Megan Rondini-Related Cyberattack Solved
By Donald V. Watkins
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) October 23, 2017
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) October 23, 2017
On September 8, 2017, a hacker with ties to a Montgomery, Alabama, PR firm launched an illegal cyberattack against nearly 1,000 "Followers" on my Facebook page. The attacker randomly selected and deactivated the "Follow" option of these "Followers" without their authorization or permission.
The cyberattack was slow, but methodical. It was akin to a slow leak in a car tire. It was designed to decrease my Facebook readership. Each unlawful deactivation constitutes a separate violation of federal law.
Fortunately, every cyberattack leaves a permanent electronic footprint. In my case, the investigation uncovered the hacker's ties to the Montgomery-based PR firm that engages in damage control work for the family of accused Megan Rondini rapist, Terry Jackson "Sweet T" Bunn, Jr.
The same PR firm is also tied to a flash drive that was anonymously delivered earlier this month to the Rondini family. The firm also planted two pro-Bunn "news" articles and one pro-Bunn "editorial" in small, financially struggling Alabama news media outlets.
On October 6, 2017, I published a story about the Bunn family's attempt to smear Megan Rondini, who committed suicide after Sweet T escaped criminal justice in her rape case. Cindy Rondini, Megan's mother, publicly blasted the anonymous person who secretly delivered a package on October 4th to the office of the family's Birmingham attorney that contained a flash drive with two nude photos –- one of a male and another one with a male and female in bed -- and a one-minute-long "video diary Number #1" recorded by Megan while she was home alone, sitting up in her bed, playfully talking about her evening at Harry's Bar, and eating a snack.
The woman in the photo, which was taken in 2014, is not Megan. The video, which shows a facial shot of Megan, was recorded on May 27, 2015. None of the items in the anonymously delivered package has any link, direct or indirect, to the rape Megan reported to police on July 2, 2015.
Only three groups had Court authorized access to the photographs and video in the police file. They are: (a) the Rondini family, which did not send these items to themselves; (b) the Bunn family, which hired the PR firm in question; and (c) the Tuscaloosa News, which works closely with the Bunn family's PR firm.
The PR firm aided the Bunn family in the publication of a pro-Bunn family story in the Alabama Political Reporter on August 21, 2017.
The PR firm was also instrumental in getting the Tuscaloosa News to publish a July 27, 2017, Bunn family-sponsored attack ad against Megan Rondini and her family. The ad was followed by a September 27th investigative report by the News and a cheesy editorial a couple of days later that sucked up to the Bunn family.
Facebook owns the cyber network that was attacked in my case. The victims of this cyberattack are: (a) Facebook, (b) the nearly 1,000 "Followers" who were deactivated without their consent, and (c) me. I intend to work with Facebook in an effort to prosecute all of the individuals who participated in this illegal cyberattack.
Sadly, I know the two principals who run this PR firm. In their zeal to represent the Bunns and make some money, they simply underestimated the forensics capability available in today's world of information technology.
Separately, the big break in the Rondini case occurred when the family's lawyer information technology experts took a deep dive into the anonymous thumb drive that was left at their attorney's office. The metadata, which the package deliverer thought had been completed erased from the thumb drive, was recovered. This information led right back to the principals in the PR firm and one of their field minions.
In the end, all of this activity was illegal and plain stupid. Breaking the law for Sweet T and his family is never a good PR strategy.
Meanwhile, if you are one of my Facebook "Followers" who was deactivated from following my page, you will need to reactivate your "Follow" option to continue following this page.
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The person at the PR firm thought he erased his files from the thumbdrive but didn't realize you can never fully erase files and we were able to find lots of incriminating information that he thought had been erased as well as details from the laptop he used to download files.
P.S. to Mr. PR man-- I hope your bathroom remodel went well but I would have gone with different edging on the granite. How much did it take to sell your soul to the devil?
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