Cyberattack Against WikiLeaks Was Weak

[unopescio]

Im 20 and painfully aware of the fact that statistically a fourth of my life has already passed. f*ck yeah I want to live forever.

[Tyler]

 

Im 20 and painfully aware of the fact that statistically a fourth of my life has already passed. f*ck yeah I want to live forever.

Does this go here? I think you might be divulging into the stash once again bro. Unless Wikileaks was the reason K^2 found out those documents..

[unopescio]

derp, wrong thread

[Jesus'En'Hitler420]

I'm hungry and want a bacon sandwich.

[agent17]

The government isn't pissed about these leaks - all nations pretty much know that this is what goes on and hell, most of the citizens who are informed of their world and pay attention already know most of this stuff anyway.

 

What is getting Assange in hot water is he is now threatening to release e-mails and other info on banks and other corporate pieces of sh*t who are destroying society as we know it. Once this information is out, people will pay f*cking attention and demand something be done about it because the people are the ones who are suffering or will suffer from their actions. The government, who is in bed with these same parties, is just trying to shut him down before this happens and the people come to them demanding something be done or demand accountability from their government for being party to the same actions.

 

In any case, these alleged rape charges are nothing more than an obvious smear campaign.

[OysterBarron]

So im confused is the swedish goverment trying to say it ok to Rape someone and we wont tell....... unless you release secret goverment cables! apparently the supposed sexual attacks happened in august! something doesnt add up!

 

does anyone know the full story!

[Creed Bratton]

So im confused is the swedish goverment trying to say it ok to Rape someone and we wont tell....... unless you release secret goverment cables! apparently the supposed sexual attacks happened in august! something doesnt add up!

 

does anyone know the full story!

Of course it doesn't add up. They're trying to set him up. They can't kill the man because it would case all kinds of chaos so they resort to ruining his life instead. If people had any sense they would burn everything down if they don't drop all the charges.

[Robinski]

 

So im confused is the swedish goverment trying to say it ok to Rape someone and we wont tell....... unless you release secret goverment cables! apparently the supposed sexual attacks happened in august! something doesnt add up!

 

does anyone know the full story!

Many think the rape case is completely fabricated by governments, just to shut Assange up and discredit him and take him out of a position of power. I'm not going to say whether there's a conspiracy or not, but it's pretty obvious that the Swedish government reopened the case because of international pressure rather than something like new evidence coming to their attention.

 

With that said, the latest is that after the European Arrest Warrant was earlier issued, Assange has handed himself in to the British authorities.

Source

 

E: I did hear somewhere (admittedly, a pretty unreliable somewhere) that Assange has said he's always withheld "poison pill" of really sensitive information, in an effort to ensure the safety of his cause and himself. I'm not sure what to make of this, because surely if this information is that big, the principle behind WikiLeaks would compel him to release it anyway.

 

Nevertheless, if we ever get word of this, it could be pretty interesting.

Edited December 7, 2010 by Robinski

[OysterBarron]

Yeah i heard about that! Goverments will be a thing of the past soon. When goverments start trying to punish normal citizens for blowing the whistle on something they had been saying in the first place, you kinda see there attitude towards this democracy BS and see that the only thing they are really interested in is personal gain and not the real welfare of the people!

[dills]

 

E: I did hear somewhere (admittedly, a pretty unreliable somewhere) that Assange has said he's always withheld "poison pill" of really sensitive information, in an effort to ensure the safety of his cause and himself. I'm not sure what to make of this, because surely if this information is that big, the principle behind WikiLeaks would compel him to release it anyway.

They've posted a link to it before on their twitter I believe, here. The 1.39gb file is encrypted and needs a password to access, presumable if something does go wrong for Wikileaks and/or Assange then the password will be distributed.

[Typhus]

Honest question asked from a neutral perspective.

Let us assume that Mr. Assange is murdered. Maybe he gets his throat slit, or someone borrows his intestines. But what would happen?

Most of you agree with what this fellow is doing, and it is clear that Mr. Assange has tapped into a great deal of both anger and disillusionment with the political process. But would his death cause revolutionary changes? Or would his supporters shrug it off and do nothing?

It's just peculiar to me that so many of you hate this world and how it is run, and I cannot help but wonder if all that anger will fizzle out or lead to something more.

[860]

If he dies they will release the password for my delicious insurance.aes256. He will become a martyr and an icon of somesorf. People will rally.

[Robinski]

They've posted a link to it before on their twitter I believe, here. The 1.39gb file is encrypted and needs a password to access, presumable if something does go wrong for Wikileaks and/or Assange then the password will be distributed.

Now that is interesting. I'd be all over that stuff if I wasn't confined to a university connection these days. Just thinking what could be in there is crazy.

 

 

Let us assume that Mr. Assange is murdered. Maybe he gets his throat slit, or someone borrows his intestines. But what would happen?

Most of you agree with what this fellow is doing, and it is clear that Mr. Assange has tapped into a great deal of both anger and disillusionment with the political process. But would his death cause revolutionary changes? Or would his supporters shrug it off and do nothing?

It's just peculiar to me that so many of you hate this world and how it is run, and I cannot help but wonder if all that anger will fizzle out or lead to something more.

 

There'd initially be a massive backlash, from his supporters and the rest of the wikileaks staff (if that's the right word for them). Most likely that file above would be the big hitter. Hundreds of imitator sites/organisations would pop up overnight and everyone would be pointing finger in all kinds of directions.

 

As for Assange himself, he'd be a martyr. Assassinating him would be a really, really stupid thing to do. Getting him out of the way and discrediting him is the most effective thing I can think of. And what do you know? Getting him stuck in a prison for 10 years and being able to strike down any detractors of this with a "Are you defending a rapist?" remark. Crude and not too effective yes, but also very quick and time-consuming for Assange himself.

[TheSiggi]

 

Now that is interesting. I'd be all over that stuff if I wasn't confined to a university connection these days. Just thinking what could be in there is crazy.

 

problably stuff like CIA documentations on which toilet paper brands does Ahmadinedschad favour and stuff like that sh*t

[Robinski]

From what I've read/watched in the media over the past 24 hours, the general impression is that the encrypted file simply contains the rest of the unreleased diplomatic cables. A little underwhelming, but you never know what could be in the rest of these things.

 

I'm surprised there isn't more interest in the whole story here, in the UK media it's been the lead story for the last few days. While the broadcasters seem pretty determined to try and stay impartial the press is being a bit more pro-Assange, especially the Guardian. How's the Assange arrest and the leaks being interpreted over in the US? From what I can see there's a lot of pro-government spin being put on it, with Assange being painted as some sort of anti-american terrorist.

 

 

[agent17]

From what I've read/watched in the media over the past 24 hours, the general impression is that the encrypted file simply contains the rest of the unreleased diplomatic cables. A little underwhelming, but you never know what could be in the rest of these things.

 

I'm surprised there isn't more interest in the whole story here, in the UK media it's been the lead story for the last few days. While the broadcasters seem pretty determined to try and stay impartial the press is being a bit more pro-Assange, especially the Guardian. How's the Assange arrest and the leaks being interpreted over in the US? From what I can see there's a lot of pro-government spin being put on it, with Assange being painted as some sort of anti-american terrorist.

Couldn't have said it better myself, that is precisely what is happening. Over here in the states news outlets which are notoriously unbiased are still spinning the story in the government's favor. Some high-up US officials have suggested the assassination of Assange, such as Sarah Palin, suggesting that he should be treated like an Iraqi insurgent. Even though there is no evidence that any of his leaks compromised the lives of anyone.

 

Pay special attention to when the media says "US military", or "lives of US citizen", or anything relating to the US. Assange detractors often mention the US, because it is primarily US politicians that are trying to destroy Wikileaks.

 

Most Assange detractors fall into this category:

 

- Government Officials

- Company Executives

- Wealthy People

- Military Personnel

- Armed Forces Supporters

 

As a result, since the people with power can easily control the media, hate for Assange is spread to average people. Not unlike for sheep follow a Shepard.

 

 

 

Anyway, does anyone remember Alex Jones, the crazed conspiracy theorist who claims any tragedy that happens is the result of the government? Apparently he hates Wikileaks and Assange with a passion, and claims they are working with the government is some complicated conspiracy.

You figure it out....

[Robinski]

Yeah, after that post I did some digging into what US officials have been saying. Holy sh*t, Palin's a nut job. Not to mention the fact that if they hunted him with the same vigour as Osama, he'd still be "at large" for another few years that's a joke, before anyone gets their panties in a bunch. Not to mention this from the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee:

 

When WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange released his latest document trove—more than 250,000 secret State Department cables—he intentionally harmed the U.S. government. The release of these documents damages our national interests and puts innocent lives at risk. He should be vigorously prosecuted for espionage.

 

The law Mr. Assange continues to violate is the Espionage Act of 1917. That law makes it a felony for an unauthorized person to possess or transmit "information relating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation."

 

The Espionage Act also makes it a felony to fail to return such materials to the U.S. government. Importantly, the courts have held that "information relating to the national defense" applies to both classified and unclassified material. Each violation is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Source

 

Thanks for letting us know about a law that Assange broke in a country he's neither a citizen of, or actually in, or was in at the time of his "crime". It's a shame that other countries are so willing to bend to the will of superpowers when it comes to extradition in cases like this. (Especially considering the leaks highlighted Sweden's willingness to bend to US will on something like copyright law). It's suddenly looking like Assange could be sentenced in the US, according to Feinstein's words, to 2 and a half million years in prison.

 

Then you have someone like political scientist, and former advisor to Canadian Prime Minister, Tom Flanagan (who, I'll point out for transparency, is Canadian) calling for Obama to put out an assassination contract on Assange. Smooth move Mr Flanagan, advocating the assassination of journalists (arguably) in a democracy. Laughing while you say it doesn't make it any less ridiculous.

 

EDIT: Woah, back the f*ck up, look what the Bureau of Public Affairs in the US announced yesterday:

 

The United States is pleased to announce that it will host UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day event in 2011, from May 1 - May 3 in Washington, D.C. UNESCO is the only UN agency with the mandate to promote freedom of expression and its corollary, freedom of the press.

 

The theme for next year’s commemoration will be 21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers. The United States places technology and innovation at the forefront of its diplomatic and development efforts. New media has empowered citizens around the world to report on their circumstances, express opinions on world events, and exchange information in environments sometimes hostile to such exercises of individuals’ right to freedom of expression. At the same time, we are concerned about the determination of some governments to censor and silence individuals, and to restrict the free flow of information. We mark events such as World Press Freedom Day in the context of our enduring commitment to support and expand press freedom and the free flow of information in this digital age.

 

Do they not see the irony here?

Edited December 8, 2010 by Robinski

[860]

Sweden

Yeah, Sweden has pretty much just declaired "yeah we're corrupt, go f*ck yourselves".

[Robinski]

I know it seems like I'm using this thread as a blog to rant about this whole clusterf*ck, but I did just find a little passage on another board that summed up the whole shebang so far quite nicely:

 

In the past week the founder of Wikileaks has found himself facing sketchy Swedish rape charges on the eve of the release of a quarter million diplomatic cables that caused him to turn himself in to Scotland Yard. As this is happening financial institutions from Switzerland to the United States are f*cking with his company's finances, which has met retaliation via the unexpected arrival of Anonymous, the anti-hero faceless hacker group that actually managed to bring down the Swiss bank's site and f*cking Mastercard. As all this is happening, more and more cables are being released everyday, causing the global community to lose their minds and label him a traitor, a spy, a martyr, and a hero. Multiple legal and death threats have been sent his way, but the site's finger is on the trigger of a doomsday device that threatens unforeseen, drastic consequences for international politics. As this is happening and the US government is making every possible move it can to stifle Wikileaks, they announce a World Press Freedom Day in order to celebrate literally everything they are currently decrying

 

Which brought to my attention the fact that Anonymous have been bringing down quite a few sites hours at a time. As far as I know they currently include mastercard sites (as in, multiple sites) and Assange's Swiss bank, and apparently plans are formulating to take down Twitter (after allegedly censoring WikiLeaks related tweets from trending ) and PayPal.

 

This sort of thing is literally the only good thing to come out of 4chan. Taking down Mastercard online transaction sites though, that's big even for them.

Edited December 8, 2010 by Robinski

[OverTheBelow]

This sort of thing is literally the only good thing to come out of 4chan.

What about hacking Palin's yahoo account?

 

And catching a young animal abuser?

 

And destroying Boxxy?

[Robinski]

This sort of thing is literally the only good thing to come out of 4chan.

What about hacking Palin's yahoo account?

 

And catching a young animal abuser?

 

And destroying Boxxy?

The first comes under "this sort of thing".

The second could, at a push, if you really wanted it to, come under "this sort of thing" too.

The third, nobody cared about outside of 4chan.

[Minus the Boom]

 

Honest question asked from a neutral perspective.

Let us assume that Mr. Assange is murdered. Maybe he gets his throat slit, or someone borrows his intestines. But what would happen?

Most of you agree with what this fellow is doing, and it is clear that Mr. Assange has tapped into a great deal of both anger and disillusionment with the political process. But would his death cause revolutionary changes? Or would his supporters shrug it off and do nothing?

It's just peculiar to me that so many of you hate this world and how it is run, and I cannot help but wonder if all that anger will fizzle out or lead to something more.

Nothing will happen, since no matter how much they bitch about the world they live in, 90% of people who would be 'interested' in a revolution of sorts still have much more to lose than to gain.

[Creed Bratton]

If he dies they will release the password for my delicious insurance.aes256. He will become a martyr and an icon of somesorf. People will rally.

That would be awesome. I'd downloading the file right now.

[Robinski]

The Mastercard sites are recovering from the attack and most are operating, on some level at least, again. This, however, is only because Operation Payback (as the Anonymous attack has been named) has moved on to Visa. They took it down within 2 or three minutes of starting the attack.

 

The internet's gone mental. The attacks managed to knock out at least some degree of operation for Mastercard online transactions, just thinking about how much money this cost MC is crazy. Heads are gonna roll over this.

[dills]

The Operation Payback Twitter account got suspended about 3 minutes after it linked to a pastebin of 10,000 stolen MasterCard details. It's getting more and more interesting.

[Robinski]

The Operation Payback Twitter account got suspended about 3 minutes after it linked to a pastebin of 10,000 stolen MasterCard details. It's getting more and more interesting.

Interesting. As always, you can't keep a good anonymous internet machine down, there's a new one with a significant amount of followers already.

 

As for the credit card numbers being stolen: there's a lot of speculation out there that this was posted as a hoax to discredit and criminalise Op Payback. The Guardian believes it to be so (post timestamped 11.15pm GMT). That Twitter account was mainly just posting stuff that was in the IRC channel where all the operation is being "co-ordinated", if you can call it that. It does seem pretty suspicious that MasterCard would just leave all these unencrypted credit card numbers on their corporate site, I must add. Personally I don't think it actually happened but I could be completely wrong, this is till Anonymous we're dealing with after all.

[dills]

This NY Times article notes that earlier in the day on Anonops.net (when it was up) "many also plotted a rumor campaign to further destabilize Mastercard — suggesting that others spread stories that credit card numbers were not safe."

 

So it would not be at all surprising if this was fear mongering on Anonymous' part to try and get people to cancel their Mastercard's.

[[SM]CJZera]

Ooookay, could someone explain this a bit? I've been out of the normal news for a while so...

 

Anon is defending Assange? Ha, never thought I'll live to see them do anything good other than saving animals...

I'm with the guy, whatever happened to freedom of press? What's this, Kim Jong's land North Korea??

[Creed Bratton]

CJZera' date='Dec 9 2010, 02:18'] Ooookay, could someone explain this a bit? I've been out of the normal news for a while so...

 

Anon is defending Assange? Ha, never thought I'll live to see them do anything good other than saving animals...

I'm with the guy, whatever happened to freedom of press? What's this, Kim Jong's land North Korea??

I have a lot of respect for those guys. Sure 4chan is full of morons but they all have one thing in common: they fight for free speech and anonymous internet.

[[SM]CJZera]

True, 4chan may be a melting pot of idiotness and the like, but they sure get sh*t moving when they don't like something... And it just so happens that this is one of those times their cause is good.

 

I am proud to be an internet dweller, because I know the internet itself is going to make sure the information does spread... I'm thinking of downloading the encrypted file and putting it in a CD for backupness...