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rdl

39,335karma·10,537submissions·July 8, 2008
about
Working on stuff at the intersection of cryptocurrency and computer security. Also a Puerto Rico resident (Act 20/22); happy to help people move to Puerto Rico to take advantage of the federal tax exemption, 0% capital gains rate, and 4% business income tax rate. Also FFL07/SOT02.

Chief Security Officer for Evertas Insurance -- the world's first cryptoasset insurance carrier. https://evertas.com/

Previously, CEO and Co-Founder of CryptoSeal (YC S11), which was sold to CloudFlare on 2 June 2014. CISO/Board Member of Tezos Foundation 2018-2020.

Previous startup founder (HavenCo, a couple ecash projects, distributed colo, and DoD/Iraq contracting, new thing), too. Deeply interested in computer security, infrastructure, security, conflict zones, and making the world a better place.

Aside from living on a Caribbean island during crypto export controlled 1990s, I've lived on a tiny artificial platform in the North Sea, plus more reasonable places like London, Amsterdam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and spent 6 months diving in Thailand.

"I, the greengrocer XY, live here and I know what I must do. I behave in the manner expected of me. I can be depended upon and am beyond reproach. I am obedient and therefore I have the right to be left in peace."

Email: ryan@venona.com (etc) Twitter: @octal https://twitter.com/octal LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlackey

Top color: aaaaaa

recent activity (10,537 total)
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I've never seen "work your way on merchant ships" as an option, but the "pay your way on a merchant ship" is actually more expensive than flying in most cases, since it takes a long time. I'd still l…
16y ago·view thread
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I think 2011 is going to be the end (thankfully), and really summer/fall 2010 should be around the end. Iraq especially, but even Afghanistan -- I wouldn't be surprised to see mainly-SF in Afghanista…
16y ago·view thread
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If/when Pacific Fibre happens, I'd like to move at least 50% time to NZ.
16y ago·view thread
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It's definitely a great learning environment -- I've been doing this about 50% from 2004 to now (I'm pretty sure this is my last trip, unless I get deployed contracts for my product, which is always p…
16y ago·view thread
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Brute-forcing a relatively long passphrase is actually a reasonable accomplishment, especially in secret, and with a limited budget. I will bet 99% that is what he did, and the 'moderately hard' part…
16y ago·view thread
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If they don't consider history as a minor, they should refuse to grant clearances to anyone under 25 or 28. I also seem to recall being granted S, TS, TS/SCI, etc. is a lot easier/faster if you're in …
16y ago·view thread
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Even if something is a viable defense against conviction in court, being the subject of an investigation, or even worse, CI investigation, is way before that point -- and highly unpleasant I'm sure, e…
16y ago·view thread
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Thankfully, he's under UCMJ jurisdiction, and will have professional military officers adjudicating. i.e., he's fucked.
16y ago·view thread
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Yeah, I've definitely seem some seriously lax sites, but it's vastly better than in 2004. The great anti-usb-flash jihad of 2008-2009 seems to have helped a lot, at least on nipr and sipr. The mitiga…
16y ago·view thread
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Such as the state department data off JWICS, which he also copied and intended to publish through wikileaks?
16y ago·view thread
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I'm sure he just brute-forced the passphrase.
16y ago·view thread
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Lamo was kind of backed into a corner. Even aside from the moral issues (I personally would have turned in Manning; if you volunteer for a role where you will get classified data, you need to play by…
16y ago·view thread
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Maybe because he was under 18 when he worked for you? I don't really know how the rules work for children. But getting fired from a job should ABSOLUTELY be investigated, and I'd assume "talk to the …
16y ago·view thread
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I'm in Baghdad. A SCIF is a SCIF, officially (which is where JWICS would be found). Generally they rely on armed guards and 24x7 presence vs. vault doors here, but it's still within the spec.
16y ago·view thread
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By 15% you actually now (as of next year) mean 20% + 3.8% + (state tax, such as California's 10.3%)
16y ago·view thread
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Minor nit: the "while listening and lip-syncing Lady Gaga" I thought was cover for his CD-RW ostensibly containing Lady Gaga music, while actually containing classified data for export. The rule is su…
16y ago·view thread
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I agree he's not the only one to blame. The FSO of the SCIF where he (presumably) worked should be investigated. His CO and the rest of his chain of command should be investigated as well. The (co…
16y ago·view thread
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If he had just leaked the footage from the helicopter, and leaked it to congress or reputable news media, and done it non-anonymously, I could buy that he thought he was a whistleblower. I still thin…
16y ago·view thread
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I hope this came up during the interview stage of his TS-SSBI clearance application.
16y ago·view thread
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Defense contracting (communications, deployed software systems). Medical software (PACS/RIS in radiology primarily; some automated lab and pharmacy experience, medical paging. Limited EHR/EMR experie…
16y ago·view thread
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I'd like to see iPad 3G owners sue ATT and/or Apple as a class. I definitely would have gone wifi vs. 3G if these rate plans had been disclosed at time of sale. I wonder how much Google pays ATT to k…
16y ago·view thread
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I wonder how many people today would accept a one-way trip to Mars. It is actually cheaper to keep sending supplies to Mars to keep you alive, than to send enough to lift off and return. I'd probably …
16y ago·view thread
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It's still not a bad place, but I think I could put together a far superior program, attached to another research university (to have access to grad students), to educate undergrads for $15-20k/yr (…
16y ago·view thread
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I was at MIT during her reign as dean of admissions (I dropped out about a year or so into it). She was actually rather offensive, claiming that the generation after me cared more about fitting in th…
16y ago·view thread
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I think there are a lot of ways to in-fill housing in SFBA without affecting open space. Allowing tall skyscraper condos in downtown SF makes a lot of sense (and has been one of the major changes fro…
16y ago·view thread
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If he'd be more likely to release TM2 in the next year or two, I'd be perfectly happy to pay $250-500 for a 5-pack for my machines, vs. "free upgrade" -- $50 for something you basically live in is not…
16y ago·view thread
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I think you should find someone to invest, then -- either as an equity investment, or something simpler like "I plan to sell these for $200 ea. Give me $x/unit now and I'll give you the $200-x 100 on…
16y ago·view thread
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Assuming you have $11500 you can spare, I'd do it. I think this is a pretty decent project and I personally would feel confident that 100 units could be moved.
16y ago·view thread
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Few other states HAVE matched this, but it's one of the easiest legislative changes any state could make to advance new business creation. For non-US startup creation, I'd focus on "better" IP law, to…
16y ago·view thread
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Most of the relevant factors for startups are due to people and culture of the valley, not the California government, but there are some which are actually due to the state government: California has …
16y ago·view thread