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Wikileaks Releases A Massive "Insurance" File That No One Can Open
An anonymous reader writes "Anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks just released a treasure trove of files, that at least for now, you can't read. The group, which has been assisting ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden after he leaked top-secret documents to the media, posted links for about 400 gigabytes of files on their Facebook page Saturday, and asked their fans to download and mirror them elsewhere."
better run!
If their "mission" is openness - and the info is that damning - shouldn't they be publishing it? I mean, isn't that sort of the point of Wikileaks? Or just attention whoring?
Only workers revolution will uncover the true extent of the imperialists' bloody crimes.
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WikiLeaks insurance 20130815
A: 3.6Gb http://wlstorage.net/torrent/wlinsurance-20130815-A.aes256.torrent
B: 49Gb http://wlstorage.net/torrent/wlinsurance-20130815-B.aes256.torrent
C: 349GB http://wlstorage.net/torrent/wlinsurance-20130815-C.aes256.torrent
~ $ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1 292G 53G 225G 19% /
Hm... :|
An "anti-secrecy" organization using secrecy to promote its agenda.
If the NSA suspects that certain of their internal documents occur in the insurance files, can't they use these as cribs to break the encryption?
How does one determine the viability of cribs for data of a certain size? E.g. if one is cracking 400GB of data encrypted with a 4096 bit RSA key, how helpful is a 4GB crib?
.: Semper Absurda
Dipshits like Assange thinks Rand Paul is going to save America. He actually thinks Drudge Report is useful. Basically he's a Republican, like most Libertarians.
And low-IQ high-school dropouts like Edward Snowden and their supports thinks Russia, with their explicit anti-gay human rights policies, is going to afford them human rights.
That's pretty much all you need to know about these kinds of people.
Really, these nerds are so clueless on society's power structure. Not only do they think they have some imaginary right to have their metadata kept secret, which is probably seen by dozens of organizations as it travels across the internet, but they think the NSA's metadata collection has affected them in any possible way. It's still amazing that people expect their completely open, unsecure IP metadata to be private, and that it somehow violates "human rights" if government tracks that.
lol.. "human rights" because government tracks your metadata. You do know that metadata is the LEAST private thing about your communications. It is the exact opposite of private communications. It is everything except your private communications.
Sorry that you nerds are powerless and have limited rights and it gives you a sad..but you dorks are just going to have to accept that you are losers, and that the rest of America completely disregards your views, as they should. Libertarians are way too narcissistic. You actually aren't important at all, and serve no useful role in society.
Real Americans want a bigger, stronger government, not a weaker one. A bigger, stronger government provides more services, since the purpose of government is to be a giant Costco for public services. Government isn't supposed to be an invisible belief system. We actually want government to do things, not preach.
My recommendation to you geeks is to just step back from the computer. Life isn't based around the internet. Believe me, the graphics outside are much better than the graphics on your computer. Your computer is not important.
The password to decrypt the files is "1234"
Wikileaks is now just a government pawn, setting up to record the ip addresses of anyone downloading this honeypot.
Maybe they want some of us to use a distributed computing approach to broach the key?
Napoleon declared to his troops that a field marshal’s baton was tucked into every soldier’s knapsack, a powerful signal to people conditioned to accept personal limits on their careers as dictated by the class system. So, is this the modern equivalent with a thousand fingers resting upon the decode button in an attempt to deflect the wrath of the NSA onto others?
This is fundamentally a political act. The trouble is, there's no scaling back. Unless something happened behind the scenes that is not generally know, this'll be perceived as an escalation.
Gotta wonder why now, that idiot at Time Magazine aside.
The thing is, Western democracies have to get used to the Memory Hole, Cryptome, Wikileakeaks and the rest. You can play whack a mole with them or deal with the fact that people from now on will treat digital information in a way that nation states may not wish they would. This'll have positive and negative consequences but it needs to treated as fact.
---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
I did that once, and I know how it plays out.
someone going to take out Snowden and Assange? i mean, really?
Didn't the last batch of "insurance" files just contain unredacted versions of all those diplomatic cables? Boring. Confirmation of alien life would be news. The fact that the nations of the world don't get along and actually despise each other as much as we think they do is not.
If Wikileaks really did have so-called "nuclear" material, they would have almost certainly disclosed it back when Assange was globe-hopping and seeking asylum from those sexual assault charges, to say nothing of what happened to Manning and Snowden; they've already come under attack both financially and personally, so it's not as if there's any benefit to just sitting on the really juicy stuff. If--and it's a big if--they really have something, then what are they waiting on, for Assange to be killed outright?
They probably need to divide that gargantuan thing, 400GB, down into smaller, more manageable, chunks before encrypting it. Then they might get more people cooperating with them. How many people can download and store 400GB in one chunk?
Also, the bigger the chunk, the more easily corrupted, and the corruption takes out the possibility of decrypting the whole thing?
Mainly because it's labeled "skynet.exe".
Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)
http://www.lawrenceperson.com/
It's as three torrents, 3.6 GB, 49 GB, and 349 GB. So you could download the first two and let others pick up the third one. Also, BitTorrent has error correction... if you somehow get a few flipped bits, you will redownload the pieces.
DRIVEN OUT BY THE no matt8er 4ow Of user base for
This. Most likely the 400GB pack will contain the same boring junk as before.
Is there a client that can be instructed to download randomly selected non-sequential pieces up to a user-determined size limit? Then store those pieces along with the torrent file and wait until there is a call for them to be reassembled to seed?
They probably need to divide that gargantuan thing, 400GB, down into smaller, more manageable, chunks before encrypting it. Then they might get more people cooperating with them. How many people can download and store 400GB in one chunk?
As it turns out, plenty of people. I got 20Mbps down and terabytes of free space. It just takes about 55 hours to get all in and plenty of storage. And I have a pretty slow connection by today's standards. Most of my friends have 100Mbps down, meaning the file will be in in about 5.5 hours. It's really affordable by most in Europe.
Write boring code, not shiny code!
www.lmgtfy.com
you lazy piece of shit
They probably need to divide that gargantuan thing, 400GB, down into smaller, more manageable, chunks before encrypting it. Then they might get more people cooperating with them. How many people can download and store 400GB in one chunk?
Also, the bigger the chunk, the more easily corrupted, and the corruption takes out the possibility of decrypting the whole thing?
If only there was some kind of error-correcting software that divided files into chunks for transfer; a way to download torrents of bits, if you will.
How can I know if there is anything illegal in there if I can't read it? Or would I be guilty of potentially distributing confidential papers or exporting munitions if it's just a bunch of random bits?
Shortly after Snowden escaped the U.S., one of the NSA's agents specifically stated that he got out with detailed architectural designs of their entire operation. This might be the payload he was talking about. That agent stated that the U.S. should handle Snowden with kid gloves and offer to forgive and forget in exchange for destroying that data. However, congress did not listen and instead had a knee jerk reaction by going on a witch hunt for him instead.
to what people are willing to give up for a good cause.
I seriously doubt that any government would be swayed from taking action against Wikileaks due to the existence of an insurance file. Even if it has damning information, and the government knows it has damning information, the government is too big and proud to care. The only way the insurance file could affect decisions is if it revealed misconduct by specific high-ranking politicians, and these politicians know that their personal ass is on the line. It's human nature. In this case, Wikileaks should drop some hints such that these politicians know that Wikileaks knows, but without spilling too many details.
...but one downside (to Snowden/Wikileaks) of them giving interested government parties the key is then they will know exactly what can be used against them, and can then mitigate against the damage. Right now, the government is just being caught in a snare of lies; each subsequent release of information exposes the prior release's damage control efforts.
Snowden has successfully incentivized the Russians to kill him.
By murdering Snowden the FSB gets:
* access to these remaining encrypted documents and any juicy details they may hold
* ability to blame the assassination on the USA. A major propaganda win across the board. Sours relations between USA and EU. Increases US citizens distrust of intelligence agencies, further hobbling their collection capabilities. Angers Russian public against USA.
* sets an example for any Russians planning similar leaks: talk and end up brutally dead.
* neatly ends any simmering diplomatic disputes in Russia's favor.
. Really? Link or it didn't happen...
This tagline was transcoded to result in at least one smirk. If you experience failure to smirk, please consult your Gen
...NSA, your move.
If you want to communicate securely you now have very large one time pads for secure key exchange.
It seems obvious to me... so do not try and patent it.
Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain.
It's a torrent distribution, so the transmission problem is moot.
Bittorrent breaks large files down into small chunks automatically, and builds error detection into each chunk. The only problem is the allocation of disk space; if they divided it into logical component files when setting up the torrent, then people can choose to download, for example, one of the 4GB chunks but not the rest. Other clients would still be able to request that chunk from that client, and the client would only allocate disk space for the selected chunks.
If they forgot to divide it when setting up the torrent, then BT will try to allocate 400GB of disk space even if you're only holding onto 4GB of the file. That's where it becomes problematic, but you could still choose to download only xGB of the data (just 'pause' the torrent download once you've got all you want). Again, other clients can still request the chunks you've got.
It would be interesting if all this data is finally unlocked and accessible and we find out that this is the NSA's collective porn collection, something gathered in addition to all of the world's e-mails and phone calls and text messages.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
I just finished downloading part A: 3.6Gb. It was an aXXo rip of Iron Man 3. Spoiler alert, it sucks.
If this is an attempt by WikiLeaks to blackmail the U.S. government into backing off it would only be effective if the decryption key was quietly given to the government so they could verify that these files are legitimate and not a compilation of their favorite MP3s. However, I suspect this will be counterproductive. The government is going to strike back and strike hard. I wonder what they're going to do. I have some ideas.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
I'd not be surprised if it was a massive cache of steganography-embedded or metadata-embedded child-porn. Most abettors would be unwitting and even those who purged the data would still have forensic residue on their boxes. Hopefully not case, but not implausible.
For the Children
i'm just saying, if i'm a country that is unfond of the USA and had near limitless funding, plenty of ASIC designers, access to the latest IC manufacturing technology and all the warehouse and power needed, how long would it really take to crack open one of these files? i mean, how many would it take, a trillion ASICs, a quadrillion? these numbers are not out of the reach of the chinese government.
but considering it's china, with all their _successful_ hacking, they probably have most of the information already.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
BT is the best protocol to use this whole chunk thing. First, it uses smaller blocks (say 4MB/16MB and rexmits only these blocks if it sees checksum mismatches etc.); Next, the statistical dispersion of these blocks lets you quickly recover data from multiple sources using multiple pipes, assuming people are online till they seed;
They've tried to solve it at the distribution layer.
I do have an FB account, but I choose to NOT using it since 2004
I can dl the 400GB file, but not via FB
Can someone please transfer that file elsewhere, maybe on the "MEGA" site, so folks like me who do not want to have anything to do with FB can dl that 400GB insurance file for safekeep ?
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
The passphrase is "James Clapper is a weenie!"
They're torrents.
Great !
I'll power up my torrent machines !
But where can I find the magnet links to the files ?
This is what I got when I searched the Pirate Bay
http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/5728614/
Not Found (aka 404)
You're looking for something that does not, has not, will not, might not or must not exist ... ... but you're always welcome to search for it.
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
Nice to get 400 GB of encrypts. It makes the keys easier to drop. But to work as "insurance", Mr Snowden either must trust other individuals with the keys. Or machines. Somebody/thing must act when he may not be able.
Under certain circumstances (nologin for a week, too many hits on "Snowden arrested|dead") then the individuals or machines spam out the keys. Potentially in waves if the big block has sub-blocks with different encryption keys.
I think the person you are responding to is more worried about silent corruption of a file that's bit-rotting on a hard drive.
I downloaded it and tried the password 12345.
The file didn't open, but oddly my luggage did.
-
- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
Hi,
the poster "spins" untrue details
1.) Edward Snowden did not work with wikileaks togethers, he worked with a journalist (G. Greenwald)
2.) Assange glued himself in a very slimy way to Ed Snowdens purpose, to stay within the media
We all know the government is highly corrupt and needs to be booted and yet nothing is happening.
The very best scenario to pretty much portray the situation is this:
Imagine you get home and your loved one is having sex with your best friend and you simply ignore it and move on.
If only there was some kind of error-correcting software that divided files into chunks for transfer; a way to download torrents of bits, if you will.
You mean like something RAR? ;-)
I feel so sig.
You mean like something RAR? ;-)
Grammar not strong the morning in...
I feel so sig.
So, the NSA "accidentally" broke the law a few thousand times in the process of conducting widespread and in some cases misdirected surveillance. Assuming pure motives and a total commitment to adhering to the letter and spirit of the law... I have to ask - Why isn't anyone being prosecuted for BREAKING THE LAW A FEW THOUSAND TIMES?!? Snowden apparently broke the law 6 times (iirc that's the number of counts against him) and the Government is going after him hammer and tongs. You could argue that he willfully broke the law and whoever was responsible for each of those thousand felonies didn't do it on purpose... but the last time I checked breaking the law doesn't take intentions into account when assessing guilt or innocence.
Selective enforcement is a poisonous thing to a free country. So is the capacity for universal surveillance of its citizens. Why are more people upset about the fact that there are clearly two different sets of rules for citizens and for government? Why are people terrified about the fact that once universal surveillance is in place, the motivation to use it against them will eventually over ride the intention to use it on our enemies?
Come on, if you really don't think these are problems - do me a favor and think about how you would react if George Bush had done these things instead of Obama....
so if I down loaded this in the uk, I could be sent to prison for not giving the authorities the password that I don't have... http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_disclosure_lawt
Didn't Putin make it a condition of Snowden being allowed to stay that no more releases would be made?
There is probably nothing in those files if they were ever decrypted....I Love Lucy re-runs or some such garbage or maybe just random bits to bedevil the NSA's decoders.
More than likely that the NSA has already considered this information lost. No one is going to negotiate with Wikileaks, and no one is going to send James Bond type assassins to kill everyone. (If the US did that kind of thing, Assange and company would have been killed long ago) Ironically, Snowden's new sugar daddy Russia does do that kind of thing on occasion. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgi_Markov , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Litvinenko) But nevermind that, back to internet underdog porn where we pretend that all Western Democracies with intelligence agencies are run by Dr. Evil and all Assange/Snowden types are selfless heroes trying to destroy the Stazi death star.
It may be boring junk in terms of not telling us things we don't already strongly suspect, but getting real confirmation is a big deal, hard evidence is important.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Most likely the 400GB pack will contain the same boring junk as before.
Yes, right, it's all 'boring junk' citizen. Nothing to see. Go back to watching Honey Boo-boo.
Snowden exposed the glaring issues in domestic security. He was a contractor who not only had access to data he shouldn't have, but he handed vindication to all the super paranoid people around the world, and that made him a media icon.
The real question is... if they aren't using the information against you, why exactly does it matter? Have they silenced your freedom of speech? Or exposed your search results to an employer? THEY HAVEN'T?!
I'm a geek, but I also consider myself a logical, red blooded American. Here are the facts. Uncle same has been monitoring our communications for decades. Look up carnivore and omnivore. So now they are getting Internet meta data. Surprised!?
WHY does it matter if they have your information? The only reason you have for " privacy" is if you are a criminal. Period. Or are you afraid that your coworkers will find out that you are taping up rodents and inserting them anally?
The need for privacy is an age old social stigma that grew out of the church decrying things like sexuality, freedom of speech, freedom of thought. A taboo that does nothing but protect those who are easily offended while stigmatizing people because they like to be different. There is nothing positive and nothing to gain by living like this. If anything it is stunting our social evolution.
All you privacy nuts live in a more and more open world every day. If you want to live your life behind closed doors scared of what other people think of you... Go ahead. I enjoy my life.
... right after Area 51 is admitted to exist. And there were lots of redactions....
Or, who knows, maybe it includes things like Cheney leaked Plame to the papers....
mark "swing low, sweet UFO, comin' for to carry me home!"
Can't help but think that the NSA is tracking everyone who downloads or mirrors wikileak files in order to do a massive round up one night when everyone least expects it and the files (where ever they are found) disappear forever with everyone who ever copied it.
Sure enough, the cow costume was hanging up next to the superhero outfit and sailors uniform. (S,Spud)
Of course no one can read it, if there are insurance info on how they scammed their people as per the cliche hollywood movies dictate we are, they would have encrypted it. My assumption is that this is a move by an individual that might be holding this file hostage and be asking for money or else they will release the decryption info and voila, end of story.
Why put an encrypted file on the leaks without being able to open it, unless it just a show of how far you would go to get what you want. I am going to follow this one for sure though as I would be greatly interested in knowing how bad insurance companies have been scamming us.
Why all this 'insurance' and blackmail, stuff?
Why not just release everything at once.. what exactly are you going to get by keeping it secret? Except being killed to prevent it's release. If it's all released then any killing would just be retaliation which is pointless because of all the press anyway. If he's really some kind of patriot wanting to uncover the whole truth, just release everything, surrender, lawyer up, and have a *huge trial. He's not military like manning, so no 1 judge court martial, a big public jury trial... and go to jail if convicted.. isn't that what someone would do when they selflessly risk their freedom for ours?
Assange, Snowden, seriously, man up and release all the embarrassing government stuff and have a show trial and go to jail... you can still rake in the publicity and money as 'political prisoners'. We don't know what crazy details that you have that the government is doing, so why are you keeping it secret, isn't that what they were doing and you wanted to uncover?
You dumb fuck.
I hereby conclude that you are one or both of the following:
1) A paid sockpuppet.
2) Really Really Stupid.
When your political leanings can result in penalty from the IRS, you have plenty of reason to be worried about government surveillance.
Hell, I just read this article two minutes ago:
http://reason.com/blog/2013/08/01/innocent-couple-gets-visited-by-feds-aft
You want to live in a world where you have to put up with the police tramping through your house because you searched for "Pressure Cooker" on Google? That team said they pulled that kind of crap 100 times a week. TSA searches in your own living room. Wonderful.
How long until somebody gets tazed in their own house over a Google search? (And don't pooh-pooh the slippery slope argument. Idiots have been doing that since this shit first locked into high gear twelve years ago, and gee whiz, they were wrong. That slope is greased!)
Paid. Or Stupid. (If "Paid" then also Stupid by default).
"Geek" doesn't mean smart or wise. Half the damned time it means just the opposite.
I wonder how long it takes before the NSA or CIA raids the guys who make the PROVOST CYPHR encryption software they have used...
That insurance file is for Mr. Snowden. It was likely delivered by Greenwalds partner to Wikileaks this week. The NSA likely took his hardware in an attempt to gain access to private keys so that they can decrypt their communications.
There is enough data in these files to hold like 1000h of average quality 480p video plus the full text of the english wikipedia.
If this file is made of sensitive information, why not get a bit more selective and only keep the good bits. It would have made the sharing and usage easier.