Wikileaks:

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Could U.S. military take Wikileaks offline?

November 30, 2010 -- As Wikileaks continues to haemorrhage secrets that America would like to keep buried, there has been growing anger amongst Washington hawks asking why the world’s most powerful military cannot employ some of its considerable might to take the whistle-blowing website out. Former vice president candidate Sarah Palin led the charge today calling on the U.S. military to hunt Julian Assange “with the same urgency we pursue al-Qa'ida and Taliban leaders.” Although most U.S. politicians have avoided advocating the assassination of Wikileaks’ founder, many have begun calling for cyber attacks on his website. But taking down well protected cyber entity like Wikileaks is not as simple as bombing a runway or landing marines on a beachhead.

This week Wikileaks has been hit by two denial of service attacks (DDOS), a relatively common cyber assault which temporarily disables a website by flooding it with requests for information. The first assault began on Sunday evening, just hours before the State Department cables were meant to go online. A lone U.S. hacker who goes by the name of “Jester” claimed responsibility for the attack. There is little way of verifying that claim but Jester – who accused Wikileaks of “endangering the lives of our troops and other assets” – has launched similar sized attacks on militant Islamist websites in the past. The second attack, which hit earlier today, is reportedly much larger than the first and may keep Wikileaks offline for a while longer. But either way DDOS is only ever a temporary method to bring a website down.

When the DDOS attacks began Wikileaks gave us all a clue as to how it protects itself. It began shifting its website onto a host of back-up servers, some of which are cloud services run by Amazon out of Ireland and the United States. It is assumed that Wikileaks also already has a host of mirror websites ready to roll in the event of its current online going down. “I’d be very surprised if they didn’t have some sort of disaster recovery plan lined up like any other commercial organisation with a prominent web presence,” says Rik Ferguson, a cyber-security expert at Trend Micro. “It is technologically possible to disrupt the Wikileaks website but all the measures are temporary at best and easily overcome.” By giving media outlets access to its material in advance, Wikileaks also made the task of stopping the State Department leaks virtually impossible. The simple fact remains that even with America’s immense cyber military might, a website like Wikileaks is incredibly hard to tackle.

Much has been written about the shadowy nature of Wikileaks itself, an ethereal organisation staffed predominantly by unnamed volunteers who are connected by little more than the web and a fervent belief that all information should be in the public domain. But the lack of corporate structure is just the first line of a sophisticated defence which makes the website exceedingly well protected. Until recently Wikileaks was predominantly hosted in Sweden by a “bulletproof” service provider called PRQ which, over the past decade, has become the favoured choice for a variety of political dissidents, activists and refugee groups who would be closed down if they hosted websites in their own countries. The company deliberately keeps no logs on its clientele and specialises in protecting website against even the most sophisticated hacking techniques. “If it is legal in Sweden”, PRQ states, “we will host it, and will keep it up regardless of any pressure to take it down.”

In recent weeks Wikileaks has left PRQ to a series of unknown servers but you can bet the move has strengthened the walls surrounding the website rather than weakened it. “We have been working on upgrading our systems with new servers in different countries,” explains Kristinn Hvrafnsson, an Icelandic journalist and Wikileaks volunteer. “It’s an ongoing project. For obvious reasons I wouldn’t like to comment further than that.” Any attack on the servers that host Wikileaks, meanwhile, could be constituted as an attack against the country where they are based. The U.S. government would likely have to seek permission from the host country before it attacks or else risk a major diplomatic fallout.

Then there are the mysterious “insurance files” that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has encouraged supporters to download and store in case something happens to either him or his website. The first file appeared earlier this summer, four days after the website published its famous Afghan war logs. A link to another file was released earlier this week on Twitter alongside the statement: “Now is a good time to download some ‘history insurance’”. The contents of these files are currently encrypted. But as Assange remarked earlier this year in a pointed threat against any attempts to stifle his organisation: “All we have to do is release the password to that material and it’s instantly available.” It’s a shrewd move. Were the U.S. to succeed in permanently taking down the Wikileaks website, they could be faced with a potential Pandora’s Box of previously unpublished information that might make the current leaks look like a picnic. “It could all be a very elaborate double bluff,” says one cyber-warfare specialist who asked to remain anonymous. “But knowing how deeply anti-American Wikileaks is, my hunch is those files would contain something that could really sting the U.S. if they ever took action against Assange.”

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بخلاف دول عربية كثيرة كالعراق والسعودية ومصر
حجب صفحة الجزائر على موقع ويكيليكس

خلافا لدول عربية كثيرة، لا يمكن الدخول إلى صفحة الجزائر في موقع ''ويكيليكس'' المشهور. وأكثر من ذلك، فإن صفحة الجزائر ليست محجوبة فقط في داخل البلاد، وإنما حتى في الخارج، ما يعني أن إجراء الحجب ليس محليا.

حسب معلومات ''الخبر''، فإن كل محاولات الدخول إلى صفحة الجزائر التي أفرد لها موقع ويكيليكس عشرات الروابط ومئات الوثائق السرية، باءت بالفشل.

ومن المثير أن الحجب لم يشمل الموقع بحد ذاته بحيث تظهر الصفحة الرئيسية لويكيليكس بنقرة واحدة على عنوان الموقع في الأنترنت.

وسألت ''الخبر'' بعض المتابعين للضجة الإعلامية والسياسية التي أحدثها تسريب موقع ويكيليكس لمئات الآلاف من المراسلات السرية للإدارة الأمريكية، عن السبب في حجب صفحة الجزائر عكس الدول العربية الأخرى التي يسمح بالدخول إليها، فأبدوا استغرابهم للأمر ايضا. وعما إذا كان الأمر يتعلق بـ''حقوق نشر'' للموقع المذكور، أوضحت مصادرنا أن صفحات دول مثل العراق ومصر والسعودية وغيرها من الدول ليست محجوبة بمجرد الحصول على الروابط الدقيقة للصفحات هذه الدول على ويكيليكس، بخلاف الجزائر.

وكان الصحفي جوليان أسانج مالك موقع ويكيليكس قد صرح لـ''الخبر'' قبل يومين أن سينشر قريبا مراسلات السفارة الأمريكية بالجزائر. ومعروف أن أسانج منح الحصرية لوسائل إعلام دولية معدودة لنشر مضامين مئات الآلاف من الوثائق السرية التي تخص الإدارة الأمريكية مع ممثلياتها الدبلوماسية عبر العالم.

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La France négociait avec les Etats-Unis des "versements financiers" pour accueillir des détenus Algériens de Guantanamo

وثائق سربها موقع ''ويكيليكس'' تفضح عدالة باريس
قضاة فرنسيون تودّدوا لأمريكا على حساب جزائريين

فضحت وثائق أمريكية سرية، كشف عنها الموقع الإلكتروني ''ويكيليكس''، تودد قضاة فرنسيين لدبلوماسيين أمريكيين، من خلال تحقيقات ''غير مكتملة'' أدين فيها ''جزائريون دون أدلة'' في قضايا تتصل بالإرهاب، وتدين الوثائق الجديدة بشكل صريح القاضي الشهير جون لويس بروغيير الذي أمسك بين يديه عشرات الملفات (على علاقة بالإرهاب)، يزعم فيها تورط جزائريين.

كشفت صحيفة ''لوموند'' الفرنسية، إحدى الصحف الخمسة عالميا التي حصلت على حق نشر وثائق سرية عن موقع ''ويكيليكس''، معلومات عن تفاصيل بخصوص جزء من التعاون الفرنسي ـ الأمريكي في مجال مكافحة الإرهاب، وضمن الملف وجدت قضايا لجزائريين تدّعي الوثائق أن قضاة فرنسيين استغلوها للتودد للأمريكيين. ويقر دبلوماسيون أمريكيون، في برقية سرية، باحتمال كبير لبراءة الجزائري جمال بغال.

وتشير برقية مؤرخة في سنة 2005 أن الأمريكيين يشككون في مصداقية التحقيق الفرنسي في قضية جمال بغال، وتقول البرقية إن ''جون فرنسوا ريكار (قاض فرنسي حقق في قضية بغال) يقول بأن الأدلة (ضد بغال وضد معاونيه) غير كافية في الحقيقة لإدانته، ولكن يعتبر بأن مصالحه تحققت بفضل سمعتها''. ويقصد الأمريكيون أن القاضي الفرنسي يرى أنه كسب شهرة ومصلحة من إدانة بغال في خضم الحملة الدولية ''ضد الإرهاب''.

وقد اعتقل بغال في 2001 في دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة، وهو في طريقه نحو فرنسا بعد فترة طويلة، وفقا للفرنسيين، من المكوث في باكستان وأفغانستان، واتهم بعلاقة غير واضحة بمفتي الجماعات الإرهابية الأردني عمر محمود عثمان أبو قتادة، والفرنسي المغربي الأصل زكريا الموسوي. لكن مقرّبين من جمال بغال تحدثوا، في وقت سابق، عن ''مؤامرة'' استهدفته من الفرنسيين.

كما أشار الدبلوماسيون الأمريكيون بعد محادثات في ماي 2005 مع مستشار بوزارة الداخلية الفرنسية، إلى أن في فرنسا ''معيار الدليل في التواطؤ الإرهابي ضعيف، بالنسبة لباقي القضايا الجنائية''. كما أكدت ذات الوثائق تردد قضاة فرنسيين مختصين في مكافحة الإرهاب على السفارة الأمريكية بباريس، وتسببوا في كشف تحقيقات فرنسية سرية. وذكرت الوثائق الأمريكية كلا من القاضي جون لويس بروغيير، وكذا جون فرنسوا ريكار. وتتهم برقية مؤرخة في 17 مارس 2005 قضاة فرنسيين مكلفين بالتحقيقات في قضايا على صلة بالإرهاب، بأنهم بعيدون عن النزاهة، وعقلت ''هم يعملون في عالم آخر غير ذلك المتعلق بباقي العدالة''.

وعرض الموقع الإلكتروني وثيقة أخرى عن دبلوماسي أمريكي في باريس، يتحدث فيها عن رأي الفرنسيين بخصوص الترحيل الذي تم للمعتقل السابق في غوانتنامو، الجزائري لخضر بومدين، ثم جزائري آخر هو صابر لحمر إلى فرنسا، بعد موافقة الأخيرة على مساعدة أوباما على إغلاق المعتقل. وكتب الدبلوماسي الأمريكي في جانفي 2009 أن ''باريس مستعدة لعمل شيء أكبر من مجرد استقبال معتقل سابق، لكنهم (الفرنسيون) يتحدثون عن صعوبات وجب لإزالتها أن تتعاون أجهزة الاستخبارات الأمريكية في تقديم المزيد من المعلومات عن المعتقلين''، مضيفا أن باريس تريد ''أيضا تقييم المرشحين الآخرين، لأنها تخشى رد فعل الرأي العام حول أسباب قبول فرنسا باستقبال معتقلين خطيرين''.

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U.S. cuts access to files as Interpol seeks Assange

WASHINGTON, December 1, 2010 -- The government scrambled Tuesday to prevent future spills of U.S. secrets like the embarrassing WikiLeaks' disclosures, while officials pondered possible criminal prosecutions and Interpol in Europe sent out a "red notice" for nations to be on the lookout for the website's founder. Interpol placed Julian Assange on its most-wanted list after Sweden issued an arrest warrant against him as part of a drawn-out rape probe — involving allegations Assange has denied. The Interpol alert is likely to make international travel more difficult for Assange, whose whereabouts are publicly unknown.

In Washington, the State Department severed its computer files from the government's classified network, officials said, as U.S. and world leaders tried to clean up from the leak that sent America's sensitive documents onto computer screens around the globe. By temporarily pulling the plug, the U.S. significantly reduced the number of government employees who can read important diplomatic messages. It was an extraordinary hunkering down, prompted by the disclosure of hundreds of thousands of those messages this week by WikiLeaks, the self-styled whistleblower organization. The documents revealed that the U.S. is still confounded about North Korea's nuclear military ambitions, that Iran is believed to have received advanced missiles capable of targeting Western Europe and — perhaps most damaging to the U.S. — that the State Department asked its diplomats to collect DNA samples and other personal information about foreign leaders.

While Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, taunted the U.S. from afar on Tuesday, lawyers from across the government were investigating whether it could prosecute him for espionage, a senior defense official said. The official, not authorized to comment publicly, spoke only on condition of anonymity. There have been suggestions that Assange or others involved in the leaks could be prosecuted under the Espionage Act, but the question could be complicated. Who and what is he and his website? He has portrayed himself as a crusading journalist, and the Justice Department has steered clear of prosecuting journalists for publishing leaked secrets.

Meanwhile, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley sought to reassure the world that U.S. diplomats were not spies, even as he sidestepped questions about why they were asked to provide DNA samples, iris scans, credit card numbers, fingerprints and other deeply personal information about leaders at the United Nations and in foreign capitals. Diplomats in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion, for instance, were asked in a secret March 2008 cable to provide "biometric data, to include fingerprints, facial images, iris scans, and DNA" for numerous prominent politicians. They were also asked to send "identities information" on terrorist suspects, including "fingerprints, arrest photos, DNA and iris scans."

In Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo the requests included information about political, military and intelligence leaders. "Data should include e-mail addresses, telephone and fax numbers, fingerprints, facial images, DNA, and iris scans," the cable said. Every year, the intelligence community asks the State Department for help collecting routine information such as biographical data and other "open source" data. DNA, fingerprint and other information was included in the request because, in some countries, foreigners must provide that information to the U.S. before entering an embassy or military base, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

The possibility that American diplomats pressed for more than "open source" information has drawn criticism at the U.N. and in other diplomatic circles over whether U.S. information-gathering blurred the line between diplomacy and espionage. "What worries me is the mixing of diplomatic tasks with downright espionage. You cross a border ... if diplomats are encouraged to gather personal information about some people," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. Crowley said a few diplomatic cables don't change the role of U.S. diplomats. "Our diplomats are diplomats. Our diplomats are not intelligence assets," he repeatedly told reporters. "They can collect information. If they collect information that is useful, we share it across the government."

World leaders, meanwhile, were fielding questions about candid U.S. assessments of their countries. In Kenya, the government was outraged by a leaked cable, published by the German magazine Der Spiegel, in which Kenya is described as a "swamp of flourishing corruption." Kenya's government spokesman called the cable "totally malicious" and said the State Department called to apologize. In Brazil, officials declined to answer questions about U.S. cables that characterized the South American country as privately cooperative in the war against terrorism, even as it publicly denies terrorist threats domestically. WikiLeaks has not said how it obtained the documents, but the government's prime suspect is an Army Pfc., Bradley Manning, who is being held in a maximum-security military brig on charges of leaking other classified documents to WikiLeaks. Authorities believe Manning defeated Pentagon security systems simply by bringing a homemade music CD to work, erasing the music, and downloading troves of government secrets onto it.

While world leaders nearly universally condemned the leak, the U.S. and Assange traded barbs from afar. In an online interview with Time magazine from an undisclosed location, Assange called on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to resign because of the cables asking diplomats to gather intelligence. "She should resign, if it can be shown that she was responsible for ordering U.S. diplomatic figures to engage in espionage in the United Nations, in violation of the international covenants to which the U.S. has signed up," he said. In France, Lyon-based Interpol placed the 39-year-old Assange on its most-wanted list, sent around the world. His lawyer, Mark Stephens, a prominent media attorney in Britain, said an appeal by Assange remains pending in Sweden, and the lawyer is waiting for prosecutors there to "contact us and with details of the allegations and evidence."

Crowley, at the State Department, showed disdain for Assange. "I believe he has been described as an anarchist," he said. "His actions seem to substantiate that." Defense Secretary Robert Gates played down the fallout from the leaks, calling them embarrassing and awkward but saying they would not significantly complicate U.S. foreign policy. "The fact is governments deal with the United States because it's in their interest, not because they like us, not because they trust us and not because they think we can keep secrets," Gates said Monday. Crowley would not say how long the State Department would keep its files off the classified network. "We have made some adjustments, and that has narrowed, for the time being, those who have access to State Department cables across the government," he said.

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Wikileaks publie le premier mémo "confidentiel" de l'ambassade U.S. à Alger

Mercredi 1 Décembre 2010 -- Wikileaks publie le premier câble diplomatique classé confidentiel sur l’Algérie. Daté du 16-01-2007, un mémo de l’ambassade U.S. à Alger revient sur l’Etat de santé du président Bouteflika et le "processus de sa succession". Dans cette dépêche, l’ambassade U.S. à Alger reprend des analyses et des témoignages, ou confidences, d’une "ancienne sénatrice" connue sur la place d'Alger comme étant proche du cercle présidentiel. Dans ce mémo, les américains essaient de collecter plusieurs lectures sur le devenir de la présidence en Algérie dans l'état actuel de la maladie d'Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Reprenant certaines lectures qui laissent entendre que Bouteflika ne pourra pas continuer jusqu'au bout de son mandat, le mémo de l'ambassade U.S. à Alger remarque également que Abdelkader Bensalah, le président du Sénat, est jugé "capable de gérer le processus de succession à la présidence". Néanmoins, ce mémo "confidentiel" n'omet pas de souligner que Bensalah est largement contesté au Sénat où beaucoup de sénateurs auraient aimé, visiblement, selon les analyses des intervenants cités dans cette dépêche, qu'il ne soit pas reconduit à son poste. Mais c'est Bouteflika en personne qui l'aurait imposé à ses opposants.