Many people in the security and privacy communities have been aware of the activities of WikiLeaks for several years now, but in 2010 the group hit the mainstream like a hurricane. First came document dumps that revealed embarrassing details about the way the U.S. has conducted the war in Iraq. That got Washington’s attention, but it was only an appetizer for the main course: the trove of 250,000 sensitive diplomatic cables released in November and early December. That touched off a wild series of events that included DDoS attacks against PayPal, MasterCard and others by WikiLeaks supporters; calls for the assassination of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange; condemnation of the group by senior U.S. officials; and Assange’s eventual arrest in London on unrelated charges.
WikiLeaks
Many people in the security and privacy communities have been aware of the activities of WikiLeaks for several years now, but in 2010 the group hit the mainstream like a hurricane. First came document dumps that revealed embarrassing details about the way the U.S. has conducted the war in Iraq.
