Walter O Brien

On September 19, 2014 CNET (which is owned by CBS Corporation through their CBS Interactive division) published an article titled "Scorpion's origin: The real-world story behind CBS's new drama" by journalist Tim Stevens. The article was later updated, stating "It has been brought to our attention that questions have been raised about the accuracy of some of O'Brien's claims regarding his work and personal history. We have reached out to O'Brien directly for clarification."[18] One of the first to raise such concerns was journalist Mike Masnick, who wrote a piece on September 25, 2014, for Techdirt titled "Another Story Of A 'Fake' Brilliant Inventor? Is 'Scorpion Walter O'Brien' A Real Computer Security Genius?",in which Masnick researched and questioned many of O'Brien's claims.[19]

The next week, The Irish Times journalist Brian Boyd published an article "Scorpion: Walter O'Brien on his life off-screen" in which Boyd conceded "It’s impossible to substantiate such claims." Boyd goes on to say "Ask O’Brien directly if he has ever saved the world and he evades the question with a series of “there are things I can’t talk about” answers."[20]

Masnick then followed-up his original article[19] with a piece titled "The Mythical And Almost Certainly Made Up 'Legend' Of Walter O'Brien Continues To Grow", in which Masnick describes a recent "Techmanity" event[21] in which the Scorpion team, inclusive of O'Brien, were to provide Q&A on the basis and content of the show. Masnick claims that the Q&A session never occurred, and also presents many instances of both objective and anecdotal responses to many of O'Brien's claims.[22]

Picking up on these concerns, on October 15th, 2014, Fast Company writer Susan Karlin wrote an article titled "Hackers vs. Scorpion: Walter O’Brien Responds To Scrutiny Of Real-Life Claims Fueling TV’s Scorpion", in which Karlin publishes responses by O'Brien to questions of his authenticity.[23] O’Brien provided a certificate of participation in the 1993 International Informatics Olympiad signed by the General Secretary of the Government of Mendoza, President of the International Olympiad in Informatics Committee, and Secretary of Informatics and Development from the Secretary of Science and Technology of the Argentine National Presidency.[24] Photographic evidence of O’Brien at the International Olympiad in Informatics was also presented in this article.[25] O’Brien provided reasons why information was limited for some events and declined comment on all others.

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