6 ms·

It was reported that Assange had a “panic button”. The report said that he had directly threatened the government of Ecuador with with retaliation if anything h

by jm4 8y ago

It was reported that Assange had a “panic button”. The report said that he had directly threatened the government of Ecuador with with retaliation if anything happened to him. I don’t have a link handy, but it shouldn’t be hard to find. There were also those strange tweets back in 2016 - codes or something, I don’t remember clearly - and speculation about some sort of dead man switch. Who knows if it’s true, but this seems to be what they’re worried about.

sschueller 8y ago
I doubt Assange would rely on anyone other than himself. So if there is a "panic button" it would more than likely be a dead mans switch.
- 13415 8y ago
  Assange has relied on many people in the past, so there is not much evidence for your claim other than personal sentiment. What seems more credible is that only he has the keys to some data kept by other persons and he could release these keys via others like e.g. his lawyers. Arresting others who might help him with releasing the data once they have the key makes "sense" from that perspective, although it could be illegal (but IANAL in Ecuador).
- SahAssar 8y ago
  A panic button is pretty much the opposite of a dead mans switch.
- squarefoot 8y ago
  Which could explain why they waited just over one year after cutting his internet access to arrest him: if after one year still nothing happened, it's pretty much safe assuming he doesn't have a working dead mans switch (anymore). If true, this could also mean they were in agreements with the Ecuador govt. to arrest him a long time ago.
  - ddalex 8y ago
    A dead man's switch is not necessarily based on a timeout when your internet connection is not guaranteed. If the leak is nuclear level - e.g irrefutable proof that the ruling class ARE reptilians - you want to keep that unreleased for as long as you can. I can imagine a bot somewhere scanning top 10 international newspapers daily and looking for the words 'Assange' and 'dead' before the countdown begins.
blhack 8y ago
People have claimed this dead man switch thing, but it just seems to counter to what Wikileaks has been doing for the last 10+ years. If they had some crazy leak to make, it doesn’t seem like something they would just sit on to use as personal leverage for assange.
- wybiral 8y ago
  > If they had some crazy leak to make, it doesn’t seem like something they would just sit on to use as personal leverage for assange. Really? They seem to have a narrow focus of interest with their leaks. I wouldn't put something like that beyond them at all.
  - codewiz 8y ago
    Could you elaborate? Have they been leaking selectively?
    - wybiral 8y ago
      They seem to only care about stories that are critical of Western intelligence while ignoring the (or withholding?) leaks that don't align with that agenda.
      - wesammikhail 8y ago
        do we know what they have access to and what they are withholding? if we knew what they are withholding then we know what it is so... Sounds to me like we´re trying to read minds and apply a narrative that we cannot possibly verify. Not saying it isn´t the case but as far as I know, and I might be very wrong here, we have no evidence of them doing that. right?
        wybiral 8y ago
        There were private messages of Assange saying he wanted the GOP to win because they wouldn't be able to get anything done, which is a hint about how he feels for US government. Maybe it's just a coincidence that they only leaked Russian-hacked emails from the GOP opponent who was critical of WikiLeaks while ignoring ongoing stories about Russia itself and remaining silent on the many GOP scandals. They were also really critical of the Panama Papers leak which exposed several cases of corruption, but again it was probably just a coincidence those were more of a condemnation of Russian oligarchs than Western intelligence.
notyourday 8y ago
> It was reported that Assange had a “panic button”. The report said that he had directly threatened the government of Ecuador with with retaliation if anything happened to him. I don’t have a link handy, but it shouldn’t be hard to find. If Assange has a panic button rather than a dead man switch, he is much dumber than he is portrayed at which point most of the claims that are dismissed as ridiculous (i.e. a smart man would not do X) become not only plausible but likely.
hackermailman 8y ago
I believe the implicit threat is releasing unredacted intel dumps, so very large torrent files with thousands of classified military intelligence documents they normally would not release, floating around encrypted with a few people close to Assange possessing the password(s) to leak them in case of being shut down though some Guardian journalist already leaked the password to one of the dumps years ago reporting on what Assange wrote on a napkin when they met which allowed Guardian readers to decrypt the whole archive. I think Assange is kind of crazy for playing brinkmanship with the world's intel agencies but I will definitely miss a lot of their leaks, for example that leaked CIA guide to bypassing airport security while undercover, where used as an example in the guide (if I remember correctly) a field agent using a diplomatic passport who was detected by airport screening trying to transit through European airports while having explosives residue on him, and how he successfully lied and talked his way out of being arrested while undercover. This of course leads to the question, why are intel agents assembling/transporting explosives around European cities and one of the reasons I liked having Wikileaks around to embarass these agencies and their invisible shenanigans but I guess the party is over.
- jm4 8y ago
  I’ll respond to the part about undercovers transporting weapons and/or explosives. It’s easier to stay undercover flying commercial so a team may assemble in a location by taking separate flights and take their equipment with them. That way none of them are spotted in a known military or agency location. Or it may be a place where they can’t easily take military transport or some highly covert mission where they’d all be disavowed if they were caught. The book Rogue Warrior talks about it a little bit. If I remember correctly, everyone in Seal Team 6 had to sneak a weapon onto a commercial flight as part of training.
- sneak 8y ago
  https://wikileaks.org/cia-travel/secondary-screening/WikiLeaks_CIA_Assessment_on_Surviving_Secondary_Screening.pdf https://wikileaks.org/cia-travel/secondary-screening/WikiLea...

by jm4 8y ago

sschueller 8y ago

I doubt Assange would rely on anyone other than himself. So if there is a "panic button" it would more than likely be a dead mans switch.

13415 8y ago
Assange has relied on many people in the past, so there is not much evidence for your claim other than personal sentiment. What seems more credible is that only he has the keys to some data kept by other persons and he could release these keys via others like e.g. his lawyers. Arresting others who might help him with releasing the data once they have the key makes "sense" from that perspective, although it could be illegal (but IANAL in Ecuador).
SahAssar 8y ago
A panic button is pretty much the opposite of a dead mans switch.
squarefoot 8y ago
Which could explain why they waited just over one year after cutting his internet access to arrest him: if after one year still nothing happened, it's pretty much safe assuming he doesn't have a working dead mans switch (anymore). If true, this could also mean they were in agreements with the Ecuador govt. to arrest him a long time ago.
- ddalex 8y ago
  A dead man's switch is not necessarily based on a timeout when your internet connection is not guaranteed. If the leak is nuclear level - e.g irrefutable proof that the ruling class ARE reptilians - you want to keep that unreleased for as long as you can. I can imagine a bot somewhere scanning top 10 international newspapers daily and looking for the words 'Assange' and 'dead' before the countdown begins.

blhack 8y ago

People have claimed this dead man switch thing, but it just seems to counter to what Wikileaks has been doing for the last 10+ years. If they had some crazy leak to make, it doesn’t seem like something they would just sit on to use as personal leverage for assange.

wybiral 8y ago
> If they had some crazy leak to make, it doesn’t seem like something they would just sit on to use as personal leverage for assange. Really? They seem to have a narrow focus of interest with their leaks. I wouldn't put something like that beyond them at all.
- codewiz 8y ago
  Could you elaborate? Have they been leaking selectively?
  - wybiral 8y ago
    They seem to only care about stories that are critical of Western intelligence while ignoring the (or withholding?) leaks that don't align with that agenda.
    - wesammikhail 8y ago
      do we know what they have access to and what they are withholding? if we knew what they are withholding then we know what it is so... Sounds to me like we´re trying to read minds and apply a narrative that we cannot possibly verify. Not saying it isn´t the case but as far as I know, and I might be very wrong here, we have no evidence of them doing that. right?
      - wybiral 8y ago
        There were private messages of Assange saying he wanted the GOP to win because they wouldn't be able to get anything done, which is a hint about how he feels for US government. Maybe it's just a coincidence that they only leaked Russian-hacked emails from the GOP opponent who was critical of WikiLeaks while ignoring ongoing stories about Russia itself and remaining silent on the many GOP scandals. They were also really critical of the Panama Papers leak which exposed several cases of corruption, but again it was probably just a coincidence those were more of a condemnation of Russian oligarchs than Western intelligence.

notyourday 8y ago

> It was reported that Assange had a “panic button”. The report said that he had directly threatened the government of Ecuador with with retaliation if anything happened to him. I don’t have a link handy, but it shouldn’t be hard to find. If Assange has a panic button rather than a dead man switch, he is much dumber than he is portrayed at which point most of the claims that are dismissed as ridiculous (i.e. a smart man would not do X) become not only plausible but likely.

hackermailman 8y ago

I believe the implicit threat is releasing unredacted intel dumps, so very large torrent files with thousands of classified military intelligence documents they normally would not release, floating around encrypted with a few people close to Assange possessing the password(s) to leak them in case of being shut down though some Guardian journalist already leaked the password to one of the dumps years ago reporting on what Assange wrote on a napkin when they met which allowed Guardian readers to decrypt the whole archive. I think Assange is kind of crazy for playing brinkmanship with the world's intel agencies but I will definitely miss a lot of their leaks, for example that leaked CIA guide to bypassing airport security while undercover, where used as an example in the guide (if I remember correctly) a field agent using a diplomatic passport who was detected by airport screening trying to transit through European airports while having explosives residue on him, and how he successfully lied and talked his way out of being arrested while undercover. This of course leads to the question, why are intel agents assembling/transporting explosives around European cities and one of the reasons I liked having Wikileaks around to embarass these agencies and their invisible shenanigans but I guess the party is over.

jm4 8y ago
I’ll respond to the part about undercovers transporting weapons and/or explosives. It’s easier to stay undercover flying commercial so a team may assemble in a location by taking separate flights and take their equipment with them. That way none of them are spotted in a known military or agency location. Or it may be a place where they can’t easily take military transport or some highly covert mission where they’d all be disavowed if they were caught. The book Rogue Warrior talks about it a little bit. If I remember correctly, everyone in Seal Team 6 had to sneak a weapon onto a commercial flight as part of training.
sneak 8y ago
https://wikileaks.org/cia-travel/secondary-screening/WikiLeaks_CIA_Assessment_on_Surviving_Secondary_Screening.pdf https://wikileaks.org/cia-travel/secondary-screening/WikiLea...