Yesterday, there was a report of WikiLeaks site coming under attack from skilled hackers, a few days before the release of tens of thousands of classified IRAQ war documents. More can be read from http://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2010/10/22/wikileaks-hacked-by-very-skilled-attackers/. At the time of writing this blog, the site is experiencing heavy traffic and unable to respond. Perhaps under sustained attack!
We know for certain that this damages the reputation and military interests of NATO, and may put lives of people at stake. WikiLeaks also claims to sanitise documents to the extent possible. On the other side of the equation, there may be information that people need to know to ensure that atrocities committed are not repeated or kept hidden.
We have a site that is legitimately publishing documents critical to national or business interests which have been provided to it by obviously disgruntled employees or whistleblowers.
We are faced with a situation where a whistleblower is disclosing confidential information to a public forum (via WikiLeaks)as a means to obtain redressal, as the government is the entity against which the charges are leveled.
For a data security practitioner it is against the law? For a civil rights activist it is one step towards a better world?
You decide.
Perhaps your decision will be based on whether the contents of the documents reveal a cover up of atrocities or simply are sensational publication of classified war information.
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