Magda Hassan Wrote:Anonymous Attacks Tunisian Government over Wikileaks Censorship

Anonymous, the loosely-organized band of hacker activists and vigilantes, has chosen its next victim: The government of Tunisia. (They've taken down its official website.) Why? In part, because it tried to block access to secret-sharing website Wikileaks.
Sometime in early December, according to The Next Web Middle East, the Tunisian government blocked not just Wikileaks but any news source publishing or referencing leaked cables that originated or referenced Tunisia—including Tunileaks, a Tunisia-specific exploration of the massive cache of diplomatic communication. In one of the cables, an American diplomat referred to the country as "a police state"; currently, anti-government protests have wracked the country in the wake of an unemployed man's self-immolation.
The block of Tunileaks wasn't the first time the Tunisian government had attempted to censor the internet. But it seems to have been noteworthy enough to have spurred, or at least raised the profile of, a semi-organized effort to, well, mess with the Tunisian government's web presence. (It doesn't hurt that Wikileaks is the current internet cause célèbre.) A "recruiting" call went up on AnonNews.org, a user-edited clearing house for information and news by and about the disorganized, decentralized "hacktivist" group:

A time for truth has come. A time for people to express themselves freely and to be heard from anywhere in the world. The Tunisian government wants to control the present with falsehoods and misinformation in order to impose the future by keeping the truth hidden from its citizens. We will not remain silent while this happens. Anonymous has heard the claim for freedom of the Tunisian people. Anonymous is willing to help the Tunisian people in this fight against oppression. It will be done. It will be done.
This is a warning to the Tunisian government: attacks at the freedom of speech and information of its citizens will not be tolerated. Any organization involved in censorship will be targeted and will not be released until the Tunisian government hears the claim for freedom to its people. It's on the hands of the Tunisian government to stop this situation. Free the net, and attacks will cease, keep on that attitude and this will just be the beginning.

"#optunisia" so far seems to have taken the same kind of disruptive strategy that Anonymous hackers used in December against PayPal and MasterCard when those companies announced they wouldn't do business with Wikileaks anymore. But while in those cases the "hacking" was limited to DDoS attacks that took down the sites temporarily, there is some evidence that the hackers involved in #optunisia have been a little more sophisticated—specifically, this screenshot taken of the Tunisian Prime Minister's website (courtesy WL Central):

The Prime Minister's site, as well as official government site Tunisia.gov.tn and several others, are, as of this blog post's publication, down.
[WL Central; AnonNews; Wikileaks Forum via Michael Hastings]
Send an email to Max Read, the author of this post, at max@gawker.com.

Peter Lemkin Wrote:One of the most fascinating stories of the last month (and in fact, the last year of Wikileaks activity) has been the sheer incompetence of the media, faced with a story like this.

Peter Lemkin Wrote:Talk about Infowars! LeakySearch Sounds like a good idea, but they need access to the full range of cables Aftenposten and Others have.....not the 30 year wait for Wikileaks themselves to post them. Why am I not surprised by PRWEB.....anything mainstream is toilet stream in the end.

• Dominic Rushe in New York
  
• The Guardian, Saturday 8 January 2011 Birgitta Jonsdottir, the Icelandic MP and former WikiLeaks volunteer, who is now fighting a US justice department attempt to get hold of her private messages on Twitter Photograph: Halldor Kolbeins/AFP/Getty Images An Icelandic member of parliament and former WikiLeaks volunteer says the US justice department has contacted Twitter and asked the company to hand over her private messages.
  Birgitta Jonsdottir, an MP for the Movement in Iceland, said last night on Twitter that the "usa government wants to know about all my tweets and more since november 1st 2009. Do they realize I am a member of parliament in Iceland?" She said she is starting a legal fight to stop the US getting hold of her messages. She wrote: "department of justice are requesting twitter to provide the info I got 10 days to stop it via legal process before twitter hands it over."
  She said the justice department was "just sending a message and of course they are asking for a lot more than just my tweets."
  Jonsdottir told the Guardian she was demanding a meeting with the US ambassador to Iceland. "The justice department has gone completely over the top," she said. She added the US authorities had requested personal information from Twitter as well as her private messages and that she was now assessing her legal position.
  "They are sending a message, it's not just about my information. It's a warning for anyone who had anything to do with WikiLeaks," she said. "It is completely unacceptable for the US justice department to flex its muscles like this. I am lucky, I'm a representative in parliament. But what of other people? It's my duty to do whatever I can to stop this abuse."
  Twitter would not comment on the case. In a statement the company said: "We're not going to comment on specific requests, but, to help users protect their rights, it's our policy to notify users about law enforcement and governmental requests for their information, unless we are prevented by law from doing so."
  Most of Twitter's messages are public but users can also send private messages on the service.
  Marc Rotenberg, president of online watchdog the Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC) in Washington, said it appeared the justice department was looking at building a case against WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange over its recent publication of masses of secret US documents.
  EPIC has already requested that the US authorities hand over information about their investigations into people who have financially contributed to WikiLeaks via Mastercard, Visa or PayPal.
  "The government has the right to get information but that has to be done in a lawful way. Is there a lawful prosecution that could be brought against WikiLeaks? It seems unlikely to me. But it's a huge question here in the US," said Rotenberg.
  In 2009 Jonsdottir invited Assange to a party at the US embassy in Reykjavik where he chatted with the ambassador to Iceland. WikiLeaks had recently published a secret report on the collapse of the country's banks.
  "I said it would be a bit of a prank to take him and see if they knew who he was. I don't think they had any idea," Jonsdottir said last year.
  Jonsdottir was involved in WikiLeaks' release last year of a video which showed a US military helicopter gunning down two Reuters reporters in Iraq. US authorities believe the video was leaked by Private Bradley Manning. Adrian Lamo, the hacker who reported Manning to the authorities, indicated that Manning had first contacted WikiLeaks sometime in late November 2009 a time period covered by the government's request for Jonsdottir's tweet history.
  The MP has recently distanced herself from Assange and WikiLeaks after arguing the founder should take a step back to deal with an investigation in Sweden. The 39-year-old is fighting extradition to Sweden, where two women have accused him of sexual misconduct. He denies the allegations.
  In Iceland she has championed the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative which is aimed at creating legislation to make Iceland a legal haven for journalists and media outlets.
  She is not the first WikiLeaks associate to be targeted by US officials. Last July Jacob Appelbaum, one of Assange's closest colleagues, was interrogated for three hours and had his phones confiscated upon entering the country at Newark airport. Customs officials photocopied receipts and searched his laptop.
  The justice department did not returns calls seeking comment last night.
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/08/us-twitter-hand-icelandic-wikileaks-messages
  
  
  

Magda Hassan Wrote:US tells Twitter to hand over WikiLeaks supporter's messages

Icelandic MP to fight attempts by the US department of justice to access her private information

• Dominic Rushe in New York
  
• The Guardian, Saturday 8 January 2011 Birgitta Jonsdottir, the Icelandic MP and former WikiLeaks volunteer, who is now fighting a US justice department attempt to get hold of her private messages on Twitter Photograph: Halldor Kolbeins/AFP/Getty Images An Icelandic member of parliament and former WikiLeaks volunteer says the US justice department has contacted Twitter and asked the company to hand over her private messages.
  Birgitta Jonsdottir, an MP for the Movement in Iceland, said last night on Twitter that the "usa government wants to know about all my tweets and more since november 1st 2009. Do they realize I am a member of parliament in Iceland?" She said she is starting a legal fight to stop the US getting hold of her messages. She wrote: "department of justice are requesting twitter to provide the info I got 10 days to stop it via legal process before twitter hands it over."
  She said the justice department was "just sending a message and of course they are asking for a lot more than just my tweets."
  Jonsdottir told the Guardian she was demanding a meeting with the US ambassador to Iceland. "The justice department has gone completely over the top," she said. She added the US authorities had requested personal information from Twitter as well as her private messages and that she was now assessing her legal position.
  "They are sending a message, it's not just about my information. It's a warning for anyone who had anything to do with WikiLeaks," she said. "It is completely unacceptable for the US justice department to flex its muscles like this. I am lucky, I'm a representative in parliament. But what of other people? It's my duty to do whatever I can to stop this abuse."
  Twitter would not comment on the case. In a statement the company said: "We're not going to comment on specific requests, but, to help users protect their rights, it's our policy to notify users about law enforcement and governmental requests for their information, unless we are prevented by law from doing so."
  Most of Twitter's messages are public but users can also send private messages on the service.
  Marc Rotenberg, president of online watchdog the Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC) in Washington, said it appeared the justice department was looking at building a case against WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange over its recent publication of masses of secret US documents.
  EPIC has already requested that the US authorities hand over information about their investigations into people who have financially contributed to WikiLeaks via Mastercard, Visa or PayPal.
  "The government has the right to get information but that has to be done in a lawful way. Is there a lawful prosecution that could be brought against WikiLeaks? It seems unlikely to me. But it's a huge question here in the US," said Rotenberg.
  In 2009 Jonsdottir invited Assange to a party at the US embassy in Reykjavik where he chatted with the ambassador to Iceland. WikiLeaks had recently published a secret report on the collapse of the country's banks.
  "I said it would be a bit of a prank to take him and see if they knew who he was. I don't think they had any idea," Jonsdottir said last year.
  Jonsdottir was involved in WikiLeaks' release last year of a video which showed a US military helicopter gunning down two Reuters reporters in Iraq. US authorities believe the video was leaked by Private Bradley Manning. Adrian Lamo, the hacker who reported Manning to the authorities, indicated that Manning had first contacted WikiLeaks sometime in late November 2009 a time period covered by the government's request for Jonsdottir's tweet history.
  The MP has recently distanced herself from Assange and WikiLeaks after arguing the founder should take a step back to deal with an investigation in Sweden. The 39-year-old is fighting extradition to Sweden, where two women have accused him of sexual misconduct. He denies the allegations.
  In Iceland she has championed the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative which is aimed at creating legislation to make Iceland a legal haven for journalists and media outlets.
  She is not the first WikiLeaks associate to be targeted by US officials. Last July Jacob Appelbaum, one of Assange's closest colleagues, was interrogated for three hours and had his phones confiscated upon entering the country at Newark airport. Customs officials photocopied receipts and searched his laptop.
  The justice department did not returns calls seeking comment last night.
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/08/us-twitter-hand-icelandic-wikileaks-messages