Wired: Hacker Lamo now denies possessing classified docs
Note added subsequent to post: The Reasonable Reporter does not have the time, the interest, the expertise, nor the access to cover developing national security stories, and will not post anything further on the Wikileaks debacle, unless it is related to the data center’s information security standards that allowed the leaks to occur in the first place. What happened to the data once it left the controlled area (which was not actually a controlled area, obviously), is not the focus of this reporter in her capacity as co-host of The CyberJungle.
The two entries below arose out of a press briefing at the DefCon hacker conference that took an unusual turn when the source unexpectedly began to relate his personal involvement with Adrian Lamo, who was instrumental in linking the leaked defense department data to the soldier accused of leaking it.
The Reasonable Reporter posted on Sunday an audio recording of Chet Uber, a cybersecurity researcher who has highly-placed contacts with federal law enforcement and the military, detailing conversations between himself and his friend Lamo, during Lamo’s “crisis of conscience” over whether to turn in soldier Brad Manning, whom he had befriended online. When Wired.com reported on Monday that Lamo had qualified his confirmation of Uber’s account, it was necessary to post again, reflecting that information.
At issue here is not the relationship between Lamo and Uber, nor the phone conversation in which Uber encouraged Lamo to “do the right thing.” Both have been verified by Lamo. It is whether Lamo had actual documents in his possession, which he originally confirmed, according to another press account, and is now denying, claiming a misunderstanding.
In the audio linked below, Uber describes how he helped Lamo over the phone to determine the status of the documents by inspecting them for certain indications that they were top secret. Once he knew those markings were present on the documents, Uber says he advised Lamo to “put them in a bag” and await further instructions.
If the reader is interested, do two things. 1) Listen to the audio of Uber taken on Sunday at DefCon. It is located at the bottom of the original post. 2) Then, for more insight, follow the links below in this post.
Finally, it should be noted that both men are hackers. Lamo is consistently described in the press as “former hacker” Adrian Lamo, although the designation is an odd one, since he works for Uber as a volunteer doing cyberwork that requires the mindset and skill sets of a hacker. Uber is a self-described hacker, once a grey-hat but now a white-hat, according to his own press release in which he announced he is seeking more volunteer hackers to work in the same organization.
** original post **
Wired.com is reporting that former hacker Adrian Lamo has now denied he had classified documents received from accused leaker Bradley Manning. The story below was posted from DefCon 18 on Sunday, with audio detailing the relationship between Lamo and Chet Uber, the head of a volunteer cybercrime fighting organization which has counted Lamo among its members. Uber claimed at a DefCon press briefing to have been the person who helped Lamo determine that documents in his possession were top secret, and who persuaded Lamo to turn them over to federal authorities.
IDG News Service reporter Robert McMillan reported on Sunday that he had confirmed Uber’s story with Lamo via email. Lamo is denying only that he possessed documents, not the other elements of Uber’s story.
Uber had traveled to DefCon to recruit technically advanced volunteers to join the work of Project Vigilant, which is attribution of cybercrime and terrorism to their perpetrators and funding sources, by analyzing internet traffic.
Explore posts in the same categories: Uncategorized
