WikiLeaks

[crotchrocket]

Whats your opinions on this then guys??? Just wondering as the leaked info was from US embassy's etc. Looks like theres all out 'online' warfare at the moment with Mastercard, Visa and paypal all being hacked and shut down for different periods of time. its quite serious really!! All this in protest to companies backing away and unassociating themselves from Julian Assange !!!!

There are a load of US supporting hackers that intern hacked the other guys and managed to shut them down for a couple of hours!!!

So, do you think the wikileaks should be stopped???? Can be putting peoples lives at risk and i know a few of you are in the forces!

[vt_maverick]

Nations, companies, and individuals all have good reasons to keep secrets. This Assange guy fancies himself as some sort of freedom of information Robin Hood, when all he really does is feed the media machine while destabilizing international diplomacy. I think this clip from our Saturday Night Live comedy show gives a pretty accurate analogy:

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-li...-open/1263417/

That said, the real problem here is that there are apparently plenty of individuals with access to sensitive information who are willing to sell out their country. People tend to think that leaks most often happen when hackers gain access to classified computer networks, when in reality most leaks are caused by people willfully distributing the information. Hopefully this crisis encourages government agencies to re-examine how they select and monitor employees with access to classified data.

[WormGod]

2 fingers to point.

1 - Assange. You dig in Big Dog's backyard and steal his bone, be prepared to be bitten.

2 - The Big Dog. Hide your bone better. This a the Information Age.... what the hell do you expect.

I'll bet 500 12 year old northern European hackers had this information YEARS ago. Assange just got caught.

[circmand]

Like any other spy both he and the soldier who fed him the info should be given a military trial and summarily executed. The so called journalism freedom would not even be a consideration before our PC run amok era. Journalist do not have the freedom to print secret documents.

However this does raise 2 issues;

1. Congress is considering giving journalists a shield law that protects them and only relies on their own judgement and self policing. Does this prove they can not be trusted to self police?

2. Congress is also considering allowing gays to openly join and serve in the military. Considering the spy who leaked this info is a homosexual who had a hissy fit and decided leaking secret documents was the way to go can we allow them to serve if this is what can be expected?

[deermagnet]

I consider Julian a hero. There's no way they can stop this now. WikiLeaks is mirrored in hundreds of locations around the world.

Here's one mirror if you've never seen this stuff- http://wikileaks.ch

Julian's friends are in possession of a 1.4 gigabyte file that supposedly will change the world. They will unleash this monster if Julian is killed or imprisoned. Governments have a copy of this file, but Julian used 256-bit encryption and it will take untold years to break the code. It can be released uncoded on the internet at any time and there's nothing any government can do to stop it. I hope it has all kinds of dirt on all the political scum and all the illegal stuff they've done.

These people are very smart. You would think all the biggest companies have made themselves hack-proof by now, yet they were able to shut down MasterCard and PayPal.

No one has ever been harmed by anything they released. Even in the past when spies have been named, they just get a new identity and disappear.

Mark

[vt_maverick]

Julian's friends are in possession of a 1.4 gigabyte file that supposedly will change the world. They will unleash this monster if Julian is killed or imprisoned. Governments have a copy of this file, but Julian used 256-bit encryption and it will take untold years to break the code. It can be released uncoded on the internet at any time and there's nothing and government can do to stop it. I hope it has all kinds of dirt on all the political scum and all the illegal stuff they've done.

I bet he does have it, and keeps it right beside the President's Book of Secrets and the Ark of the Convenant. I guarantee you it won't take years to break the code, and I doubt very seriously anything in that file will change the world. Despite leaks, wars, etc., governments still execute their business in the same way they did 3000 years ago, so there's no reason to believe it will change over one file. Sounds like a conveniently timed myth to keep the media interested.

These people are very smart. You would think all the biggest companies have made themselves hack-proof by now, yet they were able to shut down MasterCard and PayPal.

"Hack-proof" is a pipe dream. That's like saying doctors should have made the world disease-free by now. Hackers find holes and exploit them; security experts close the holes and develop new ways to track the hackers; hackers find new ways to evade detection and in turn find new holes. It's an arms race fought in cyberspace. Nothing will ever be hack-proof.

No one has ever been harmed by anything they released.

Come on Mom, why can't I play football in the street? No one's hit me so far!

Consider this scenario: North Korea knows it has enemies in the West, and the overwhelming disapproval of the international community for it's nuclear program. Until now they've felt safe in China's shadow, assured that any attack by South Korea or the US would be repulsed not only by their Army, but also by the overwhelming air power of the Chinese Air Force.

Then Wikileaks releases diplomatic messages indicating that the Chinese might turn their back on North Korea in a conflict, and may already be working out a plan with the US on how to handle the aftermath. Where does that leave the North Korean government? Unable to rely on a superpower's protection but unwilling to back down from their conflict with the South, they have to choose one of two directions: (1) back down on all fronts to avoid a conflict (unlikely), or (2) become more belligerent and aim to do the most civilian damage possible since the situation is hopeless anyway.

It's easy to cast all governments and politicians as inherently evil and naively believe that truth conquers all. But the reality is that governments need to be able to discuss matters in a private context to achieve any honest dialogue and to ensure proper context behind any official release. For example, the quotes from Chinese diplomats regarding North Korea may very well be the ramblings of a disenchanted public servant, rather than the feeling of the Chinese government as a whole. But without that context North Korea might assume those opinions to be official (but disavowed) Chinese policy and execute option #2 above.

If Assange wants to leak stuff, let him leak stuff going on now in 10 years. By then it's less likely to cause a conflict, but still recent enough to generate the change he purports to advocate. Does anyone really believe that a file capable of "changing the world" would be irrelevant in 10 years?

[Marlin]

If you think for one second so low ranked enlisted guy had access to dimplomatic cables, you are wrong. The kid that is imprisoned right now gave him the video of the journalists being killed and some other minor stuff, this stuff coming out came from much higher.

I am waiting to see what happens as they pull the string to find out where it all came from.
I can't get anything in or out where I work, and we only go to Confidential, way low on the totem of information security. We can't even bring in radios that have any feature other than AM/FM. No alarm, no digital display...we have been this way for a few years. Wherever this stuff is coming from, it came from the upper eschelon of access.

[Triathlete]

Marlin, I am sure things have changed some since my time in but as an E2 I had the highest security clearance available. As our equipment got older and less "secret" they slowly downgraded the clearance as needed. Of course we didn't have computers back then either...good old paper!

[vt_maverick]

Billy's on the money. No matter how high up the food chain these cables were originally written, there's almost always an intern / coffee-chaser who is asked to carry papers from one office to another. That's all it takes.

[tom4bren]

Careful fellers. Our securtiy office indicated that if anyone is caught accessing wikileaks from a government computer, your clearance could be revoked. It may apply to contractors as well. It's not likely that they are monitoring it close enough to catch anyone but I sure ain't taking any chances.

Honestly though, I haven't even been curious enough about what's been posted to go out & look. Personally I consider Julian Assange a waste of perfectly good sperm and hope that he disappears into anonymity very soon.

[Ascinder]

Honestly though, I haven't even been curious enough about what's been posted to go out & look. Personally I consider Julian Assange a waste of perfectly good sperm and hope that he disappears into anonymity very soon.

Well said. While I think there is a positive side to journalists trying to uncover the truth(coverups and such for example), I do not even remotely trust them to properly handle sensitive information they may come across in the course of their work. I absolutely don't trust their moral compass to keep critical information secret if they feel they can make a quick buck or further their own career over it either. Look at any "good intentioned" weapon mankind has ever tried to make or harness. It always inevitably gets used for nefarious purposes sooner or later. This stuff is no different. This guy is no Robin Hood, he's the one that opened pandoras box, and no good will come of it.

[Marlin]

Marlin, I am sure things have changed some since my time in but as an E2 I had the highest security clearance available. As our equipment got older and less "secret" they slowly downgraded the clearance as needed. Of course we didn't have computers back then either...good old paper!

I was not referring to the clearance level, but rather the accessibility to the information. I have secret clearance, but no access to it. You have to have a special computer, in a vaulted room where no PED (personal electronic device) are allowed. I just can't see this private having the access to those types of communications. The spread of the topics would be more like things saved on an entire server or encrypted digital vault of some type.

I am sure that Ash is right about some assistant maybe having access, and they do have those at the Pentagon level, they are called 06s. Guys that are in command of entire units in the field, and some congressman's aid on shore duty.

If a command was allowing E2s to be able to access a broad spectrum of info to this level, then we deserve any fallout that may arise, and those in charge should be held accountable for those repercussions.

We were talking about this at work today, the whole thing seems too convenient, I hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but its like a magic show, "Look over here, watch this hand", meanwhile, what is happening with the other hand? Its all too pretty.

[Hiredgoon]

This whole information age is so very tacky. I think people need to take a little more responsibility for themselves and try to have a little integrity, and that definitely applies to journalists as well as politicians. I wonder how much comfort freedom of the press will give him when his work gets people killed.

It's all pretty depressing, really.

[circmand]

I consider Julian a hero. There's no way they can stop this now. WikiLeaks is mirrored in hundreds of locations around the world.

Of course not kill him anyhow make him your martyr. Its like the death penalty at least he wont ever do it again

[/QUOTE]Here's one mirror if you've never seen this stuff- http://wikileaks.ch[/QUOTE]

just because some of stuff isnt that sensitive doesnt mean other stuff isnt. He released names of people who told us where terrorists were planning attacks and murders of children. This hero allows them to continue to kill children. Yeah I underrstand why you like him so much he is a child killer

[/QUOTE]Julian's friends are in possession of a 1.4 gigabyte file that supposedly will change the world. They will unleash this monster if Julian is killed or imprisoned. Governments have a copy of this file, but Julian used 256-bit encryption and it will take untold years to break the code. It can be released uncoded on the internet at any time and there's nothing any government can do to stop it. I hope it has all kinds of dirt on all the political scum and all the illegal stuff they've done.[/QUOTE]

That makes them guilty to. Kill them too. They may have access but they cant release it when they are dead or wont once they start dieing. This is simply extortion. Yu dont deal with terrorists you kill them.

[/QUOTE]These people are very smart. You would think all the biggest companies have made themselves hack-proof by now, yet they were able to shut down MasterCard and PayPal.[/QUOTE]

Really? How smart do you have to be to have someone copy informaion from a file and paste it into a new location?

[/QUOTE]No one has ever been harmed by anything they released. Even in the past when spies have been named, they just get a new identity and disappear.[/QUOTE]

And your proof of this statement is? You know all the thousands and thousands of pages of info linked and you know every name mentioned and have checked on their well being and personally know and have verified that everyone is safe do you? I hope I dont have to explain to you why that statement is ludicrous.

[Stephen Biko]

They may have access but they cant release it when they are dead or wont once they start dieing. This is simply extortion. Yu dont deal with terrorists you kill them.

Creeping authoritarianism has destroyed the rule of law when speech is considered terrorism.

It is important to understand the purpose of the "insurance" file - it isn't 'extortion' to insure that Assange or others won't be killed or prosecuted, it is to insure that all of the information that has been leaked to wikileaks is published. That's a promise the wikileaks organization made to any and all whistle-blowers - if you risk your butt to get the information to wikileaks, they absolutely promise to make sure it gets published. They would prefer to review it and edit it for safety first, but if the wikileaks organization is somehow disrupted, they intend to keep their word if it's the last thing they do.

That's not to say plenty of political pundits have sensationalized the insurance file, but neither wikileaks nor Assange have made any threats about using it for retaliation.

And your proof of this statement is? You know all the thousands and thousands of pages of info linked and you know every name mentioned and have checked on their well being and personally know and have verified that everyone is safe do you? I hope I dont have to explain to you why that statement is ludicrous.

Really its ludicrous to claim that people have died as a result when even the Pentagon's own review found otherwise. The wikileaks organization has gone to great pains to redact that kind of information from the documents they publish. In cases where the government has released the same documents under FOIA it's turned out that wikileaks did an even more thorough job of removing potentially sensitive information than the pentagon did.

But, ultimately wikileaks is not about leaking information. It's about fighting conspiracies. Back in 2006 Assange wrote some essays explaining the motivation for the creation of wikileaks. Assange's operational plan is a form of jiu-jitsu.

He has two core assumptions. First is that authoritarian organizations need secrecy to thrive. Second is that secrecy is a barrier to effective communication. He believes that demonstrating leaks to an authoritarian organization will cause it to increase its secrecy. Pushed far enough, that secrecy makes the organization cumbersome and inflexible, allowing opponents to easily get inside its OODA loop. The end result is that the organization must choose between curbing its authoritarian tendencies or collapse.

The US government is not his only target, it's just the one that's currently getting the most press.

Furthermore, plenty of legitimate public figures in the business of government and security have expressed support for Assange and Wikileaks include Ron Paul, Daniel Esllberg (of the Pentagon Papers), Veterans for Peace president Mike Ferner, former long-time CIA counter-terrorism expert Michael Scheuer, Republican congressman Connie Mack of Florida and former Australian Prime Minister (currently Foreign Minister) Kevin Rudd just for starters.