How 250,000 US embassy cables were leaked

The Guardian UK ^ | 11/28/2010 | David Leigh

[Rutles4Ever]

It was childishly easy, according to the published chatlog of a conversation Manning had with a fellow-hacker. "I would come in with music on a CD-RW labelled with something like 'Lady Gaga' … erase the music … then write a compressed split file. No one suspected a thing ... [I] listened and lip-synched to Lady Gaga's Telephone while exfiltrating possibly the largest data spillage in American history." He said that he "had unprecedented access to classified networks 14 hours a day 7 days a week for 8+ months".

[Diogenesis]

"Why was he allowed to enlist?
Why wasn’t his secret clearance taken when he was busted?
Where were his superiors during all of this."

His superiors were attending Dr. Hasan's lectures getting stoked up to murder,
or on Jihad themselves, or were getting briefed and indoctrinated by John Brennan
on the pRes_ _ent Obama's MOTTO, adopted by the US Pentagon:

"Jihad is a holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam"

[Prokopton]

He said that he "had unprecedented access to classified networks 14 hours a day 7 days a week for 8+ months".

This is the problem...not one traitorous queer.

[AlanGreenSpam]

This guy ought to be stoned to death in Iran.

[1Swashbuckler]

In military circles, I have read much speculation that he had to have “help” with this project. Nobody really believes he did it alone on his own initiative.

I don’t know enough to understand why, but I do trust the ex-military personnel to know how these things work.

I also wonder why there were no alerts that info was being downloaded. There is simply no way to avoid leaving electronic footprints, whether being downloaded, copied, printed, etc.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

This sounds like mis-information to me.

I’m surprised he didn’t say he was assisted by aliens.

[1Swashbuckler]

His gayness is a big factor in the big picture.

[Mariner]

"I still don’t understand how a low-level enlisted punk like this had access to so much classified info. When I was in the military, there was a “need to know” provision. You only had access if you had the appropriate level of security clearance and “the need to know” this information for your job."

All the info is now digitized and stored on servers. The is a small, select group of people who administer access privileges to the various (10's of thousands) servers which hold the information.

If you're one of those who admin that access system, you can give yourself access to anything.

However, these folks have the HIGHEST TS/Crypto/Specat/Limdis clearances available...and in the OLD days went through a Special Background Investigation...and lie detectors before getting such clearance.

They better question is: How did this guy slip through the system...even with lie detectors?

[MichaelCorleone]

“I’m beginning to be suspicious that the 0bama regime orchestrated the release of these documents for an ulterior motive.”

Entirely possible.

[mad_as_he$$]

I have a couple of customers that have secure data areas. They are not connected to ANY outside source and you have to enter and exit via airlock where you are stripped down to nature and put on a jumpsuit inside. They never lose any data.

[dragnet2]

In military circles, I have read much speculation that he had to have “help” with this project.

What a hoot... That could only mean this has zero credibility or reliability, due to the fact all this stuff came out of the military in the first place...

[The Sons of Liberty]

I’m beginning to be suspicious that the 0bama regime orchestrated the release of these documents for an ulterior motive.

Exposing the Hillary's incompetence is entirely plausible, but I suspect that there may be other reasons as well:

1. A possible diversion. or

2. 0bama providing information to his masters, a ploy to allow 0bama to completely reveal all our secrets, while giving him deniability and placing the blame on Wikileaks.

The sheer volume of documents that Wikileaks has obtained and released make it hard for the soldier who stands accused to have done it all.

[palmer]

What it boils down to is why would a grunt have bulk access as opposed to one-record-at-a-time which can be audited?

[Ramius]

No quite CLASSIFIED but still smells fishy.

It is classified. It's classified as "SECRET". The NOFORN additionally means that foreign individuals with a Secret level of clearance still aren't supposed to see it (like NATO countries).

I haven't seen anything yet that suggests that any TOP SECRET materials were compromised. This means the kid may have only had a SECRET level clearance in the first place. A SECRET clearance does not require a full-on background check (with field interviews and all that). It requires an extensive application with life history info, bank info, and some references that are generally phone-interviews. It's thorough for what it is, but it's not as extensive as a TS clearance background investigation.

[1010RD]

Is there a mysterious lover in the shadows? Someone unhappy with current DADT military policy?

[Ramius]

What it boils down to is why would a grunt have bulk access as opposed to one-record-at-a-time which can be audited?

Of what use would a computer data system be if it allowed you to only browse or search one file at a time? A filing cabinet full of paper lets you do that.

And lots of "grunts" are employed doing all sorts of menial tasks in record-keeping places. That he could do it shouldn't be all that surprising. The only problem is that he should've already been shot for doing so. THAT is what keeps people from doing it. :-)

[Ramius]

Is there a mysterious lover in the shadows? Someone unhappy with current DADT military policy?

That's exactly my understanding this kid's motivation. Something about unhappiness with DADT, and maybe an addtional angle that there was some kind of spat with his "boyfriend".

[eyedigress]

All of these cables should be encrypted until the intended target gets them. This is to stupid. We didn’t have a trash can on fire in the Chiefs office for nothing.

[TexasRepublic]

Somewhere, a piece of rope is laying unused.

[1010RD]

Based on emotion, not science the American Psychiatric Association decided in 1973 that homosexuality was no longer a mental illness.

DADT recognizes that it is. These two are in conflict and must be resolved.

I say, let’s look at the science. It’s worth revisiting:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/sites/all/play_music/play_full.php?play=204

[Ramius]

We’re not talking about cables that have been intercepted in transmission. These are archives. Even if they are stored encrypted, the archivists must be able to decrypt them in order to search and manage the files. That’s what he was.