Around 2006-2007 I was also providing expert witness digital forensic services to a case in LA (non-entertainment related) which made me spend a great deal of time in LA. At the same time Damian was recording a new album with NAS (Distant Relatives). I would work the case from 9am to 6pm and then be in the studio until late in the evenings. It was here I met many celebrities, all of which had many questions and issues.
Shortly after finishing that case I was being approached by “the industry" to do a reality TV show about hackers”, needless to say I turned it down. But this is how it went down, I was on a plane from Miami to LA for meetings with a production company, as soon as I landed in LA I had a message to call my colleagues immediately as a case had come up and it was time sensitive. So I called of course. He said we need you to fly to Detroit ASAP, we have a case where a famous hip hop artist has been hacked and his music is being leaked on the internet months before it’s intended release. I explained I could not get there until Saturday (it was Thursday morning) as I was booked and in meetings until then. So Saturday morning I flew into Detroit to begin my investigation on what is now known as the Eminem Recovery album case.
That was the beginnings of many projects in the entertainment space leading me to end up in LA permanently. I continue to work in the music space in different capacities and have worked as an expert in legal cases (Twilight: Breaking Dawn), a technical advisor / supervisor for Oliver Stone on Savages and Snowden. In addition the film Nerve and TV show Mr. Robot.
You just mentioned Snowden, what was it like to be the technical advisor for that?
Well prior to the Snowden disclosures, I took Oliver to Defcon in Las Vegas, as he expressed and interest in doing a film about this subject. A few months later Snowden came out with his disclosures.
That was one of the most extensive projects I have worked on to date. Not only was I the technical supervisor on the film, I worked very closely with Mr. Stone from the first drafts of the screenplay to working with just about every member of the crew.
In addition my team and I provided a customized secure communications platform for handling of all digital assets, as this was Oliver’s first film shot on digital. It was an experience I will never forget, and it was the catalyst to my coming to Europe since I was a child.
I want to talk about the cultural change you are embarking on, because when we think “hacker”, we imagine a nerdy kid in some basement with multiple computers who hardly interacts with people and when we think of hacking we think of just tech… ( hey, I’m not stereotyping but that is the way hackers are always portrayed in Hollywood right?! haha) .. but you are quite different. Not only do you dominate the tech world of course, you are involved within the Entertainment realm… music & film. Tell us more about this journey.
It has been a journey I could have never imagined. I never thought I would be doing this for a living, Much less working with artists who I have always admired. Hacking and computers were just a hobby first.
I didn't graduate from high school nor did I ever go to college. I have always been blessed with a personality and the ability to communicate with others. My first job was as a secretary for PR firm in Miami. Turned out this firm handled Lexmark for South America. It was then that I met engineers from IBM, I showed them a few tricks on how I could make their printers do what I wanted without their software and they were blown away. They asked where I worked and I explained. They told me I should be a systems or network administrator or engineer with what I knew.
I further explained I did not have a degree, one said, that doesn’t matter, there are not enough knowledgeable people in the industry and that I could easily land one of those jobs. He gave me a recruiters name and number and I sent him my resume.
Within a few weeks I was the systems administrator for Oracle Latin America. A little over a year later I went to work for Editorial Televisa and not long after that Miami Children’s Hospital where I configured and deployed one the first electronic medical charting systems in the world.