J.M. Porup by toholdaquill

J.M. Porup is a cybersecurity && national security reporter. He is also a Gaulier-trained clown. (Yes, really.)

He has covered wrongdoing at the NSA, GCHQ, CSE, and elsewhere. His work has appeared in Ars Technica, The Christian Science Monitor, Slate, Motherboard, The Daily Dot, The Kernel, The Economist, CyberScoop, the CBC, and CSO Online.

A programmer and sysadmin turned journalist, Porup holds a Master of Information and Cybersecurity (MICS) from the UC Berkeley iSchool. He lives in New York.

He prototyped new security tools as part of the Berkman Klein Assembly 2017 security incubator at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. While at Berkeley he also worked as a public interest technologist defending an international NGO with nation-state adversaries as part of the CLTC's Citizen Clinic.

In a former life, he worked for many years as a F/LOSS programmer in Melbourne, Australia. As a reporter with a solid background in computer science, he brings a depth of technical understanding to his reporting that few journalists possess.

He reported from Latin America for a long time. From his base in Cali, Colombia, he co-authored Lonely Planet guidebooks to Venezuela, the Dominican Republic & Haiti, South America on a Shoestring, and the Caribbean Islands. He was the Co-ordinating Author of Lonely Planet Colombia, 5th ed. He speaks Spanish fluently with a hilarious gringo-Colombian accent.

Porup is also a comedian who has trained and performed at Second City, UCB, Magnet, The PIT, and with clown teachers on both sides of the Atlantic, including Philippe Gaulier.

Some recent work:

Investigation: Bug bounty platforms buy researcher silence to cover up security vulnerabilities CSO Online, April 2, 2020

"ISIS" hacks Saudi embassy, demands $50 million — or else CSO Online, April 8, 2019

Fear and Loathing in the Cyber Force: going gonzo to defend critical infrastructure CSO Online, December 17, 2018

Want to hack a voting machine? Hack the voting machine vendor first CSO Online, March 28, 2018

The NSA’s SKYNET program may be killing thousands of innocent people Ars Technica UK, February 16, 2016

Hunting for Mexico’s mass graves with machine learning: As many as 300,000 victims of Mexico's drug war could be hidden in fosas clandestinas. Ars Technica UK, April 17, 2017

A battle rages for the future of the Web: Should the WWW be locked down with DRM? Tim Berners-Lee needs to decide Ars Technica UK, February 13, 2017

New tool can help prevent government-mandated backdoors in software, Swiss researchers say CyberScoop, July 25, 2017

Turning security flaws into cyberweapons endangers Canadians, experts warn CBC, September 2, 2016

UK secret police are indiscriminately spying on millions of innocent people Ars Technica UK, April 20, 2016

Without anonymity, democracy crumbles: Building a new Tor that can resist next-generation state surveillance Ars Technica UK, August 31, 2016