Learning from Pirates of the Late 1600s - The first APT

Adam Hogan - @adamwhoganField Engineer, CrowdStrike

Agenda

• The growth in cyber-crime resembles the growth in piracy• Why did piracy grow? • How was it suppressed?

Previously…• Economics of Exploit Kits• Pirates

• Individual decision to become a criminal• Stunning innovation from pirates

• The Paradox of Power - improved working conditions• Separation of power, democratic. • Signalling threats (jolly roger)

Why Is This Important?

• We have to understand our adversaries.• Not a lot of experimental data on criminals...

Why Pirates?

• I looked first to organized crime - but it didn’t fit.• The chaos and scope of the sea (especially centuries ago)

matches the Internet.

Threat HuntingPirate Hunting

Hunting Methods

• Find and attack them at sea• Find them at anchor or while careening• Attacking their haunts or ports

That Easy?

• Who has the right to hunt pirates?• Who has the responsibility hunt pirates?• Who’s going to pay for hunting pirates?

Find at Sea

• Hahahahaha

Find at Sea“… an easy proposition only in novels and motion pictures.

The open sea was too large and was not in fact even considered as a place to seek pirates, or anyone else for that matter. Coastal routes, common routes among the

islands, and common landfalls were better pickings, especially when matched with the sailings of

merchantmen, but searches were often fruitless without good intelligence."

- Benerson Little, Pirate Hunting: The Fight Against Pirates, Privateers, and Sea Raiders from Antiquity to Present

Anchor or Careening

• What is careening?• Vulnerable at their base.

• Especially when hung over.

Anchor or CareeningIn the case of the Armada de Barlovento, its established

route was predictable, and thus it was easily avoided unless it changed its route or its timing: “The Privateers keep out of their way, having always Intelligence where

they are.” In the case of guard ships, many were too slow, too deep drafted, or not in condition to set sail

immediately. However, patrolling based on good intelligence could be productive. The sack of Veracruz by filibusters and buccaneers in 1683 spurred the Armada de Barlovento into retaliatory action, for example. Over the

course of a deliberate, focused cruise, the Armada captured six purported pirate vessels and 110 purported

pirates.- Benerson Little, Pirate Hunting: The Fight Against Pirates, Privateers, and Sea Raiders from Antiquity to Present

At Port

• Which port?

At Port“attacking their haunts or ports—was used on occasion,

and sometimes even effectively. However, no matter how the pirate hunter intended to track down and destroy his prey, he needed intelligence regarding pirate locations or anticipated destinations, the speed to overtake the pirate (or at least to arrive at his location before he absconded),

the men and arms to overwhelm him, and capable commanders to apply the appropriate leadership and

tactics.”

- Benerson Little, Pirate Hunting: The Fight Against Pirates, Privateers, and Sea Raiders from Antiquity to Present

–Pirates of Penzance

When I sally forth to seek my preyI help myself in a royal way.

I sink a few more ships, it’s true,Than a well-bred monarch ought to do;But many a king on a first-class throne,

If he wants to call his crown his own,Must manage somehow to get through

More dirty work than ever I do,

For I am a Pirate King!

Nation of Pirates

Nation of Pirates• Nassau• Smuggler economy• Taverns & brothels• Started by Benjamin Hornigold• Championed by Charles Vane

Motivation

• Jacobites• Wealth• Pride

Benjamin Hornigold• Command the Ranger. Second in command:

Edward Teach• Patriot - would not attack British ships

• Out of work privateers after Queen Anne’s War

• Believed he’d be legit when the Catholics took over again

• Thought Nassau could be a Republic of Pirates. 1706-1718

Legacy

• Rogers' name still adorns the Main Street on Nassau's waterfront.

• And the Bahamas official motto is Expulsis Piratis, Comercia Restitua.

Barbary Pirates

Barbary Pirates• Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli - fell under Ottoman Empire.

Independent Sultanate of Morocco. • Demanded tribute to sail unmolested. French and English

paid it. Only way to trade with southern Europe.• Not safe for Americans. Insurance for US ships went up 20

times european rates.• Take two ships ransom: Maria, Dauphin

Motivation• John Adams: “How can you

war against people who did you no harm?”

• According to the Qur’an, “all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave.” “Every muslim who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise.”

Jefferson v Adams

• Jefferson figures it would cost less to build a fleet to patrol there. “I should prefer the obtaining of it by war.”

• Adams disagreed. He thought war would be far more costly and possibly unwinnable. “We ought not to fight them at all unless We determine to fight them forever.”

Birth of the Navy• At this point there was no navy. The Revolutionary Navy’s

ships had all been sold off. Dismantling the navy suited President Washington just fine - he favored strict neutrality.

• Jefferson: need 6 frigates.• Algerians’ had poorly outfitted ships, and their tactics

required boarding their foes instead of relying on their cannons.

Birth of the Navy• 1793 - New Algerian fleet of 4 frigates and one 20-gun brig

with the objective to cruise against the American flag.• That month they capture 110 americans as slaves.• March 27, 1794 Washington signs “Act to Provide a Naval

Armament”. 6 frigates, 4 rated for 44 guns, 2 for 36 guns. $688,888 (10 million approx present day $)• 1797 - USS United States, USS Constellation, and USS

Constitution.• Later - USS Chesapeake, USS Congress, USS President

Warish• “It rests with Congress to

decide between war, tribute, and ransome, as the means of re-establishing our Mediterranean commerce.” -Sec. of State Thomas Jefferson, 1790

• His attitude didn’t change when he became president - his orders were defensive only.

To Battle!• The USS Enterprise captures the

Tripoli. • All downhill from there.

• One ship hijacked by Dey.• USS Philadelphia runs

aground and is captured.• Try to sink it - fail.

Battle of Derna

• “The shores of Tripoli”• 8 Marines and 500 mercenaries

threaten to displace Pasha of Tripoli with his older brother.

Jean Lafitte

Jean Lafitte (1780 - 1812)• Smuggler• Pirate• Privateer• War Hero• Spy

Smuggler

• Embargo Act of 1807 - Tries to punish Great Britain and France for their war time abuses of Americans.• Embargoes all ships from going to any foreign port• Hurt lots of Americans - including those in New Orleans

who traded with the Caribbean.

Smuggler

• Pierre and Jean Lafitte create a new port on island of Barataria. • Workers then smuggled goods through the bayous to New

Orleans.• When they got tired of that, they held auctions.

Pirate• They buy a schooner and hire a captain. (Oct 1812)

• They take a Spanish brig - sold cargo and refit the ship for piracy (Dorada).

• Third ship (La Diligent): 12 fourteen pound cannons• Fourth Ships: captured schooner (Petit Milan). Strip the original

ship to outfit the newest three ships. • Smuggle goods direclty to New Orleans

• They let the crews go and keep reputation as fair.

Criminal!• New Acting Governor Robertson decides Lafitte and his men

are “brigands who infest our coast and overrun our country.”• People of New Orleans: grateful they can trade.

• Governor offers $500 for capture.• Within two days new flyers appear…

• Overpowered on sea - so Attorney General charges them with evading revenue law and sends 40 soldiers. Bust up an auction.

Privateer

• But New Orleans didn’t have enough ships to defend itself during the War of 1812.• Issued Letters of marque - mostly to Lafitte and his crew.

Prisoner• Pierre Lafitte in jail.• HMS Sophie finds Jean Lafitte.

• Offer: british citizenship, land grants, if he assisted in fight against US

• USS Carolina (with six gunboats and a tender) surround Lafitte• Jean escapes, most do not.

Battle of New Orleans• Andrew Jackson arrives

• Reviews defense: 8 ships captured from Lafitte - and nobody to sail them.

• Pardons Lafitte men who agree to defend city. Militia, sailors, and three artillery companies.

• Afterwards Jackson praises them. Formally requested clemency for Lafittes and the men under them.

Enforcement

• How do we stop pirates?!

Legislation• Before 1536: conviction required 2 eye witnesses who are not

accomplices• 1536 - Offenses at Sea Act: Common Law procedure allowing

for a jury and testimony of accomplices.• Huge problem in colonies - must be tried in England.• 1700 - Act for the More Effectual Suppression of Piracy -

created commissions in the colonies that could run Vice Admiralty Courts that could convict pirates. Crime to aid pirates in any way. Encouraged merchants to defend themselves against attack by providing bounties.

Policy• The introduction of legislation• Issuing pardons to pirates in the hope that they would

abandon their lives of crime• Stepping up naval patrols in the worst affected areas• Promising rewards for the capture of pirates, and licensing

private ships to attack and capture pirates• The trial and execution of others

Pardon Me?• King George offers a pardon to pirates who surrender. • Kicks off huge debate in Nassau. • At least 50% of Nassau celebrates.• Records suggest that the pardon helped in the Bahamas and certain

areas but had little effect elsewhere. Governor Shute reported from Boston that the King’s proclamation had not produced the hoped-for effects and the pirates were still out in force. Governor Johnson, who had recently been humiliated by Blackbeard’s blockade of Charleston, declared, “I don’t perceive H.M. gracious proclamation of pardon works any good effect upon them, some few indeed surrender and take a certificate of there so doing and then several of them return to the sport again…”

Going Straight

• Many former pirates became privateers during the course of the War of the Quadruple Alliance, with varying degrees of success. • Benjamin Hornigold, founder of the pirate republic, took

his commission from Rogers and cruised against Spanish pirates from Nassau harbor.

International Law

• Problems with pirates• Distance from traditional law enforcement• Unclear jurisdiction

• Tallin Manual on Cyber War

How to Fight Pirates

• Privateers• Bounties• Recruit• Remove support

organizations

Nassau• Benjamin Hornigold hired as pirate hunter by Governor of

Bahamas after accepting his pardon.• Charles Vane - lead revolt against the pardon.

• His fleet wiped out by a hurricane. Picked up off deserted island - twice.

• Hanged.

Spotswood v Blackbeard• Alexander Spotswood, governor of Virginia, decided that

Blackbeard's operations around NC are a threat the VA commerce and needs to be stopped.• Publicly anyway…

• Buys Navy smaller sloops.• Offers bounty• All illegal. Technically Blackbeard was pardoned by Gov Eden.

And he “salvaged a wreck”

Blackbeard• Sneak up on the Adventure in the

morning. Hung over.• Run aground, start tossing ballast.• Devastating broadside vs. Lucky shot• Blackbeard holds up a glass of liquor

and “drank damnation to me and my men, whom he styled Cowardly Puppies, saying he would neither give nor take Quarter.”

• Muskets, improvised explosives• Hide below deck• Ceasar

Calico Jack• Did not give up. Cruised around Jamaica

(risky).• Attacks the Kingston so close townspeople

watch from Port Royal.• Privateer vessels set out to pursue. Find

them sleeping one off.• Nassau - pardon?• Anne Bonny• Wedding - Richard Tunley• Recruit - Mary Read

Calico Jack• Back on the account• Informant• Fight like men!• Rackham’s Cay• Bundles of exonerating joy

Barbary Pirates

• Sea battles didn’t work very well…• Marines took them by land.

Jean Lafitte

• Attack him by land• Hire him• Attack him again

Smuggler & Spy• Sets up a new base in Galveston

• 100-200 men and several women• Works as spy for Spanish during

Mexican War for Independence• Driven out in 1821 by USS

Enterprise

What Can we Learn?

• Respect• Nobody thinks they’re the bad guy• Fools rush in

Preparation• The tropical climate rotted the sails and rigging and

corroded fittings and anchors, none of which could be replaced in the West Indies.

• There were no trees left suitable in the islands for a mainmast.

• Shipworm - wood eating parasite that would bore through the warships hulls and make them leak.• Careening - larger ships need docks

Preparation• Men already suffering from a poor diet, harsh discipline,

exposure, and disease had difficultyacclimiatizing themselves to the heat and humidity of the Caribbean.

• They wore woolen clothes and subsisted on salted meats, heavy biscuits, and large quantities of beer and rum.

• Once exposed to the diseases of the topics (malaria, yellow fever, smallpox, leprosy) they began dropping like flies.

Blackbeard• Wants to upgrade to a bigger warship. Goes looking in trans-

Atlantic waters. Risky.• Blackbeard attacks La Concorde from Cpt. Pierre Dosset.• His crew was totally unprepared and he couldn't bluff

because he had to take out most of his cannon to pack in extra slaves.

• The crew had never been to Africa before, so most of them were sick or dead from disease.

Blackbeard

• Battle• Giant fiery beard! The Jolly Roger! Cannon balls!• The French promptly surrender.

• Blackbeard renames La Concorde to Queen Anne’s Revenge.

Dampier• Dampier commanded the HMS Roebuck failed to clean

shipworm.• One sailer, Alexander Selkirk, abandoned and stayed on a

uninhabited pacific island rather than continue aboard the decomposing vessel.

• Mutiny, abandonment. Got home to 3 courts-martial.• Somehow comes back as a privateer. Duke & Duchess.

Dampier• Didn’t have enough alcohol or warm clothing to make Drake

passage.• Rogers argues “good liquor to sailors is preferable to

clothing.”• Pass a neutral Swedish ship - and don’t attack.• Mutiny. Scurvy.• Alexander Selkirk.• Siege of Guayquil. Grave robbers. Plague.

References• The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the

Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down - Colin Woodard• Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the

Pirates - David Cordingly• The Invisible Hook - Peter Leeson• Pirate Hunting: The Fight Against Pirates, Privateers, and Sea Raiders from

Antiquity to Present - Benerson Little• The Sea Rover’s Practice: Pirate Tactics and Techniques 1630-1730 -

Benerson Little• A General History of the Pyrates - Cpt. Charles Johnson• The Buccaneers of America - Alexander Exquemelin• Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed

American History - Brian Kilmeade• Wikipedia: “Jean Lafitte”