm questioning my own assumptions about how civilized we are.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
  5. Cui Bono and To What End? by s.petry · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There is always a reason, though not always obvious. Tor is now shit, because the good people were chased away. Notice that there are no criminal charges anywhere, just allegations and accusations repeated over and over on any media outlet that would print it. Lead developer gone, whole new board being elected, one should be rather suspicious.

    Now for the tin foil hat: A whole lot of money and effort goes into taking over a project like Tor, and as we saw with the Snowden NSA leaks it is a global exploitation at least after the fact. China, the US, the UK, and just about everyone else suddenly has no problem finding people on Tor networks. All of those same groups can claim ignorance when the cat jumps out of the bag.

    Sometimes it's not easy to see who benefits and a clear goal. That is when you need to look around to see why you are being distracted.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re:Cui Bono and To What End? by gweihir · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Tor is now shit, because the good people were chased away.

      Complete bollocks. Name some of these "good people" who have left. The project founders and all the major technical contributors are still there, as well as many new ones.

      Indeed. Methinks that there is a PsyOps campaign running to make people go to less secure alternatives. If you cannot break it, try to make everybody believe it is broken instead.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  6. Re:Rule of thumb: believe the man by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 3, Interesting

    OP has obviously never backpacked, where mixed gender shared rooms are common.

  7. Really lousy article by tgv · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That is one lousy article. The name of the guy is the only thing revealed, and that is a journalistic no-no IMO: you don't give the full name unless charges have been proven. By a judge. About the nature of his "misconduct", the article is very vague: it's couched in different terms, but it's never made clear what happened, when, where, in what context and who were the victims. It also focuses on the sexual transgressions, and only gives a fleeting reference to people being "humiliated, intimidated, bullied", without explaining why. I understand there is some sort of political battle that largely includes both sides in parallel, and that is not even hinted at. In short, it's bad journalism.

    1. Re:Really lousy article by nonsequitor · · Score: 3, Informative

      There are a variety of reasons this will never go to court, in part because of Jacob currently residing in Berlin. If you want the full stories, read them here.

      http://jacobappelbaum.net/

  8. "Sexual mistreatment"? by piojo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What is "sexual mistreatment"? I can't find any info in the article, or the link within that was purported to contain more information.

    Given that this kind of accusation can permanently prevent someone from finding work in their field, I find these articles--lacking details, with no formal legal proceedings--troubling.

    --
    A cat can't teach a dog to bark.
    1. Re:"Sexual mistreatment"? by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Interesting

      A company doesn't need to wait for formal legal proceedings to terminate someone, particularly if they have an existing set of policies surrounding sexual misconduct.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  9. Re:Hatchet jobs aside by nonsequitor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I personally know some of the people that came forward, they had no agenda other than stopping a serial sexual predator / harrasser. I was sad when I heard the story break, but not surprised because Jake's an asshole if you're not somebody. Where somebody is defined as a person whose work he can steal, someone to intoxicate and lure into bed, or someone that can enhance his reputation.

    Shame on you for suggesting otherwise, and shame on the mods who modded you up.

    Whether or not Tor is backdoored or otherwise compromised is a totally different issue. As for something new made by trustable people, Jacob doesn't have the technical ability to do a project like this on his own, he's a charming sociopath that worms his way into the circles of people that can. Good for Tor to give him the boot and cleaning house of the people who turned a blind eye to his misconduct.

  10. Re: Rule of thumb: believe the man by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No. You ask; you don't assume there's some unspoken green light just because someone laid down next to you. If you don't get someone's consent and go ahead and grope them anyway, it's absolutely sexual assault.

    You don't get a pass on nonconsensual behaviour just because you thought someone near you was sexually attractive. If you honestly think that you should, then you're a big part of the problem. And if you think it's such a fucking hardship to get consent, then I shudder to think of how you've treated any woman you've ever wanted to date.

  11. Re:Hatchet jobs aside by nonsequitor · · Score: 4, Informative

    Jacob is that you? Notice I am not posting anonymously.

    I didn't go into specifics because I wasn't there. There was no hearsay in my post. I've known Jacob since ~2007, so I can call him an ass without it being hearsay. I also did not go into specific details of any one story because they are not my stories, but I know several of the people who came forward and I know their only motivation was to stop Jacob from continuing to abuse people.

  12. Steele's husband works for the NSA! by _Mr_Dude_123 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Did anybody wonder if there is something funny with Shari Steele? - her husband is working with the NSA. and probably works/worked for the NSA: https://bvass.wordpress.com/ta... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  13. Re: Rule of thumb: believe the man by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "No. You ask; you don't assume there's some unspoken green light just because someone laid down next to you. If you don't get someone's consent and go ahead and grope them anyway, it's absolutely sexual assault."

    I shudder to think of the poor service you've been giving your women. You absolutely never ever "ask".

    You touch her hand. You stroke her forearm. You touch her face. You touch your face to hers. You run your hand from her shoulder down do the small of her back while breathing hotly on her neck.

    You run your hand over her hip and down the outside of her thigh, then, at the knee, you come up the middle of her hamstring and over her outer buttock to the small of her back. The next down stroke goes right down the middle and your grab her buttocks *hard* and she gasps.

    Note that you are constantly measuring her physical reaction and will abort at the slightest hint of apprehension on her part, and you still haven't kissed...

    Once you do kiss, it will be amazing, and you will absolutely have consent.

    But Jesus Fucking Christ. You never *ask* (verbally).

    Well, OK, sometimes you can say, "So, you wanna?", and that works too.

  14. Re: Rule of thumb: believe the man by murdocj · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When you start dating you'll understand that you don't get a signed consent form when you have sex. It doesn't generally work that way.

  15. Re:Hatchet jobs aside by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Tor is backdoored.

    No. You don't understand what Tor is or what the vulnerabilities used by attackers are.

    Tor is secure. Where people have been located, it was due to bugs on the bundled browser and not following best security practices like disabling Javascript and not using a maximized browser window (to thwart canvas based fingerprinting). But the underlying network itself is secure.

    Don't mistake compromised Tor exit notes as flaws in the network. Tor was designed on the assumption that exit nodes would be compromised and are inherently untrustworthy. Even if you use Tor, you still need to encrypt the traffic leaving the exit node because, as the documentation makes extremely clear, the exit node can see everything that passes in and out of it.

    Once you understand what Tor is and the limits of what it does, you can see that it is highly effective and has proven secure.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  16. Re: Hatchet jobs aside by damienl451 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No one with an idea of what a healthy consensual relationship looks like would describe the "bath" story as you did. When someone repeatedly says "no", you're not supposed to keep insisting as if "no" was just an invitation to keep asking. That's textbook rapist "she said no but her body was saying yes", "she was just playing hard to get". It's also not "romantic" to grab someone and start washing them when they've clearly said that they didn't want to take a bath with you. It's fascinating how the same BS keeps popping up all the time. "She was wearing a miniskirt, so she clearly wanted me to fondle her". "Why would she show cleavage if she didn't want me to grope her boobs". Rapists all over the world have been using this excuse that their victim was somehow messaging her availability, e.g. by not respecting whatever standard of decency they decided was appropriate. If someone offers to share a bed and specifically warns you that they're not interested in having sex with you, you just can't claim ignorance and say that you thought it was an invitation to have sex. And even if they don't, why not just ask?

  17. Re: Rule of thumb: believe the man by damienl451 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The story about the woman who wake up to him fingering her clearly states that she had explained to him on many occasions that he could share her bed as a friend, but that it did not constitute an invitation to have sex. If you go to bed with someone and nothing happens when they're awake and able to consent, why would assume that they're totally down for sex now that they're asleep? Also : even if you're involved with someone, even if you're sleeping in the same bed, this does not mean they're available for sex 24/7. There's such a thing as marital rape.

  18. Re:Rule of thumb: believe the man by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 4, Informative

    If by "rare as bigfoot" you mean "a plurality of studies have found them to be at least 20% of accusations" then sure

    --
    A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
  19. Re:Hatchet jobs aside by cryptizard · · Score: 3, Informative

    Good people gone, bad people in

    Did you even read who the new board of directors is? Matt Blaze, an extremely respected academic cryptographer. Cindy Cohn, the director of the EFF. Bruce Schneier, a folk hero on Slashdot and no friend of the federal government. Stop fearmongering please.

  20. Re:Rule of thumb: believe the man by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 5, Informative

    Stewart (1981)
    Maclean (1979)
    Gregory and Lees (1996)
    Kanin (1994)
    Jordan (2004)
    Grace et al. (1992)
    Chambers and Millar (1983)
    Philadelphia police study (1968)
    McCahill et al. (1979)

    all rates from 90% down to 18% false. If you extend the floor to 10% then the plurality becomes a majority. The only people pushing the "false accusations don't exist" claim are the same people who support a reversal of the burden of proof, "listen and believe" lynch mobbing, and the mathematically absurd claims that virtually every woman in the united states has been or will be raped.

    In other words ideologues who directly profit in money, prestige, and social influence by controlling women through fear.

    --
    A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
  21. Re:Hatchet jobs aside by Kjella · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Tor is secure. Where people have been located, it was due to bugs on the bundled browser and not following best security practices like disabling Javascript and not using a maximized browser window (to thwart canvas based fingerprinting). But the underlying network itself is secure.

    That or share too much information about yourself or your other online activity or download malicious content. It doesn't even have to be malware as such but say an MP3 where your media player tries to download cover art, any kind of functionality that could lead to non-TOR traffic. Or socially engineer you to visit a popular YouTube video in your ordinary browser using a special URL. It could be they have a exploit on core TOR, but in that case I'm guessing it's in the NSA vaults along with the AES backdoor.

    People don't understand the power of profiling and combinatorics. For example say you look at my posting history, I've probably casually mentioned my age a few times - let's say you have my birthday pinned down to a month even though I never said when it was. My sex too in some context, I presume. And I've at one point mentioned my country, my hometown (>150k) and that I used to live in the capital (>600k). If you have a post saying "I'm moving back home soon" that's enough to pinpoint me, if you have access to the right registry.

    How does that work? Well you have ~145k registered domestic moves. Only ~49k are between different parts of the country. In total there's about ~9k for my hometown, those are all public statistics. So about (49/145)*9k = 3k long-distance moves to my town, for argument we'll assume all are from the capital. If average lifespan is 80, my month is roughly 1/(80*12) of the total population so ~3 moves of people my age and ~1.5 if you add sex. If soon means the coming month you're down to 1.5/12 = ~1/8. Even with some non-uniformity and whatnot it'll probably be one, at most two.

    People don't stop to think about these things, particularly when it appears to happen in "private", but services get compromised. Or are honeypots to begin with. And even if you use PGP or some other secure channel, what used to be a buddy today can be compromised tomorrow. And this gets more and more important as we leave more and more "real world" electronic traces, like that concert you were at - were you also tagged on Facebook? In the past it would have been almost useless information, today a few such tidbits of information can easily lead to just having a handful of suspects to investigate closer.

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings