Drug Kingpins Are No Different Than Any Other IT User or Manager

As the drug trial of “El Chapo” Joaquin Guzman plays out for months in one of my adopted home towns, Brooklyn (my brother lived there and I have spent a lot of time there), there are some interesting stories coming out of the trial. Maybe not completely relevant to every business, but at least consider some of it.

How did they get enough evidence to indict him?

El Chapo was paranoid and so he paid a Columbian IT guy to build him an encrypted network to make VoIP calls on. The IT guy was recommended by Columbian drug lord Jorge Cifuentes. The network was VERY secure and the feds could not get anything from it.

But the FBI approached the IT guy pretending to be a Russian gangster needing a similar network. Somehow, from that point, they flipped the guy and made him an informant. On behalf of the FBI, the IT guy upgraded the system which kind of meant that he gave the FBI the encryption keys.

In exchange for $460,000 so far. And hopefully a new identity.

From that point they were able to listen in on his calls.

LESSON NUMBER ONE – You want to make sure that IT guy is really your friend.

One call that has come into play was captured because it was not encrypted. Why? Because the network was down. What was the call about? It was about the IT guy being castigated because the network was down. Ever yell at your IT guy about the network being down?

The IT guy (by the way, he does have a name, it is Cristian Rodriguez) says that he will fix it if they will just buy him a new computer.

But the drug trafficer says that he is busy and doesn’t have time to get the computer.

LESSON NUMBER TWO – If your IT guy says he needs something to repair a system that is down, well, you probably should figure out a way to get it for him. Clearly, in El Chapo’s case, it wasn’t about money.

Next, El Chapo is heard complaining about the long password that he has to use to log in. He said “What a drag! It has symbols and things.”

LESSON NUMBER THREE – Passwords are long and complicated because that is what it takes to keep the people you don’t want to get your stuff (whether that is the FBI or a hacker) from getting your stuff.

Of course, most IT guys don’t have to worry about their boss sending a hit squad after them. El Chapo did that and the IT guy had a nervous breakdown from the stress. El Chapo had grown suspicious and thought maybe Rodriquez was working for the other side, so he did send out “enforcers”. Apparently, they have not found him yet, which is, in and of itself, amazing.

So, bottom line, understand that for the most part, if your IT team is asking you to do things or buy things, it is because they are trying to protect you and your stuff. Or, possibly, it because they are being paid a half million dollars by the feds – but that is unlikely.

Information for this post came from The Register.