SecureDrop
James Dolan (computer security expert) was an employee for whom from 2012 to 2013?
James Dolan ( computer security expert ) James S . Dolan ( July 20 , 1981 – December 27 , 2017 ) was an American computer security expert who , with Aaron Swartz and Kevin Poulsen , co-developed SecureDrop , a widely used secure digital platform for sources to anonymously submit materials to journalists . Early life . Dolan grew up in Chester , New York . He grew up with four sisters . He went to school at the Tuxedo Park school and was considered gifted at an early age . Later , he moved to Brooklyn , which is where he called home . and Chester , NY . Career . From 1999 to 2006 , Dolan served with the Marines in two deployments during the Iraq War where he worked as a data network specialist . In 2003 , Dolan served with III Marine Expeditionary Force during the initial Iraq War . In his second deployment , which was from September 2004 to March 2005 , Dolan served with 4th Civil Affairs Group in Fallujah , which was one of the centers of the conflict at that time . Dolan was in Fallujah during Operation Phantom Fury , part of the Second Battle of Fallujah . Trevor Timm from the Freedom of the Press Foundation referenced Dolans military service in his description of Dolan in the obituary he wrote , saying that the impact of serving in Iraq was an often spoke of motivating factor for Dolans cybersecurity work , with the goal of making metadata transparent and accountable . After his service in the Iraq War , Dolan worked in computer security at a large IT company . In 2012 , as a side project to his IT job , Dolan helped develop the open source SecureDrop , initially known as DeadDrop . In 2013 , Poulsen and Dolan moved it to the Freedom of the Press Foundation to ensure its continued development and adoption following the death of fellow developer Aaron Swartz . Dolan was the lead maintainer for DeadDrop , and as the Freedom of the Press Foundations first employee , performed outreach and assisted in installations for news organizations that included The New Yorker , ProPublica , The Washington Post , and VICE News , among others . In 2015 , Dolan moved to San Diego , California to work as head of security at Classy , an American software company and an online fundraising platform designed for nonprofit organizations , a position he held at the time of his death . Death . Dolan was found dead in a Brooklyn hotel in December 2017 at the age of 36 . Former colleagues speculate James died of suicide ( the same fate as Swartz ) . He reportedly suffered from PTSD from his time in the Marines . Dolan was the second member of the SecureDrop team to commit suicide . A GoFundMe fund was set up by his fellow Marines to establish the James Dolan Memorial Fund , which will annually donate to designated non-profit foundations and projects in his name .