WikiLeaks and Anon

[HashiriyaS14]

I can't believe there isn't already a thread on this?

Thoughts?

I don't personally have any issue with Wikileaks or Assange. All they're doing is publishing, which anyone could do, and anyone else WILL do if Julian somehow "disappears". The authorities are making a huge mistake by making this about Assange rather than about the leakers themselves. Anyone can anonymously host/publish data, it's the leakers themselves that need to be pounded on.

I am, in no uncertain terms, AGAINST leaking, I want that clear. I think the leakers themselves have done a terrible thing. All Assange has done is take their leaked information and put it on the internet, and if he hadn't done that, someone else would have.

At this point it seems obvious that if Assange falls, Anon will somehow step into his shoes and begin publishing themselves. The hive mind would become the de facto receiver of any sort of leaked information from any party in the world, as they are most likely to publish it with impunity. Because of the anonymity, it would be like TOR for classified documents. The leaker could dump the files on some random FTP server through a proxy, it would get passed around like an STD, and then published/hosted by multiple parties. There is NOTHING that any government could do to combat this, and I don't think the authorities understand the monster they're creating here.

[bigbadberry3]

+ 1 for Assange. I do feel that this criminal case is a conspiracy. Just throwin it out there.

[HashiriyaS14]

While I'm a little skeptical of his criminal case, I've no hard evidence one way or the other, and so I'm not going to comment whether or not I think it's bunk because I don't like to be uninformed.


EDIT: I couldn't believe we didn't have a thread on this, and now several hours and only one response? Anon is nuking paypal and others right now, Julian Assange is in a Swedish jail cell, The FBI shut down the Encyclopedia Dramatica page on Operation_Payback, and the US Government is effectively threatening to fire anyone who reads leaked cables.

This is probably the biggest news story of the year. It will change society and government, especially if publishing conveys to Anonymous and leaking becomes more prevalent, which I fully expect. Don't people have an opinion about this?

[audtatious]

It will change nothing. What the Gov did, knew, when they knew it, what they ignored, etc etc etc will be ignored and nothing will happen. Hell, it's Christmas and people have presents to buy instead.

[HashiriyaS14]

I disagree, sort of.

The actual stuff that's been leaked so far isn't of much consequence, aside from the whole "Shell Oil controlling Nigeria" bit.

That said, this news story isn't so much about the information that's been leaked, it's about the culture of leaking and how it will change going forward. It looks increasingly like Anonymous-sponsored mirror sites will become ubiquitous and future leakers will be able to turn any number of places to dump their data. Leaking will become much more common, particularly (IMO) in places like Russia and China. I wonder how those governments will react when they're up against an enemy that can't be located or prosecuted?

[audtatious]

Makes you wonder how secret we really are. Still, not gonna change much because the US public by large does not care as long as they can get the latest iphone.

[HashiriyaS14]

So apparently now the US was going to order a military strike against a hijacked Ukranian ship?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/1 ... 94838.html


I think this is actually one of the least shocking bits of information that's come out, actually.




The DDoS attacks seem to be winding down since they failed to bring down Amazon. I think it's starting to come in that they can cause a lot more damage by mirroring WikiLeaks, hosting leaks themselves, and generally soliciting/encouraging leaks than they can by DDoS.

[audtatious]

Hack the Planet...

[96Qowner]

Here's a pertinent question.

What's the name of the guy or guys responsible for making sure some low-level military flunky can't download secret military data in huge volume? Was anyone in charge of that? Shouldn't he be exposed and fired???? The treasonous private and Assange are fun to talk about, but it sure as hell isn't the fault of either of them, and nothing gets fixed by prosecuting them.

Some high-level heads had better roll, no?

(I'm SO fed up with our so-called new media. They're nothing but shills for their advertisers anymore. We only get entertaining news, whether it's pertinent or accurate or not. It's all about eyes on the screen and nothing more. Pathetic.)

[audtatious]

Yes, heads should roll. BUT...after years of leakers getting away with releasing information over the last 8 years or so I don't think anything is going to happen. I don't believe anyone investigated a single case of all the leaks during Bush

[HashiriyaS14]

In this case, Bradley Manning was an Intelligence Analyst, so he had a lot of access.

They're working right now to cut down on the use of removable drives to transport data, but you can't ever really stop it unless you just stop employing people.


We'll see where it goes, but I feel like OpenLeaks is just going to make it MORE attractive for people to leak stuff.

In this case, Manning didn't even really "get caught" by the military. He just bragged about his exploit to Adrian Lamo (famous gray hat hacker), who turned him in.

[audtatious]

Things would primarily only be leaked in "free countries". If they had tried this with Russia or China intel they would not be alive today.

[IBCoupe]

Certainly, that's a set of countries that we want to be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with on civil rights.

[mattblancarte]

I'm looking forward to the coming national firewall. We'll be lockstep w/ China before you know it!

[HashiriyaS14]

Things would primarily only be leaked in "free countries". If they had tried this with Russia or China intel they would not be alive today.

That's not true, stuff gets leaked from oppressive regimes all the time.

We'll execute a leaker for treason just as surely as the Russians will anyway.

I find it very hard to believe that China or Russia is going to put a hit out on Assange. They'll go after the leaker, not the publisher. Some of the WL cables have already implicated China (Copenhagen talks, complacency with DPRK, etc).

Besides, if OpenLeaks/Anon becomes the primary publisher, no one will know who's doing the publishing anyway.

[stebo0728]

Welcome to the Freedom of Information Age.

"1's and 0's" can be a b*tch!

[IBCoupe]

Besides, if OpenLeaks/Anon becomes the primary publisher, no one will know who's doing the publishing anyway.

The devil you know...

[HashiriyaS14]

The devil you know...

Precisely.


If leaking and leak distribution go "open source", there isn't really anything that any nation or corporation can do about it. This is both good and bad for all of us in various ways.

It is human nature to be tempted to leak anything that is secret. This human nature is held in check by the threat of consequences. When in our history has a human "bad behavior" that is held in check solely by consequences NOT increased when the likelihood of consequences have decreased?

Anyone assuming that leaking will stay the same or lessen if it is made easier to leak anonymously is by extension claiming that potential leakers throughout the world are going to experience an upswing in personal responsibility for no apparent reason, a dangerous and nonsensical bet at best.

[Jesda]

BUT... BUT... THE TERRORISTS! 9/11! HERP DERP!

[stebo0728]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/12/ ... 4404.shtml

OMG HAHA ....... CIA Launches WikiLeaks Task Force ........... WTF?

Thats truly EPIC

[96Qowner]

Maybe they'll be able to find out who was in charge of keeping some PFC from stealing secrets and releasing them to Wikileaks.

Somebody is in charge of that, I hope. Gosh, I wonder what his name is.

[HashiriyaS14]

Maybe they'll be able to find out who was in charge of keeping some PFC from stealing secrets and releasing them to Wikileaks.

Somebody is in charge of that, I hope. Gosh, I wonder what his name is.

You've got to be f**king kidding me.

I can't imagine you're talking about the kid's actual CO.