COCKRUM et al v. DONALD J. TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT, INC. et al

Filing 15

MOTION to Dismiss under the D.C. Anti-SLAPP by ROGER STONE (Attachments: # 1 Declaration, # 2 recent unpublished opinion, # 3 Text of Proposed Order)(Buschel, Robert)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

ROY COCKRUM, SCOTT COMER, 
and ERIC SCHOENBERG, 

Plaintiffs, 

v.
Case No. 1:17-cv-1370-ESH 

DONALD J. TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT, INC. 
and ROGER STONE, 

Defendants. 
___________________________________________/ 

 HTIFFIRG LIGRIV FO NOITARALCED

I, Virgil Griffith, hereby declare:  

1.

I  am  a  cognitive  computer  scientist.  This  means  I  study  and 

develop how computers think, calculate, and communicate. 
2.

  I  received  my  Bachelor’s  degree  in  Computer  and  Cognitive 

Science  from  the  University  of  Alabama.  I  hold  a  Ph.D.  in  Computational  and 
Neural Systems from the California Institute of Technology. 
3.

  I  currently  am  a  research  scientist  for  Ethereum  Asia  Pacific 

Limited researching cryptocurrency and blockchain designs. 
4.

My  education  and  experience  in  the  form  of  a  curriculum  vitae  is 

attached to this declaration.  
5.

Part  of  my  education  and  background  includes  the  creation  of 

WikiScanner. 

WikiScanner  is  a  publicly  searchable  database  that  linked 

millions  of  anonymous  edits  on  Wikipedia  to  the  organizations  where  those 
edits  apparently  originated  by  cross-referencing  the  edits  with  data  on  the 
owners  of  the  associated  block  of  IP  addresses.  WikiScanner,  for  example, 
exposed  edits  that  Diebold  Election  Systems  and  CIA  employees  were  making 
to Wikipedia pages. 
6.

My  education,  background,  and  experience  qualify  me to comment 

and opine on “hacking” and who, where, and when data is edited. 
7.

I  was  tasked  with  reviewing  the  lawsuit  (“complaint”)  in  the  above 

entitled  caption  and  then  answer  two  questions:  1)  Are  the  allegations  of  the 
complaint  clear  enough  to  determine if it is possible to identify the hackers of a 
databased  described  as  belonging  to  the  Democratic  National  Committee;  and, 
2)  even  if  adequately  described  can  a  hack  be  traced  back  to  a  particular 
individual or individuals? 
8.

Some  lay  people  have  misconceptions  about  what  “hacking” is and 

it  can  be  confusing  unless  there  is  a  model  for what it means. To begin with, it 
is  may  be  helpful  to  conceptualize  the  term  “hacking”  by  changing  the  term  to 
“breaking and entering” of a physical structure, such as a home. 
9.

In  the  allegations  of  the  hacking  there’s  no  description  of  the 

method  of  that  hacking,  or  any  description  of  any  technical  process  to  trace, 
connect,  or  identify  someone  or  group  in  a  particular  country  responsible  for 
hacking  the  database  belonging  to  the  Democratic  National  Committee.  In 
other  words,  in  the  allegations  of  the  “breaking  and  entering”,  there  is 
Declaration Virgil Griffith
2

insufficient  evidence  to  determine  if  Russian  intelligence  carried  it  out,  beyond 
than  Plaintiffs  merely  asserting  such.  To  satisfactorily  evince  Main  Intelligence 
Directorate  (GRU)  involvement  would  require  sophisticated  forensics  and 
information probably only available to United States intelligence. 
10.

Based  upon  the  allegations  as  stated,  and  no assumptions outside 

of the complaint, the allegations are not specific enough to prove or disprove. In 
other  words,  there  is  insufficient  evidence  to  directly tie Russian intelligence to 
the hack of the Democratic National Committee. 
11.

Solely  by  technical  means, it would be nearly impossible to identify 

which organization hacked the computer where a database was stored. 

I  declare  under  penalty  of  perjury  that  the  foregoing  is  true  and  correct. 
Executed in Singapore, Singapore this fifth day of September, 2017. 

Virgil Griffith, Ph.D. 

Declaration Virgil Griffith
3

Dr. Virgil Griffith
AVANT-GARDE TECHNOLOGIST · SCIENTIST

 [e-mail]

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Virgil_Griffith

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Biography

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 [phone]

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 virgilgr |

 virgil

Summary
I mix novel technology and social insight to solve hard problems in legal tech, blockchains, and smart-contracts.
Interests
Notable Work
Proficiencies

privacy enhancing technologies, data-science, Internet governance, legal tech, machine intelligence, complexity theory
Blackboard, Maiden Names, Polyworld, WikiScanner, Musicthatmakesyoudumb, ϕ, Tor2web, Tor Roster, OnionLink
A
Python, R, LTEX, C++, Haskell, Splunk, MATLAB, git, awk, Tor, dark web, Mac OSX, Linux, statistics, information theory

Education
California Institute of Technology
PH.D. COMPUTATION AND NEURAL SYSTEMS
• Information theory and high-performance C++ for quantifying neural network complexity
• Thesis: Quantifying Synergistic Information / Advisor: Christof Koch / GPA 3.4
University of Alabama
B.S. COMPUTER AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE
• Graduated cum laude in May 2007. Studying cognitive psychology, neuroscience, biophysics. GPA 3.7

Pasadena, CA
Sept 2007 - Dec 2013

Tuscaloosa, AL
Sept 2002 - May 2004

Employment
Ethereum Foundation
RESEARCH SCIENTIST
• Reviewing technical papers in game theory, distributed systems, blockchains.
• Developing decentralized VPN system to replace Tor.
Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER
• Researching graph-theoretic patterns in Darkweb and quantifying of Singapore’s social segregation.
Intelllex
SENIOR DATA SCIENTIST
• Machine Learning for LegalTech doing document classification and search engines result prioritization.
National University Singapore: School of Computing
RESEARCH FELLOW
• Led dark web research group; advised cryptocurrency group.
Toroken
TECHNICAL PRODUCT MANAGER
• Led team to develop a blockchain-based currency for running Tor relays.
• Won 250k at 2014 Texas Bitcoin Conference.
Adruptive Industries
CO-FOUNDER
• Invented a targeted advertising method so effective browsers were patched to stop it.
Indiana University: School of Informatics
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
• Derived mother’s maiden name for ~10% of Texans.

Oct 2016 – Present

Singapore
Sept 2016 – Present
Singapore
March 2016 – Sept 2016
Singapore
Mar 2015 – Feb 2016
San Francisco, CA
Feb 2014 – Sept 2014

San Francisco, CA
Dec 2008 – Jan 2012
Bloomington, IN
June 2004 – May 2007

University of Alabama: Arts and Sciences
NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR
• Maintained department websites and over 400 servers/workstations.
• Supervised Beowulf supercomputing cluster
Hecklers Entertainment
PHP AND PALM PILOT DEVELOPER

8 MARCH 2016

Singapore

Tuscaloosa, AL
Feb 2003 – May 2004

Birmingham, AL
1999 – 2001

VIRGIL GRIFFITH · RÉSUMÉ

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Notable Awards
2015
2015
2014
2010
2010
2009
2009
2009
2008
2007
2007
2007
2007

ISIF.asia Fellow, APNIC
OpenTechFund Emerging Technologies Senior Fellow, The Tor Project
Data Science Fellow, Insight DataScience
USA Patent #20100169177, Method and System for Assessing Behavior of a Webpage Visitor
Demetriades-Tsafka-Kokkalis Prize in Entrepreneurship, Caltech
Creativity Top 50, Creativity Magazine
Computational Science Graduate Fellowship, USA Dept. of Energy (4 years funding)
Interview: The Grill, Computer World Magazine
Innovation in Journalism Award, Knight-Batten Foundation ($10,000)
Future Famous Alumni, Indiana University
2007 Year in Ideas, The New York Times
Graduate Fellowship, USA Dept. Homeland Security (3 years funding)
Win Against Spin award, Center for Media and Democracy

Research Experience
Santa Fe Institute
VISITING RESEARCHER
• Discovered mutational bounds for sustained machine self-reproduction.

Santa Fe, NM
2005 - 2014

Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Center for Collective Intelligence
VISITING FELLOW
• Quantified cooperation in neural networks and cooperate teams.

Cambridge, MA

Harvard Law: Berkman Center for Internet and Society
INTERN
• Dissected Chinese censorship program “Green Dam Youth Escort.”

Cambridge, MA

Stanford University: Dept. of Computer Science
HOMELAND SECURITY GRADUATE FELLOW
• Analyzed Wikipedia edits to discover bad actors.

Winter 2013

Summer 2009
Stanford, CA
Summer 2008

Keck Graduate Institute
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
• Quantified what languages are suitable for genetic programming.
Indiana University: School of Informatics
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
• Quantified evolution of neural network complexity in the Polyworld artificial life simulator.

Claremont, CA
Summer 2006
Bloomington, IN
June 2004 - May 2007

Writing
Complexity Theory
Computer Security
Artificial Life

9 peer-reviewed papers: arXiv link
4 peer-reviewed papers: Maiden Names, Tor Analytics, Freezing Bitcoin Assets, etc.
2 peer-reviewed papers: arXiv link

Miscellaneous
Program Committees

Hackers on Planet Earth (2008, 2010,2016)
ACM AISec (2008, 2009, 2010)
Artificial Life (2012, 2013)

Fun Facts
• Erdős number: 3 (via Jonathan Harel)
• Bacon number: 3 (via Curtis Armstrong)
• Owner of IPv4-block 108.198.0.0–108.198.0.255.
• My complete DNA can be downloaded as part of the data-set for genetic corollaries for general intelligence.
• Estonian e-resident #38303060128
• The New York Times has dubbed me the “Internet Man of Mystery”

8 MARCH 2016

VIRGIL GRIFFITH · RÉSUMÉ

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