But i have this; A middle-eastern last name, I use Tor, I use Linux, and I use Telegram, I am active in the field of IT and especially enjoy IT security.
I know that I can be held indefinitely if I visit the USA. In the USA you're guilty until proven innocent, unlike the rest of the western world. Simply going to the USA is more risk than it is for practically every other country. Well, for me, and a lot of people like me.
That's what my comment was about.
EDIT: How is it relevant to the article? Well, he is an IT security specialist who wanted to visit DEFCON. Yes, I understand what he did was wrong, it was his own risk.
You're commenting on an article about how the FBI arrested someone for creating malware. If you haven't been creating malware, then I don't see how this article has anything to do with the issues you face as someone with a middle-eastern last who uses privacy tools like Tor. Hutchins wasn't targeted because of CBP's stance on things it associates with terrorism. He was targeted because the FBI believes he authored malware.
Believe it or not, it's possible to be suspected or even accused of something you didn't actually do, whether through a misunderstanding or otherwise. And factors such as ethnicity and personal associations can influence the chance of this occurring.
Hutchens is a British man, not someone of an ethnicity that makes people wary. The arrest of Hutchens shouldn't have any relevance whatsoever to worries about being flagged for ethnicity.
The indictment doesn't say that Hutchins sold Kronos.
It claims that Hutchins was part of a conspiracy to sell Kronos, and that defendant [redacted] sold Kronos, but doesn't state that Hutchins advertised or sold Kronos.
The only solid claim against Hutchins is that he created Kronos, which doesn't stack up with his tweet asking for a sample of Kronos.
The following claim is that Hutchins and [redacted] updated Kronos.
Perhaps, but the possibility of a revenge from a few powerful people annoyed by him shouldn't be discarded at this moment.
The underlying message for the community is "if you stand out in the way and go noticed, your identity will be disclosed and then you got owned". Keeping your real identity safe and your activity low-key on the other hand, will increase the probabilities to pass unnoticed and preserve your actual life and freedom.
Is the wrong message. Nobody will dare to try to be a hero the next time.
