Drake is a decorated U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy veteran, and was a senior executive and technical director for NSA’s software engineering and implementation – where he discovered and blew the whistle on massive multi-billion dollar fraud, waste, and abuse; the failures that led to 9/11; and the widespread violations of citizens’ rights through secret mass surveillance programs after 9/11.

After years of addressing these issues in vain thorough official channels, Drake finally went to the press – and soon became the first whistleblower since Daniel Ellsberg in 1971 to be charged with espionage. (Ellsberg is also one of our keynote speakers at HOPE X.) Drake faced spending the rest of his life in federal prison for defending the Constitution.  After refusing to testify against his colleagues and demanding a jury trial, the government’s case of all ten felony counts collapsed in 2011 and he went free.

Drake is the recipient of the 2011 Ridenhour Truth Telling Prize, a joint recipient with Jesselyn Radack of the 2011 Sam Adams Associates Integrity in Intelligence Award, and the 2012 Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award. He has been keenly interested in the many developments within the hacker world over the years.

Daniel Ellsberg was the cause of one of the biggest political controversies in the history of the United States when he released the Pentagon Papers in 1971. This top-secret Pentagon study of U.S. government decision-making concerning the Vietnam War was released to various newspapers. When the New York Times was stopped by a Nixon administration court order, Ellsberg leaked the 7,000 pages of documents to the Washington Post and 17 other publications. These revelations clearly showed deceptive practices by the government and played a significant role in changing the views of many Americans – and ultimately changing history.

When Ellsberg turned himself in to face trial for his actions, he said, “I felt that as an American citizen, as a responsible citizen, I could no longer cooperate in concealing this information from the American public. I did this clearly at my own jeopardy and I am prepared to answer to all the consequences of this decision.” After a trial which revealed massive corruption and various nefarious plots against Ellsberg, all charges were dismissed.

The parallels to what has been taking place in recent years is striking. We have learned a great deal from the more recent revelations of Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden. Unlike Ellsberg, however, these two have been treated extremely harshly by both the government and the mainstream media. Those journalists who have published the information that was leaked to them have found themselves demonized and even threatened by those in power. It seems that there has never been a more dangerous time for whistleblowers and that information is more restricted than ever.

We are honored that Daniel Ellsberg recognizes the value and importance of the HOPE X conference and it’s great to know that he’ll be able to speak in person to a whole new generation of individuals who will also shape the direction of the world one day. We can only hope they’ll also be ready to stand up for their convictions, no matter the cost.