"I found Bannon's tools. Federal authorities have it all now."

[kpete]

In today’s holy shit moment. This cyber security firm shows how Cambridge Analytica data (data on millions of Americans) was left exposed and downloadable (think Russia.)

I found Bannon's tools.
Facebook ad tools, scrapers, targeting scripts, etc.
Federal authorities have it all now.
Smoking gun evidence involving foreign influence in US elections.
Reports going up momentarily at:
https://www.upguard.com/breaches/aggregrate-iq-part-one
… and
https://gizmodo.com/aggregateiq-created-cambridge-analyticas-election-softw-1824026565 …

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[BigOleDummy]

1. Oh please......

.... please be true.

[lagomorph777]

68. Yeah baby!

I hope there's Trump DNA all over them.

[Blue Owl]

2. Not the sharpest tools

But hopefully the kind that will land him a few decades in the klink

[AJT]

3. Is this guy a reliable source?

[kpete]

12. new to me

interesting chatter at his site
seems legit
so far?

[herding cats]

14. He's highly reputable in his field.

NEW YORK -- It's a phone call you hope never comes in: Chris Vickery has found your company's entire set of customer data on the internet.

He sits at his desk, littered with external hard drives storing terabytes of data, in his home office in Santa Rosa, Calif., where he scours the internet for data that shouldn't be accessible -- a phone number, a social security number, or credit card data -- sitting in databases that aren't password-protected for anyone to access

Using search engines for internet-connected devices, like Shodan, and tools that scan common ports where data typically live, Vickery can tick off hundreds of internet addresses and their ports for leaky databases, badly configured backup drives, and other inappropriately stored data.

It's a race to find accidentally exposed data before the bad guys do.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/chris-vickery-data-breach-hunter/

These are a few of the things he's been involved in: https://www.techdirt.com/blog/?tag=chris+vickery

Click the link and check out the depth of his work above. He knows what he's doing and he's among the best I know of in his field.

[kpete]

15. Thanks herding cats

I knew nothing about him
lots of buzz though...

[herding cats]

32. You're welcome.

What is covered in passing here is the debth of relationship between SCL Elections, Cambridge Analytica and AggregateIQ.

There have already been a number of major journalistic revelations about the ties between Cambridge Analytica and AggregateIQ. But as recounted by former CA employee and current whistleblower Christopher Wylie to Observer journalist Carole Cadwalladr, claiming “AIQ wouldn’t exist without me,” it is reported to have started with a recruitment effort:

“‘When I became research director for SCL [the parent company of Cambridge Analytica] we needed to rapidly expand our technical capacity and I reached out to a lot of people I had worked with in the past.’ That included Jeff Silvester, his former boss, who lived in Wylie’s home town…[Silvester] then set up AIQ with his business partner, Zack Massingham, to work on SCL and later Cambridge Analytica projects. ‘Essentially it was set up as a Canadian entity for people who wanted to work on SCL projects who didn’t want to move to London. That’s how AIQ got started: originally to service SCL and Cambridge Analytica projects,’ said Wylie. Last March, when the Observer started asking questions about the connection between Cambridge Analytica and AIQ, the former removed ‘SCL Canada’ and Massingham’s phone number from its website and said that AIQ was a ‘former IT contractor’.”

The additional information reported by Cadwalladr that SCL Elections, the parent company of Cambridge Analytica, owns AggregateIQ’s intellectual property “in perpetuity” helps to further make clear the significance of the Gitlab subdomain’s contents. While Cambridge Analytica may operate as an independent from, distinct from AggregateIQ, the working relationship appears to be much closer - as evidenced in the tale of an app, contained in the exposed repository.

https://www.upguard.com/breaches/aggregate-iq-part-one?hs_amp=true&__twitter_impression=true

There's more to come out on this I'm sure. This reads like it's the beginning in a larger report on the topic. Even if not, this is important information for the prosecutors investigating this matter.

Edit for clarity.

[ancianita]

58. Thank you for these links. I get Techdirt posts frequently but don't remember these.

Last edited Tue Mar 27, 2018, 10:32 AM - Edit history (1)

It's important context re all the security problems this country has.

[Hortensis]

72. Yes, thank you. I expanded hoping someone would be able to

evaluate this source. Exciting. Investigating must be like peeling an onion and running into nests and strings leading off to other onions with their own strings leading to....

[mopinko]

4. oh how i would love to see a re-vote on brexit.

wouldnt it be sweet to see in crash and burn?

[Lulu KC]

7. Yes, it would be beautiful n/t

[d_r]

5. This part

is the model structure that explains the server communications between Trump Tower, Alfa Bank, and Spectrum Health

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--tXDNut7c--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/gaoxsmftmt34wwoyntap.png

[dameatball]

11. I have been SO waiting for someone to connect those dots on the server

[calimary]

22. Take a number.

Connect the dots! There’s so much sinister connectivity throughout. None of these individual incidents happened in a vacuum. Or more accurately, in its own separate private little vacuum totally unconnected to anything or anybody.

And almost nobody involved (except maybe for young Barron Trump) is untainted or innocent or pure as driven snow.

[dameatball]

21. I am still not getting the Spectrum Health connection.

I always figured that had to do with money being moved around.

[d_r]

29. I think

And this is just total speculation, like if I was reading novel at this point I would figure this is what happened, that the Trump towers server had the mast database. Spectrum dished the server out to US users, Alfa bank served out to Russian users, and spectrum and Alfa both synchronized to the trump tower server.

[dameatball]

36. Okay, thanks. It is just so odd that Spectrum is involved.....that's DeVos, right?

[BumRushDaShow]

41. It's her hubby's

https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/09/politics/fbi-investigation-continues-into-odd-computer-link-between-russian-bank-and-trump-organization/index.html

Behind Alfa, Spectrum came in 2nd for number of "lookups" on that server.

[dameatball]

42. Right.....the Amway guy

[BumRushDaShow]

44. The Amway guy is her brother-in-law!!!!

(Dick her hubby vs Doug her BIL)

And of course Erik Prince is her brother.

[d_r]

64. Yes

[peggysue2]

23. The Database of Truth???

Sounds positively Orwellian.

Well, if Mueller didn't have this info, he has it now. It's all piling up, all these damning details that the Trumpsters have insisted is a gigantic nothingburger.

Now? Looks more like a House of Cards.

[BumRushDaShow]

37. The OP's tweeter said he sent it to "the authorities"

so I expect someone in the FBI has it and will document/review/validate and hand it over.

[Volaris]

50. Bannon Is beyond screwed. And he WILL roll over...there's no Gin in The Joint

[peggysue2]

54. That is the beauty of this because . . .

Bannon was a primary arsonist. As the info rolls out on Cambridge Analytica, their military-grade psych-ops and all these foreign workers, Mercer's money to fund the enterprise, I don't see how it's possible for Bannon to skip. He was the hands on VP, directing the projects, warned about the illegalities and turning a deaf ear and eye.

He was going to change the world in his image. Instead, the world will eat him for breakfast.

Good! He can dry out in jail.

[SergeStorms]

60. My most fervent wish.....

is that somehow the KKKoch (pronounced, cock) brothers are involved as well.

Add Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Devin Nunes, Dana Rohrabacher, and Mike Pence.......I'd convert to christianity immediately, and accept jebus as my lord and savior for the rest of my life.

I don't think the chances of that are very great though.

[sprinkleeninow]

66. "Go Directly to Jail. Do Not Pass Go. Do Not Collect $200." 🤣

[Lulu KC]

6. I am believing

that this is good news, but must say I keep having a deja news feeling of wait, didn't we already know this? I'm trying to limit news time to 15 mins/day unless there are indictments (that's a festival day, can eat all I want) to help me keep things straighter in my head. It's not working yet.

[KPN]

19. Chuckle.

I hear you.

[grantcart]

24. Agree didn't Cruz campaign manager boast they had the best nice targeting campaign in history?

[poboy2]

8. r'd

[workinclasszero]

9. Is this for real?

I hope so.

[BumRushDaShow]

17. Seems England & Canada have been making the connections

AIQ is a Canadian Company. It is starting to sound like Brexit was a test bed for what eventually happened here. And many were expressing concern as the Brexit mess played out and wondering what might happen here.

Article here - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/24/aggregateiq-data-firm-link-raises-leave-group-questions

[workinclasszero]

20. I checked the one link to gizmodo

Sure enough looks like a Canadian company is involved in this Facebook/Cambridge Analytica hijacking of democracy.

[BumRushDaShow]

28. And CA was involved in Cruz's campaign

and his PACs.

http://adage.com/article/campaign-trail/call-coordination/302966/

[workinclasszero]

30. What a tangled web they weaved...

When the democrats claw back control of the House this fall, there needs to be a massive investigation of Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, AggregateIQ, Mercer, Bannon and other people involved in this treason.

[BumRushDaShow]

34. I posted some links in a different thread sortof showing how it kicked off

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=10415894

And it seems that they eventually made a decision to go dirty after the shellacking they took in 2012.

[workinclasszero]

39. K&Red it

Thanks for all the info, much appreciated.

[BumRushDaShow]

43. Here is a retrospect

old article from just before the election!

https://www.wired.com/2016/08/trump-cambridge-analytica/

[FakeNoose]

55. Hey I remember reading this article in the summer of 2016

I was thinking these guys must be blowing smoke. If their software is so great, how come Ted Cruz isn't the Republican candidate? (And thank he wasn't but that's another story.) Clearly there's a lot more to winning an election than just analyzing numbers.

Wow, very scary stuff!

[BumRushDaShow]

56. It seems

that the 2 they worked for (Cruz & Carson) initially were really long shots and once Drumpf got the nod, they decided to go into a "Brexit" DEFCON mode, having gobs of money available via a multitude of PACs, and went for the dirty win.

[Nitram]

67. What might happen here? Like Donald Trump becoming president? The horror!

[PearliePoo2]

10. This is like a foreign language to me. Can anyone..

boil it down to: 'Data for Dummies'?

[kpete]

13. I would appreciate as well

[CabalPowered]

16. He found not only the source code for all the dirty tools

.. they've been using. But apparently they left the whole hen house unguarded through a very common misconfiguration of a popular developer tool. Apps, usernames, passwords, everything was essentially left open without a password. Or you could at least register on their tool website and gain access to everything. He didn't even have to hack anything. He just accessed it and grabbed it all.

Bottom line.. there is likely forensic evidence of multiple crimes that is not only admissible, but could be used in multiple investigations.

[kpete]

18. Thank you

much appreciated

kp

[PearliePoo2]

25. This sounds like good news, especially "forensic evidence of multiple crimes" can be...

linked back to "you know who".

As Dusty Springfield would sing, "Wishin and Hopin'".

Thanks CabalPowered!

[FailureToCommunicate]

61. That helps. Thanks!

[Lulu KC]

35. I know! Thank you! n/t

[bigbrother05]

26. Looks like an intentional breach/pass through to avoid a direct link

Just like a TV cop show where an incriminating file is left on a desk while the cooperative detective goes to get coffee leaving the PI or reporter alone for a few minutes.

CA likely left it in "plain sight" IT-wise to minimize blowback if used by nefarious organizations. Can blame a careless user.

Just like leaving a gate wide open then claiming inflated value when items walk off.

[blake2012]

38. I doubt it. CA would be worse off if they left data open for anyone to access

[tinrobot]

59. Only if people can find the needle in the haystack.

Open up a server with an obscure address, then pass the address to Russia. Nobody else notices the server, but the data finds its way to the desired place. Nobody else notices the server because it has an obscure name and gets lost in the vastness of the internet.

They can then claim they didn't give the info to Russia willingly. They were "hacked" and it was "stolen." Plausible deniability.

[CabalPowered]

40. I don't think so

These were the family jewels. You wouldn't have been able to discover this unless you navigated to the specific subdomain. It wasn't indexed by any search engine. He apparently tried the subdomain out of pure speculation, as it's a common developer tool.

[bigbrother05]

47. So would have taken someone with special interest and skills to find

Something developers might know about, not just any casual internet user

Think I'll just leave this here for now

[CabalPowered]

52. Ya

It's a very common tool in developer circles. It simplifies code and project management. And it's also easy to screw up the install and forget to lock down a bunch of settings. They were lazy.

[spanone]

27. K&R...

[Leghorn21]

31. A big, swift KICK!! What a Monday this is!! nt

[Lulu KC]

33. Help me....

I wish my daughter would get interested in this because she'd probably be able to wade through it. Is this ^^^ related to this?

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/380285-watchdog-accuses-cambridge-analytica-of-violating-us-election

[BumRushDaShow]

46. It is related but went deeper

Apparently the guy who tweeted this works in the field of looking for data breaches and works for a company "UpGuard" that specializes in that.

Chris VickeryVerified account
@VickerySec

Data breach hunter. Director of Cyber Risk Research at UpGuard

His company found an open server from the Canadian company AIQ, and discovered that AIQ apparently created the "data manipulation tools" and "apps" (probably those directed to Facebook users) that Cambridge Analytica used to do what they did. And the Guardian confirmed that the parent company of Cambridge Analytica also "owns" the rights to the AIQ tools.

[Lulu KC]

48. Thank you!

[BumRushDaShow]

53. Makes me wonder whether someone like Rachel will try to tackle this now

[herding cats]

49. Yes, it is. There's more, but that's what opens more doors for prosecutors.

I posted on it here. https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=10416717

This also seems to be some basis for investing how the RNC and Cruz ended up handing US voter data over to a foreign country to be analyzed.

[Hekate]

45. Kick and Rec

Good gods

[SallyHemmings]

51. I love it when you talk code

The computer gurus rock!

[neohippie]

57. I hope someone mirrored that data

Please, let's hope that someone mirrors all of that data, before someone takes it all offline

[Kurt V.]

62. I hope

this person is in a secured location.

[Ligyron]

63. What kind of electronic search warrant is needed to make this a legal bust?

K and R

[ProfessorGAC]

73. If This Guy Found It As Publicly Available Information. . .

. . .is a search warrant even needed? Do cops need a search warrant to access someone's FB page? I doubt it.

[Thekaspervote]

65. I have actually heard of him.. too long a story to tell

If Chris vickery has it, I’m sure Mueller has it!

[bucolic_frolic]

69. Amazing they thought it would remain undiscovered in the digital age

the arrogance, hubris really, is astounding

[vkkv]

70. Geeezzuzzz, what a score. We should all have figured this type of thing goes on..

Credit card companies must be SO JEALOUS !!

[nolabels]

71. Makes sense to me

The creeps knew how to hide it but lacked the redundancy of having many other financial institutions double checking on their security thus leaving ports unguarded for someone like this to accidentally find them. The term 'Leave no stone unturned' has meaning

[xor]

74. What's illegal, though? I mean, this is an interesting discovery, but a quick skimming of it

and I'm not sure what crosses over the lines of normal election targeting, collection of data, etc...

[UCmeNdc]

75. Kick!

Link to tweet