Posted on 02/27/2012 7:07:46 AM PST by fight_truth_decay
Edited on 02/27/2012 7:22:48 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
WikiLeaks said Monday that it had begun to expose e-mail correspondence from the global geopolitical analysis firm known as Stratfor, detailing the company’s work for clients.
WikiLeaks did not disclose how it had obtained the e-mails, but Stratfor acknowledged in December that its data servers had been breached by a group of hackers known as Anonymous. The loose-knit group publicly supports WikiLeaks.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Dow Chemicals appointed Stratfor to spy on Bhopal activists: WikiLeaks
AFP | Feb 27, 2012, 07.36PM IST
Times of India
Honest question: how is one to believe these are authentic and un-tampered with?
“Stratfor said that some of the e-mails being published ‘may be forged or altered to include inaccuracies’”
Sounds like panic to me. I’ve never read anything in the past about Anonymous or Wikileaks fabricating documents. Not a big fan of the two groups but fabricating doesn’t seem to fit their MO; rather, to the contrary, it seems to me that they pride themselves on getting to real stuff.
Source for this article is NY Times, not Stratfor.
I really think a SEAL Team needs to take Assange out.
George Friedman evidently resigned yesterday as CEO.
“I really think a SEAL Team needs to take Assange out.”
I think you’re giving Anonymous and Wikileaks too much importance. When Wikileaks released all those diplomatic cables there was little, if anything, published which wasn’t already known or assumed by most people who cover international affairs, and there’s been no evidence of any harm coming to anyone from the release of the material notwithstanding the hysterical warnings from government officials. The government is unduly sensitive about its intelligence, and Anonymous and Wikileaks overestimate their own importance. At the end of the day it all seems like manufactured drama on both sides.
Whoever was responsible for this attack on STRATFOR did some serious damage, both physically and to its reputation.
Based on the damage done to the servers, I suspect this was not just some attempt to embarrass the company, but to shut it down.
“Whoever was responsible for this attack on STRATFOR did some serious damage, both physically and to its reputation. “
And I believe whoever is responsible for this should be prosecuted.
My point simply is that the two groups likely aren’t endangering national security; rather, they are more like vandals and trespassers, and hardly deserve the world stage the media, governments and intelligence community are affording them.
As they say in Twitterland: Someone is following you, and you are following them back.
I agree, and I should have put that on my response to you. I meant to stress the issue of this being a private company and not a government agency. However, STRATFOR has its fair share of former government officials who have been known to spook around the world in a former life. Hopefully at some point the people responsible for this will be found.
Oh yeah, it's pretty amazing down there. I did an internship there in college when the Kosovo war was going on. I was blown away at Friedman's mind, and at the amount/quality of information that was rolling into that office regarding what was going on in Serbia/Kosovo. I think that's the event that put them on the map.
ooops sorry got the link right..am just usually posting Startfor pieces. Thanks for heads up.
Were you there when they first implemented the paywall?
I have a really low opinion of StratFor, mostly due to the huge amount of agitprop directed towards deceiving the “general public” in the Anglophonic world. Untold thousands of hours of freepers lives have been spent reading annd dicussing stratfor media that turned out to be the obfuscation PR releases for stratfor’s clients.
I can't remember what all was free at the time I was there. That was, what, 1999ish, I believe? I do know that the Kosovo stuff I was doing sit-reps on was free at the time, much like some of their current content. I know that they had paying clients at that point, but it may have been for much more detailed analysis.
I had my job to do, so I didn't have much time to know about the other aspects of the company. I do know that they had contacts out the wazoo who they were constantly in contact with. The "news" aspect of it was what I was involved with and not the analysis and forecasting.
...something else is going on here....either:
. ..none of the "leaks" are harmful to anyone...
or:..the leaked against organization want the info out there...
...you can't tell me that the US government cannot do anything about the "leaks"
..hell, they can find and shut down watch and jeans counterfeiters, music down-loaders, etc....and will absolutely trash facilities and houses, kill pets and scare the hell out of innocent people in a drug raid, or a raid on an lobster fishing outfit, or do not have any problem shutting down half a state because of a minnow fish...
Really? So you’re saying that the full names of confidential sources in foreign countries were already known or suspected by everyone before wikileaks “accidentally” published them?
Where did you read that? I took your word for it, as received no email to support a resignation; but then got this tonight:
RE: As you can see, emails sent to many people about my resignation were clearly forged.
Transcript:
I’m George Friedman, founder and CEO of Stratfor.
As most of you know, in December thieves hacked into Stratfor data systems and stole a large number of company emails, as well as private information of Stratfor subscribers and friends. Today Wikileaks is publishing the emails that were stolen in December. This is a deplorable, unfortunate — and illegal — breach of privacy.
Some of the emails may be forged or altered to include inaccuracies. Some may be authentic. 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 questions about them.
The disclosure of these emails does not mean that there has been another hack of Stratfor’s computer and data systems. Those systems, which we have rebuilt with enhanced security measures, remain secure and protected.
The release of these emails is, however, a direct attack on Stratfor. This is another attempt to silence and intimidate the company, and one we reject. As you can see, emails sent to many people about my resignation were clearly forged.
We do not know what else has been manufactured. Stratfor will not be silenced, and we will continue to publish the geopolitical analysis our friends and subscribers have come to rely on.
As we have said before, Stratfor has worked to build good sources in many countries around the world, as any publisher of geopolitical analysis would do.
We are proud of the relationships we have built, which help our analysts better understand the issues in many of these countries through the eyes of people who live there.
We have developed these relationships with individuals and partnerships with local media in a straightforward manner, and we are committed to meeting the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct.
Stratfor is not a government organization, not is it affiliated with any government. The emails are private property. Like all private emails, they were written casually, with no expectation that anyone other than the sender and recipient would ever see them. And clearly, as with my supposed resignation letter, some of the emails may be fabricated or altered.
Stratfor understands that this hack and the fallout from it have created serious difficulties for our subscribers, friends and employees. We again apologize for this incident, and we deeply appreciate the loyalty that has been shown to Stratfor since last year’s hack.
We want to assure everyone that Stratfor is recovering from the hack. We will continue to do what we do best: produce and publish independent analysis of international affairs. And we will be back in full operation in the coming weeks. We look forward to continuing to serve you.
http://Stratfor.com/hacking-news
Post #21
Post 21
Why didn’t they have these “enhanced security measures” from the beginning? They all of places should have had such measures from the start.
Ok, I did a quick search and came across several sites that posted the resignation piece. Forgive me for not hyperlinking it, but I'm tied up at work.
http://techfleece.com/2012/02/27/stratfor-ceo-george-friedman-announces-his-resignation-due-to-wikileaks-emails/
There is one site.
I'm glad that it's not the case, and I should have prefaced my comment more rather than citing it as truth. For that I apologize.
I would have not known; if I had not received the email directly after our posts, from Friedman @Stratfor firm.
As we see now you were probably privy to the email or posting from some group on his alleged resignation.
Thanks for your input..do not feel it is not greatly appreciated, GOPyouth!
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