![]() While many outlets have been quick to condemn ExpressVPN for defending and continuing to employ Gericke, there is certainly an argument to be made for this course of action. The case for hiring a former hacker and defense expert However, we did find this account that details some of his previous work history. Since the scandal erupted, it seems that Gericke’s social media accounts are all but gone. Since Daniel joined us, he has performed exactly the function that we hired him to do: He has consistently and continuously strengthened and reinforced the systems that allow us to deliver privacy and security to millions of people. They penned a blog post (as well as a follow-up post here) responding to the situation and explaining how Gericke has helped the VPN bolster security. ExpressVPN defends their CIOĮxpressVPN has chosen to stand by Gericke and continue his employment despite the controversy. Now let’s examine ExpressVPN’s response, as well as their reasoning for hiring Gericke in the first place. This includes providing any documents, material, data, or information requested by the FBI that are in the possession or control of the defendants as of the time of the acceptance of this agreement. government organization, upon request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), including any follow-on meetings requested (the first meeting to occur within 90 days of signature of the agreement unless otherwise agreed to by the parties) at places and times to be determined by the FBI. The defendants shall cooperate fully with the Offices and meet with and provide full, complete, and truthful information to the FBI or any other U.S. Additionally, he must fully cooperate with the FBI, as detailed in court documents: ![]() It contends that Gericke was notified on “several occasions” that his work with the UAE government was in violation of International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and US law.Īs part of the plea agreement, Gericke was fined $335,000. The Department of Justice has released the deferred prosecution agreement for this specific case that provides us with more details. Cooperation and Deferred Prosecution Agreement ![]() Within the DPA framework, there is no admission of guilt and the parties to the DPA will not be convicted of a crime. It’s important to note that Gericke, Baier, and Adams entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, or DPA for short. government permission to sell the tool to the UAE, authorities said. But the operatives did not obtain the required U.S. Karma allowed users to access tens of millions of devices and qualified as an intelligence gathering system under federal export control rules. ![]() The Reuters investigation found that Project Raven spied on numerous human rights activists, some of whom were later tortured by UAE security forces.īaier, Adams and Gericke admitted to deploying a sophisticated cyberweapon called “Karma” that allowed the UAE to hack into Apple iPhones without requiring a target to click on malicious links, according to court papers. Reuters further reports,Īt the behest of the UAE’s monarchy, the Project Raven team hacked into the accounts of human rights activists, journalists and rival governments, Reuters reported. This was all revealed in court documents that were recently made public. security clearance again.īefore joining ExpressVPN in December 2019, Gericke was part of a team that helped the UAE government hack and spy on its enemies. These three individuals, all of whom are former military or intelligence officials, were ordered to pay a combined total of $1.69 million, cooperate with the U.S. Today, we’re going to be covering another hot issue that just surfaced involving a high-level ExpressVPN executive, criminal charges, and international espionage.Īccording to Reuters, Daniel Gericke, the current Chief Information Officer at ExpressVPN, was one of three people who entered into a plea deal with the Department of Justice. Update: We have added more information and made corrections concerning the Deferred Prosecution Agreement, while also explaining the business case for hiring a former hacker (a practice we see with many other cybersecurity firms).Įarlier this week, we wrote an article about how ExpressVPN agreed to be purchased by Kape Technologies, a company with a growing presence in the VPN space. Gericke, who was formerly employed by the US military, is accused of violating US hacking laws and facilitating the UAE in a covert cyber espionage operation called Project Raven, which transpired before Gericke was employed by ExpressVPN. The Chief Information Officer for ExpressVPN, Daniel Gericke, has entered into a plea deal with the US government for his role in facilitating the United Arab Emirates in hacking and surveilling state dissidents.
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