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Hack attack on site as it reveals US secrets
Source: Agencies |
September 1, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
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THE WikiLeaks website crashed on Tuesday in an apparent cyberattack after its accelerated publication of tens of thousands of once-secret US State Department cables.
"WikiLeaks.org is presently under attack," the group announced on Twitter late on Tuesday. An hour later, the site and the cables posted there were inaccessible.
WikiLeaks updated its Twitter account to say it was "still under a cyber-attack" and directed followers to search for cables on a mirror site or a separate search system, cablegate-search.net.
The apparent cyberattack came after current and former US officials said the release of the cables plus concerns over the protection of sources are creating a fresh source of diplomatic setbacks and embarrassment for President Barack Obama's administration. It is not clear who was behind the attack.
The cables contain the identities of more than 90 sources who had sought protection and whose names the cable authors had asked to protect.
Officials said the disclosure in the past week of more than 125,000 sensitive documents by WikiLeaks, far more than it had earlier published, further endangered informants and jeopardized US foreign policy goals.
The officials would not comment on the authenticity of the leaked documents but said the rate and method of the new releases, including about 50,000 in one day alone, presented new complications.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said: "The US strongly condemns any illegal disclosure of classified information. In addition to damaging our diplomatic efforts, it puts individuals' security at risk, threatens our national security and undermines our effort to work with countries to solve shared problems.
"We continue to carefully monitor what becomes public and to take steps to mitigate the damage to national security and to assist those who may be harmed by these illegal disclosures to the extent that we can."
WikiLeaks fired back at the criticism even as its website came under cyberattack.
"Dear governments, if you do not want your filth exposed, then stop acting like pigs. Simple," the group posted on Twitter.
Some officials noted that earlier releases had been vetted by media organizations who removed the names of contacts that could be endangered. The latest documents have not been vetted in the same way.
Cables classified as "confidential" or "secret" contained the names of at least 94 sources whose identities the cable authors asked superiors to "protect" or "strictly protect."
Initially, WikiLeaks released documents only after considering advice from five news organizations with which it chose to share the material. In recent months, those relationships have soured, with WikiLeaks complaining that previous media collaborators in the US and the UK had turned against the organization.
"WikiLeaks.org is presently under attack," the group announced on Twitter late on Tuesday. An hour later, the site and the cables posted there were inaccessible.
WikiLeaks updated its Twitter account to say it was "still under a cyber-attack" and directed followers to search for cables on a mirror site or a separate search system, cablegate-search.net.
The apparent cyberattack came after current and former US officials said the release of the cables plus concerns over the protection of sources are creating a fresh source of diplomatic setbacks and embarrassment for President Barack Obama's administration. It is not clear who was behind the attack.
The cables contain the identities of more than 90 sources who had sought protection and whose names the cable authors had asked to protect.
Officials said the disclosure in the past week of more than 125,000 sensitive documents by WikiLeaks, far more than it had earlier published, further endangered informants and jeopardized US foreign policy goals.
The officials would not comment on the authenticity of the leaked documents but said the rate and method of the new releases, including about 50,000 in one day alone, presented new complications.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said: "The US strongly condemns any illegal disclosure of classified information. In addition to damaging our diplomatic efforts, it puts individuals' security at risk, threatens our national security and undermines our effort to work with countries to solve shared problems.
"We continue to carefully monitor what becomes public and to take steps to mitigate the damage to national security and to assist those who may be harmed by these illegal disclosures to the extent that we can."
WikiLeaks fired back at the criticism even as its website came under cyberattack.
"Dear governments, if you do not want your filth exposed, then stop acting like pigs. Simple," the group posted on Twitter.
Some officials noted that earlier releases had been vetted by media organizations who removed the names of contacts that could be endangered. The latest documents have not been vetted in the same way.
Cables classified as "confidential" or "secret" contained the names of at least 94 sources whose identities the cable authors asked superiors to "protect" or "strictly protect."
Initially, WikiLeaks released documents only after considering advice from five news organizations with which it chose to share the material. In recent months, those relationships have soured, with WikiLeaks complaining that previous media collaborators in the US and the UK had turned against the organization.
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