Andy Greenberg is a writer for Forbes, who frequently reports on technology, privacy and

Andy Greenberg. Source: Tantor Audio Audiobooks

information security. Greenberg just recently wrote the book “This Machine Kills Secrets”, which explains the history and future of information leaks. Technology has grown so rapidly in the past few decades, making it easier for hackers to release the leaked information. But in response, governments and corporations have increased network security, making it harder for hackers to obtain the information in the first place.  In his book, Greenberg aims to explain the ideas behind information leaks and the debates about privacy and civil liberties hacking and the subsequent information the leaks have sparked. In a section of the book, Greenberg discusses the shortcomings of Julian Assange’s Wikileaks and how it has inspired a new project called, OpenLeaks.

The excerpt starts with Greenberg arriving in East Germany at the Chaos Communication

Hackers at the Chaos Communication Camp. Source: How Things Work Website.

Camp (CCC), where hackers from all over the world have gathered for a conference and the launch of Wikileaks spin-off, OpenLeaks. Daniel Domscheit-Berg, who left Wikileaks in September 2010 and was Assange’s former right hand man, tried to launch his own version of information leaks in January 2011. Greenberg explains OpenLeaks as,

“OpenLeaks isn’t designed to actually make anything public. Instead, it aims to securely pass on leaked content to partnered media organizations and nonprofits, avoiding the dicey role of publisher that got WikiLeaks into so much trouble. It will focus, Domscheit- Berg says, on the most technically tricky and crucial link in the leaking chain: untraceable anonymous uploads.”

The first launch of OpenLeaks is to ensure the security of the website cannot be breached by intelligence agencies, which will be tested by the many hackers at the camp. However, the launch is ultimately a failure because the site cannot get online. This makes the hackers question Domscheit-Berg and the organization’s legitimacy. I found this excerpt extremely interesting. Greenberg does a good job of explaining the complicated technology behind a site such as OpenLeaks or Wikileaks, as giving an insight into the people behind that technology, and how and why it was developed. This reading gave me a better idea of what Wikileaks was all about. However, it seems to me that the competition between Assange and Domscheit-Berg is the driving force behind the creation of these new information leaking websites, rather than their initial goal of providing the world with information and fighting for their beliefs.

A video explaining the basic idea of OpenLeaks:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlae6aqNSIE