WikiLeaks is blaming the U.K. newspaper The Guardian for publishing a password that gave readers access to an encrypted file where 251,000 secret unredacted cables were stored.
"A Guardian journalist has, in a previously undetected act of gross negligence or malice, and in violation of a signed security agreement with the Guardian's editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger, disclosed top secret decryption passwords to the entire, unredacted, WikiLeaks Cablegate archive,” WikiLeaks wrote in a statement on their website.
“We have already spoken to the state department and commenced pre-litigation action. We will issue a formal statement in due course.”
The Guardian, in a statement today, unequivocally denied the allegations. “It’s nonsense to suggest the Guardian’s WikiLeaks book has compromised security in any way,” the newspaper wrote in a statement.
According to the newspaper, the editor believed the password would be deleted once the newspaper gained access to the files. Moreoever, they claim, while they published the password, they did not announce the location of the file.
The file in question had actually been on the internet since early this year, according to
Der Spiegel, the newspaper that was WikiLeaks’ German partner. After several hacking attempts on the Wikileaks site, the database had been republished on the internet as a BitTorrent, where music and movies are commonly downloaded, with no information identifying it for what it was. Once a file is published and downloaded in this format, it can be virtual impossible to control
"No concerns were expressed when the book was published and if anyone at WikiLeaks had thought this compromised security they have had seven months to remove the files. That they didn't do so clearly shows the problem was not caused by the Guardian's book."
WikiLeaks began publishing backlogs of classified U.S. diplomatic cables in November. The organization’s website was launched in 2006 but became widely known in April 2010 after publishing “Collateral Murder,” video footage of an American airstike in Iraq which claimed civilian lives.
German media started reporting last week that the full set of cables was accessible online, prompting WikiLeak’s to publish more than 100,000 new cables, prompting criticism because in their haste, they did not redact the names of confidential government informants, putting lives at risk.
The full archive of documents is accessible via CableSearch, which catalogues the cables, making them easier to search.
