The link Between Dominion, Sequoia, Smartmatic, and the CCP

https://gnews.org/577635/

…It is worth taking a closer look at the Sequoia group of companies, Sequoia Capital, Sequoia Capital China, and their particularly their founder Neil Shen. This is the key to the connection with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Mr. Guo Wengui made comments about Sequoia and Neil Nanpeng Shen: “…Neil Shen is the major partner of Sequoia Capital, and the Shen family is one of the most powerful in the United States. Nine out of eleven families are his partners, and now it is about the White House, I can’t say his name anymore. Thomas, the boss of Silicon Valley, Eric Smith, the former CEO of Google, and Zuckerberg, the former CEO of FB, were all speechless when they met Neil Shen, including Hong Kong Superman and Rachel Lee, because Shen is the real godfather of the Internet. …… “

Neil Shen (born 1967) is an entrepreneur and investor based in the province of Zhejiang, China.

In 1985, Neil Shen attended Shanghai Jiaotong University in the first class of its newly established program which waived selected students from examination requirements. In 1989, he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. In 1989 he travelled to the United States to study – initially majoring in Mathematics at Columbia University and later being accepted at Yale University. He received a Master’s Degree from Yale University in 1992.

Following graduation from Yale in 1992, Neil Shen accepted a position at Citibank in the United States. In 1994, he returned to China, joining Lehman Brothers, where he handled investment-banking projects in China. From 1996 to 1999, he served as a director at Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong, China, responsible for transactions involving China’s debt capital markets. In 1999, Neil Shen founded Ctrip, serving as chairman, president and chief financial officer. On December 9, 2003, Ctrip was listed on the NASDAQ. In 2002, he founded the Home Inns hotel chain where he served as the founder and co-chairman. On October 26, 2006, the Home Inns hotel chain was listed on NASDAQ. In 2003 and 2004, Shen personally became the angel investor and board director of E-House China and China Focus Media.

In 2005 Neil Shen established Sequoia Capital China (红杉资本中国基金) as an affiliate to the U.S. firm, with the support of Sequoia Capital’s Michael Moritz and Douglas Leone. Sequoia Capital invests in both public and private companies. It specializes in incubation, seed stage, startup stage, early stage, and growth stage investments in private companies. Sequoia Capital has invested in over 1000 companies since 1972, including Apple, Google, Oracle, Nvidia, GitHub, PayPal, LinkedIn, Stripe, Bird, YouTube, Instagram, Yahoo!, PicsArt, Klarna and WhatsApp. The combined current public market value for these companies is over $1.4 trillion, equivalent to 22 percent of the Nasdaq. Its portfolio is mainly in financial services, healthcare, outsourcing, and technology. By 2017, Sequoia Capital had originated 68 initial public offerings and 203 acquisitions.

Following the economic crisis in 2009, Sequoia Capital China, led by Neil Shen, chose to invest in companies with high growth potential. Neil Shen has managed the IPOs of several companies on the NYSE, HKEx, and China A-Share Exchange. He facilitated the merger of Sina Real Estate Channel with E-House China, and successfully listed E-House China on NYSE on August 8, 2007. In December 2009, Neil Shen helped the Cao Guowei team lead the acquisition of the No.1 online portal Sina. Now Sequoia Capital China has offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Suzhou, and Shenzhen. Over the past ten years, Sequoia Capital China has built an impressive and diverse portfolio. This group of approximately 300 dynamic companies delivers high returns on investment using differentiated technologies and innovative business models. They include Alibaba, VIPshop, Sina.com, JD.com, Didi, Ourpalm, Qihoo 360, Jumei, Momo, SINNET, Dianping, Meituan, Meilishuo, Toutiaoto, Navi, Ganji.com, DJI, VanceInfo, Noah Private Wealth Management, Wanda Cinemas, Alibaba Pictures, Plateno Hotels Group, Deppon Logistics, ZTO Express, Beta Pharma, Snibe Diagnostic, BGI, WEGO, and Yuwell Medical…

…In 2009, Neil Shen endowed the “Sequoia Xia An” professorship fund at his undergraduate alma mater Shanghai Jiao Tong University, as well as a scholarship program named “Zhiyuan College Outstanding Student Scholarship”. As a board member of the Education Development Foundation at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Neil Shen has funded the summer exchange program between Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Yale University. He has also made several donations to Yale University. In October 2014 the Yale University China Center was unveiled in Beijing. He participated in the endowment of the Center with the largest donation ever from Yale China Alumni. He is the board chairman of the Yale Leadership Center in China. In November 2015, during COP 21 (United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris), the Breakthrough Energy Coalition was formed led by Bill Gates, Neil Shen, Jack Ma, Mark Zuckerberg and 28 other business leaders who committed to invest significant resources in the next five years to address climate change and clean energy issues. Neil Shen is Director and a long-time benefactor of the Teach For China program

Neil Shen is not only the founding and managing partner of Sequoia Capital China, he also serves as Global Steward of Sequoia Capital. Neil Shen is a Member of the 13th CPPCC National Committee. He is a Vice Chairman, China Securities Investment Fund Association, Venture Capital Fund Committee. He is Co-founder and Chairman of the Hong Kong X Technology Startup Platform. He is a Member of the Advisory Panel on Innovation and Strategic Development for the Chief Executive of the HKSAR.

As a director of the China Entrepreneurs Forum, Neil Shen served as the rotating chairman in 2015. He is the Vice-Chairman of the Venture Capital Committee for Asset Management Association of China. He is also a Trustee of the Asia Society. He is the founding board member and the 2016 rotating President of the Future Forum. He is also the Vice President of Beijing Private Equity Association, and the Vice Chairman of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, Shanghai. Neil Shen was the top-ranked venture capitalist in China according to Forbes from 2010 to 2013. He topped the Forbes ranking of Top Venture Capitalists in China in 2014 and 2015. He was ranked at No.3 in 2014.The Asian Venture Capital Journal named him the Venture Capitalist of the Year in both 2010 and 2015, and also the Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004. In both 2014 and 2015, Neil Shen, as one of the few honored guests, attended the first and second China’s World Internet Conference. He is a member of High-level Advisory Council of the Secretariat of the World Internet Conference Organizing Committee. In September 2015, Neil Shen was received by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the China – U.S. Internet Industry Forum in Seattle, Washington, USA. In 2016, the New York Times reported that Neil Shen was ranked at #9 on the CB Insights listing of the world’s top venture capitalists.

https://www.smartmatic.com/es/noticias/articulo/774/

>>11824957

https://smartmaticfacts.com/machines-and-services/

https://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/10/30/09/smartmatic-picks-new-subcontractor-machines

HACKING THE VOTE

One election-system vendor uses developers in Serbia

OCT 5, 2016 4:00 AM PDT

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3126791/one-election-system-vendor-uses-developers-in-serbia.html

"Voting machines are privately manufactured and developed and, as with other many other IT systems, the code is typically proprietary.

The use of proprietary systems in elections has its critics. One Silicon Valley group, the Open Source Election Technology Foundation, is pushing for an election system that shifts from proprietary, vendor-owned systems to one that that is owned "by the people of the United States."

[ Further reading: If the election is hacked, we may never know ]

But today, election system makers can operate in much the same manner as any vendor to build code; that includes using overseas developers.

One major election technology company, Dominion Voting Systems (DVS), develops its systems in the U.S. and Canada but also has an office in Belgrade, Serbia. It was recently advertising openings for four senior software developers in Belgrade.

"Like many of America's largest technology companies which develop some of the software for their products in places like Asia, India, Ireland and the Mideast some of our software development is undertaken outside the U.S. and Canada, specifically, in Serbia, where we have conducted operations for 10 years," said firm spokesman Chris Riggall, in an email.

(RIG-ALL?)

Dominion said it takes measures "to ensure the accuracy, integrity and security of the software we create for our products."

"First, all of our software is developed in-house by DVS employees and this work is not outsourced to third parties. Second, we rigorously pre-screen all new hires to identify any potential security concerns among any personnel involved in product development. Third, we conduct extensive internal testing of all new software to evaluate the functionality, accuracy and security of the code designed for our systems," said Riggall.

The software "is subjected to rigorous review, analysis, testing and certification by election authorities at the federal, state and local level, including the federal Election Assistance Commission," said Riggall. The election system purchasing is managed by states and local governments. Once the code is certified, any changes require a new round of certification testing by election authorities, he said.

Alan Paller, president and director of research at the Sans Technology Institute, read Dominion's statement and said the "general care this vendor shows in this statement gives me no reason to believe there's any greater risk there than in any other company that manufacturers voting systems."

Paller said that "one shouldn't feel complacent about maintaining software development and manufacturing all within the United States because foreign agencies have successfully placed technically competent spies on the payroll of American technology companies."

But Suzanne Mello-Stark, a forensic computer scientist at Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a focus on voting machines, wants software and hardware transparency in voting systems.

"The systems are proprietary and we don't know what the code looks like," said Mello-Stark."