A senior advisor at the US Justice Department (DOJ), Christopher Stanley, boasted about his past involvement in hacking and distributing pirated software, according to archived copies of his former websites.
Stanley, who worked for both Elon Musk’s companies, X and SpaceX, now holds an advisory capacity in the Deputy Attorney General’s office.
Stanley, 33, was appointed to the Justice Department during his tenure at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an initiative co-founded by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, set up by President Donald Trump to cut down federal spending.
While serving at the newly created government office, Stanley was quickly promoted to a senior advisory position in the Deputy Attorney General’s office, a role with access to sensitive federal investigations and grand jury secrets. The Justice Department confirmed that Stanley holds an active security clearance, which predates his work at DOGE.
Stanley’s piracy and illegal distribution of software past
According to a Wednesday Reuters exclusive, Stanley’s online history dates back to 2006 when, at just 15 years old, he began running websites and forums focused on software piracy, video game cheats, and hacking.
The archived versions of these websites show that Stanley distributed pirated ebooks and bootleg software while also posting about his hacking exploits, as documented by archived copies stored by the nonprofit Internet Archive and its ‘Wayback Machine.’
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Under the fake names “eNkrypt” and “Reneg4d3,” he bragged about getting into other websites. In a 2008 post, he talked about how he took over a competitor’s message board.
One of his known forums, fkn-pwnd.com, proudly claimed to “ing Up Servers” and contained explicit content that mocked victims of his hacking activities.
Stanley continued his illegal actions online over the years on reneg4d3.com, error33.net, and electonic.net, among others, where he and other users talked about hacking and stealing software. According to reneg4d3.com, Stanley explained how he used flaws in other websites to get in without authorization and then took over a competing website for cheating in video games.
When Stanley was 19, he wrote, “I no longer hack into PayPals, gain root access into other people’s computers (sic), or exploit online websites like StickAM.” This meant that he no longer hacked into computers.
He made the post after allegedly receiving a lawsuit threat from the South Korean gaming company Nexon Co. for allegedly “infiltrating their game software and altering certain aspects of the game.”
Still, in 2014, Stanley reportedly shared footage on YouTube of himself breaching a rival hacking group’s customer database, meaning he was still partaking in malicious activity.
A concern for national security
Reuters said that six former Justice Department officials are worried about Stanley’s background because of the sensitive nature of his job at the DOJ right now.
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Jonathan Rusch, a former Justice Department prosecutor, said that after he admitted to handling stolen data, it is debatable if he can safeguard sensitive records. “I would have very serious concerns about hiring him in and giving him access to these kinds of records,” Rusch said.
Others who worked with the DOJ before, like cybersecurity analyst Dan Guido, suggested that Stanley’s experience with cybercriminals could be viewed as a learning experience rather than a liability.
Several of the 33-year-old’s websites have now disappeared from the Internet Archive.
Stanley’s specific responsibilities within the DOJ are unclear, though the Deputy Attorney General’s office, led by former Trump attorney Todd Blanche, oversees US Attorney’s offices and manages criminal investigations into various offenses, including hacking and cybercrime.
It is also unknown whether Stanley is still employed by X and SpaceX, but he lists these companies on his LinkedIn profile.
Christopher Stanley still lists his roles with X and SpaceX on his X profile. Source: X (formerly Twitter)
A profile photo on X shows him standing in front of the Office of Justice Programs emblem, which is part of the department responsible for awarding grant funds. According to the DOJ, Stanley, like Musk, holds the title of “special government employee” and does not receive a government salary.
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