John M. Dougan

John M. Dougan (born 1973), is an infosec expert and entrepreneur, originally from Wilmington, Delaware. Also known by his pseudonym Crypto Badger, he is known for using his technology skills for the purposes of anti-corruption activism and being a Political Prankster.
Early life
John Dougan was the son of a Marine and salesman. After having lived in 20 places by the time he was 16 years old, his family settled down in Boca Raton, Florida. After leaving high school, he joined the United States Marine Corps where he served honorably in the Infantry as an 0351, or Dragon Missile Gunner and explosives expert.
Dougan currently lives in Asheville, North Carolina, as well as Moscow, Russia. His technology company, Badger Aero, is based in downtown Moscow, a few blocks from the Bolshoi Theatre. He also spends time in Palm Beach, Florida, where a majority of his political activism is performed.
Political Activism
Dougan got his start in activism by starting the website PBSOTalk.com, a site where police officers and government officials of Palm Beach County could post in complete anonymity.
After Dougan exposed large amounts of public corruption in Palm Beach County, the political figures of the county began attempting to find ways to either close his site or have him arrested. In December 2011, Gossip Extra reported that John Dougan found unknown members of the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office were attempting to break into his web site. Logs showed attempts originated from the State Attorney's Office, Though the agency denied this in two different letters before finally admitting that someone had, in fact, been accessing the site.
On March 5th, 2012, someone from within the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office was suspected of leaking information to Dougan's site. a sting operation was launched and netted Lieutenant Dean Johnson of Internal Affairs, who had been caught providing information to Dougan. Lt. Johnson was arrested and suspended without pay and soon after was terminated from the department. The information leaked by Johnson was regarding a lieutenant who was caught stealing pain medications from the bedside of a fellow deputy who was dying of cancer.
On April 14, 2012, a domain by the name of BurtAaronson.com sent out an email blast the eve before the election, stating it "did not support the corrupt Sheriff Bradshaw" to the A-list of democratic voters in Palm Beach County. This was a shock to many, who thought Burt Aaronson was very close to Sheriff Bradshaw. Burt Aaronson denied sending out the email and demanded an investigation. An investigation by the Palm Beach Post revealed the domain name was owned by by John M. Dougan. In the article, Aaronson stated, “I’m just absolutely livid that someone would steal my name and use it this way,” he said. “I’m looking into whether this guy has stepped over the line,” however, because Dougan owned BurtAaronson.com, the State Attorney, Peter Antonacci declined to file charges but called the political prank "outrageous conduct" on the part of Dougan.
Witness Intimidation, Lydia Adams vs. the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office
In may, 2012, Palm Beach County resident Seth Adams was shot and killed on his property in the suburban area of Loxahatchee. Initially, it seemed the unarmed Adams stumbled across Sgt. Custer during a stakeout, however, allegations that Custer was caught having an afair began to permeate the community. The relationship between Detective Victoria Miller and Sgt. Custer was denied by both parties, though Dougan came forward and stated he had first hand knowlege Custer was having an affair with Miller . When Dougan came forward with evidence, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office hired an investigator to harass his immediate family and even went as far as chasing his estranged with and two children through their residential parking lot on Easter day. Dougan wrote a letter to Judge Hurley, stating the Sheriff's Office was engaging in witness intimidation.
Involvement in Palm Beach County's Massive Hack
On February 16, 2016, the IT systems at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office were infiltrated by colleagues of John Dougan, Russian Hackers who obtained, and posted almost 4,000 confidential records of names and addresses of police officers, judges prosecutors and even FBI agents to PBSOTalk . The Russian Hacker, BadVolf claimed responsibility and stated it was done in retaliation for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office illegally hacking John Dougan's social media accounts and email accounts without a warrant and retaliation against area journalists for writing stories unfavorable to the Sheriff.
West Palm Beach news WPBF news reporter Tim White spoke to the President of the Police Benevolent Association, John Kazanjian, who stated, "If something happens to any one of our members because of this, there's going to be blood on the hands of these individuals that perpetrated this.
When asked, Dougan said the situation was unfortunate, but stuck up for the hackers, saying, "These are good people. Not hackers, per se. But IT experts. These are good people because they are protecting a friend." Dougan continued, "It was not the Russians that started a cyber war against the Palm Beach County... it was Sheriff Ric Bradshaw who began this by having his detectives illegally investigate and hack into the accounts of political dissidents and other journalists in Palm Beach County; journalists that actually have the guts to report on the issues of corruption in this county. No one needs to take my word for it... there are hours and hours of recorded audio where Detective Kenneth Mark Lewis admits to all manor of crimes committed on behalf of Sheriff Bradshaw. And that was my point. The point that if government wants respect and privacy, they must obey the same laws and allow people their 1st amendment right to free speech, not hacking, investigating and incarcerating those who speak out against them like they have been doing. And the other law enforcement agencies and officers who are who turn a blind eye to the corruption; they are just as culpable."

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