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AlphaMack on the #Grauniad

David Leigh and James Ball down a deep hole.


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Now the Guardian are deploying into full covered wagon mode.

Early this year the Guardian published a book on WikiLeaks. In the course of it the password Assange had provided, assumed to be long obsolete, was published. The book contained no information that would enable anyone to find and download the encrypted file.

Notice how Leigh's name is nowhere to be seen associated with the book, as if they're trying to pin this on WL - even though his fucking name is right there in the authorship. Fudgepackers.

WikiLeaks has published its full archive of 251,000 secret US diplomatic cables, without redactions, potentially exposing thousands of individuals named in the documents to detention, harm or putting their lives in danger.

No fucktards, adversaries have already gotten their hands on the torrent and put two and two together with the encryption key provided by your own resident window licker.

'We deplore the decision of WikiLeaks to publish the unredacted state department cables, which may put sources at risk', the organisations said in a joint statement.

The adversaries already have it, so what difference does it make if JA puts it out there anyway?

'Our previous dealings with WikiLeaks were on the clear basis that we would only publish cables which had been subjected to a thorough joint editing and clearance process. We will continue to defend our previous collaborative publishing endeavour. We cannot defend the needless publication of the complete data - indeed, we are united in condemning it.

'The decision to publish by Julian Assange was his, and his alone.'

Maybe you should have thought twice about publishing the encryption key, morons.

WikiLeaks claimed its disclosure was prompted after conflicts between Assange and former WikiLeaks associates led to one highlighting an error made months before. When passing the documents to the Guardian, Assange created a temporary web server and placed an encrypted file containing the documents on it. The Guardian was led to believe this was a temporary file and the server would be taken offline after a period of hours.
However, former WikiLeaks staff member Daniel Domscheit-Berg, who parted acrimoniously with WikiLeaks, said instead of following standard security precautions and creating a temporary folder, Assange instead re-used WikiLeaks's 'master password'. This password was then unwittingly placed in the Guardian's book on the embassy cables, which was published in February 2011.

You fucktards need a lesson in cryptography. Encrypted files are static. That means you cannot have temporary or 'time-limited' passwords. A few minutes with Google could have told you that. Once again, lamestream journalists do not bother to do their own research anymore.

Separately, a WikiLeaks activist had placed the encrypted files on BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file sharing network, in the hours before Julian Assange was imprisoned pending extradition proceedings in December 2010, as a form of insurance for the site. Fewer than five people knew of the existence of the site.

It was in plain sight the entire time. Security through obscurity.

Domscheit-Berg, often referred to as Assange's former deputy at WikiLeaks, condemned the password reuse. 'The file was never supposed to be shared with anyone at all', he said. 'To get a copy you would usually make a new copy with a new password. He [Assange] was too lazy to create something new.'

Right, because you aren't out to make a name for yourself.

No wonder why the Lamestream Media™ lost all credibility with those in the know.

The bottom line: had the encryption key not been published this would have been a nothingburger. The Guardian want to wash their hands of this mess when they are at the bottom of it.

David Leigh is either full of horse shit, a window licker, careless, or all of the aforementioned. My vote is for all of the above.

Postscript: Mens Rea

It's since been demonstrated by 'Bella Magnani' that David Leigh was fully aware of the import of publishing the password.

'The Guardian could have checked their password on the files as in an interview with the Guardian back in December of last year Assange said:

'The Cable Gate archive has been spread, along with significant material from the US and other countries, to over 100,000 people in encrypted form. If something happens to us, the key parts will be released automatically.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2010/dec/03/julian-assange-wikileaks

'So much for David Leigh's claim the Guardian wasn't to know the 'files' were still online when he published his book. Perhaps he should have checked his own newspaper first?'

What initially looked like congenital stupidity now looks like outright sabotage - putting people's safety in jeopardy.

Posted originally at the Rixstep forum.

See Also
OpenLeaks @ CCC 2011 (MP4)
Nothing is Permanent: Open Letter
Industry Watch: Schmitt Leaves WikiLeaks?
Industry Watch: The WikiLeaks Palace Revolt
Industry Watch: OpenLeaks: Schmitt on Toast
Industry Watch: OpenLeaks Off to a Flying Fail
Global Voices: Renata Avila Contributor Profile
Industry Watch: OpenLeaks: Schmitt on Toast II
Topsy: The Life and Times of the Leberkäse Kid
Industry Watch: Schmitt Suspended from WikiLeaks
Developers Workshop: The Jabberwocky of DeeDeeBee
Zeit Online: Chaos Computer Club misstraut OpenLeaks
Hanno's Blog: OpenLeaks doing strange things with SSL
The Technological: Daniel Domscheit-Berg: The Reviews
The Technological: The Life and Times of the Leberkäse Kid
Red Hat Diaries: Unrequited Love, Uncomfortable Coincidences
Spiegel Online: WikiLeaks-Aussteiger haben Datenschatz entführt
TwitLonger: Statement by Julian Assange on the Domscheit-Bergs
Spiegel Online: Chaos Computer Club wirft OpenLeaks-Gründer raus
Industry Watch: Statement by Julian Assange on the Domscheit-Bergs
TwitLonger: WikiLeaks Statement on Daniel Domscheit-Berg and OpenLeaks
Spiegel Online: Chaos Computer Club: Hacker distanzieren sich von OpenLeaks
Spiegel Online: 'I Doubt Domscheit-Berg's Integrity': Top Hacker Slams OL Founder

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