 |
WikiLeaks
founder Julian Assange arrives at the Supreme Court in
Westminster, on the
second day of his extradition appeal, in London,
February 2, 2012. (Credit:
Reuters/Andrew Winning)
|
(Reuters) -
The anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks began publishing on Monday more than five
million emails from a U.S.-based global security analysis company that has been
likened to a shadow CIA.
The emails,
snatched by hackers, could unmask sensitive sources and throw light on the
murky world of intelligence-gathering by the company known as Stratfor, which
counts Fortune 500 companies among its subscribers.
Stratfor in
a statement shortly after midnight EST (0500 GMT) said the release of its
stolen emails was an attempt to silence and intimidate it.
It said it
would not be cowed under the leadership of George Friedman, Stratfor's founder
and chief executive officer. It said Friedman had not resigned as CEO, contrary
to a bogus email circulating on the Internet.
Some of the
emails being published "may be forged or altered to include inaccuracies;
some may be authentic," the company statement said.
"We
will not validate either. Nor will we explain the thinking that went into them.
Having had our property stolen, we will not be victimized twice by submitting
to questioning about them," the statement said.
WikiLeaks
did not say how it had acquired access to the vast haul of internal and
external correspondence of the Austin, Texas company, formally known as
Strategic Forecasting Inc.
Hackers
linked to the loosely organized Anonymous hackers group said at the beginning
of the year they had stolen the email correspondence of some 100 of the firm's
employees. The group said it planned to publish the data so the public would
know the "truth" about Stratfor operations.
Stratfor
describes itself as a subscription-based publisher of geopolitical analysis
with an intelligence-based approach to gathering information.
WikiLeaks
and Anonymous maintain the emails will expose dark secrets about the company.
Stratfor said in its statement it had worked hard to build "good
sources" in many countries, "as any publisher of global geopolitical
analysis would do."
In
December, hackers broke into Stratfor's data systems and stole a large number
of company emails.
WikiLeaks
founder Julian Assange told Reuters: "Here we have a private intelligence
firm, relying on informants from the U.S. government, foreign intelligence
agencies with questionable reputations and journalists."
"What
is of grave concern is that the targets of this scrutiny are, among others,
activist organizations fighting for a just cause."
Friedman,
the chief executive, said on January 11 the thieves would be hard pressed to
find anything significant in the stolen emails.
"God
knows what a hundred employees writing endless emails might say that is
embarrassing, stupid or subject to misinterpretation. ... As they search our
emails for signs of a vast conspiracy, they will be disappointed."
MEDIA
PARTNERS
People
linked to Anonymous took credit for the data theft. "Congrats on the
amazing partnership between #Anonymous and #WikiLeaks to make all 5 million
mails public," AnonSec Tweeted. AnonSec is one of several Twitter accounts
used to promote and organize activities associated with Anonymous.
It was not
immediately clear what impact the release of the emails might have on Stratfor,
its employees, clients and information sources.
Previous
releases from WikiLeaks, such as secret video battle footage and thousands of
U.S. diplomatic cables about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, in 2010 have
angered the U.S. government. WikiLeaks' disclosures also have raised questions
about the safety of confidential sources quoted in previously secret documents.
WikiLeaks
said it was working with two dozen media organizations worldwide that have
access to a database of the Stratfor emails. These include the U.S. newspaper
publisher McClatchy Co..
"We
have begun reviewing the emails and will publish as warranted,"
McClatchy's Washington bureau chief, James Asher, told Reuters.
WikiLeaks
said its other media partners include L'Espresso and La Repubblica newspapers
in Italy, the ARD state broadcaster in Germany and Russia Reporter.
The group
gave a sneak preview of the emails to The Yes Men, an activist group that
targets what it views as corporate greed.
The
Stratfor emails discuss an elaborate hoax the group staged to criticize Dow
Chemical Co's handling of the Bhopal chemical disaster in India, according to
Andy Bichlbaum, one of The Yes Men.
"What
is significant is the picture it helps to paint of the way corporations
operate," Bichlbaum told Reuters. "They operate with complete
disregard for rule of law and human decency."
After
Stratfor's computers were hacked at least twice last December, the credit card details
of more than 30,000 subscribers to Stratfor publications were posted on the
Internet, including those of former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger and
former U.S. vice president Dan Quayle.
The FBI
began investigating the matter in December.
Australian-born
Assange, 40, is currently under house arrest in Britain and fighting
extradition to Sweden for questioning over alleged sex crimes.
(Reporting
by Stephen Grey. Additional reporting by Jim Finkle and Jim Wolf; editing by
Philippa Fletcher and Todd Eastham)
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