Wikileaks Releases Private Strafor Emails
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange released a stockpile of emails from a Texas based think-tank in the latest action bringing private information public.
The emails were thought to have been obtained from the group Anonymous, a collection of hackers that have gained recognition over the years for hacking large corporations and government networks.
The intelligence firm, Stratfor, released a statement shortly after the emails were made public where it said the action was an attempt to intimidate it.
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"The release of these emails is a direct attack on Stratfor," the statement said. "This is another attempt to silence and intimidate the company, and one we reject."
Some of the emails being published "may be forged or altered to include inaccuracies; some may be authentic," according to the statement.
"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 explain how the emails come into their possession. The company's clients include multinational corporations as well as some governments.
"In many ways you could claim that these people are doing things that actual government or military employees do, but get paid much more money," according to Richard Bloom, a psychologist and former intelligence officer.
But more often than not, the contractors seem to be getting the better end of the deal, Bloom said.
"Quite frankly, a typical successful contractor will try to interface as much as they can with the people who are providing the money … it certainly happens that there are times when what the contractor provides you is well written summary of what you already knew."
The FBI is currently conducting an investigation which began last December.
Assange, 40, is currently under house arrest in Britain and fighting extradition to Sweden.
