Outside the Beltway

Wikileaks Readies “Insurance” Document Dump In Wake Of Shutdown Threats

Doug Mataconis · Sunday, December 5, 2010 · 1 comment

In the face of international pressure and a pending, though unrelated, Interpol arrest warrant, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has readied what some are calling a poison

Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, has circulated across the internet an encrypted “poison pill” cache of uncensored documents suspected to include files on BP and Guantanamo Bay.

One of the files identified this weekend by The Sunday Times — called the “insurance” file — has been downloaded from the WikiLeaks website by tens of thousands of supporters, from America to Australia.

Assange warns that any government that tries to curtail his activities risks triggering a new deluge of state and commercial secrets.

The military papers on Guantanamo Bay, yet to be published, have been supplied by Bradley Manning, Assange’s primary source until his arrest in May. Other documents that Assange is confirmed to possess include an aerial video of a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan that killed civilians, BP files and Bank of America documents.

One of the key files available for download — named insurance.aes256 — appears to be encrypted with a 256-digit key. Experts said last week it was virtually unbreakable.

In some sense this isn’t news because the “insurance” file has been available online since July. Nonetheless, with the pressure on Wikileaks increasing in the wake of the last document dump, it could be a preview of coming attractions.