Cryptome

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Cryptome
Cryptome logo.jpg
Web address cryptome.org
Commercial? Yes
Registration None
Owners John Young, Deborah Natsios
Editors John Young, Deborah Natsios
Launched June 1996; 19 years ago (1996-06)
Current status Active

Cryptome is a digital library[1][2][3][4] created in 1996 by John Young and Deborah Natsios.[5][6][7] The site aggregates information about topics including freedom of expression, privacy, cryptology, dual-use technologies, national security, intelligence, conspiracy theories and government secrecy.[8][9][10]

The site is known for publishing the alleged identity of the CIA analyst who located Osama Bin Laden,[11][12] lists of people allegedly associated with the Stasi,[13] MI6,[14] and the PSIA,[15] the alleged identity of Irish Republican Army assassin Stakeknife,[16] the alleged internal emails of the Wikileaks organization,[17] and several of the surveillance disclosures of Edward Snowden published so far and the promise to publish the remainder in June 2014.[18][19] Young has stated that he is "opposed to secrecy".[20] The site's privacy policy states, "Cryptome is not trustworthy, and lies."[21]

People[edit]

Cryptome was created by John Young and Deborah Natsios, both architects by trade. The two share editorial duties.

John Young[edit]

John Young was born in 1935. He grew up in West Texas, and as a teenager served in the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Germany and earned degrees in philosophy and architecture from Rice University (1957–63). He went on to receive his graduate degree in architecture from Columbia University in 1969. During this time he became an activist and helped create community service group Urban Deadline, which received citations from the Citizens Union of the City of New York and the New York City Council, and which later evolved into Cryptome. His work earned him a position on the nominating committee for the Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design in 1998.

He has worked as an architect, contractor or independent consultant for notable organizations such as the Council on Foreign Relations, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York, Columbia University, W Hotels, Reuters and Opus Dei.[22] He has received citations from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Legal Aid Society.[23]

Deborah Natsios[edit]

Deborah Natsios received her graduate degree in architecture from Princeton University. She has taught architecture and urban design at Columbia University and Parsons The New School for Design, and held seminars at the Pratt Institute and the University of Texas.[24][25] In the 1990s, she ran the design studio on Burning Down the White House. In addition to being co-editor for Cryptome, she is responsible for the associated project Cartome, which posts her original critical art and graphical images and other public resources to document sensitive areas. She additionally holds a degree in mathematics from Smith College.

Family[edit]

She is the daughter of Nicholas Natsios, who served as CIA station chief in Greece from 1948-1956, in Vietnam from 1956-1960, in France from 1960-1962, in South Korea from 1962-1965, in Argentina from 1965-1969, in the Netherlands from 1969-1972, and in Iran from 1972-1974.[20][26][27][28][29] While stationed in Vietnam, his deputy was William Colby, the future Director of Central Intelligence.[30] His name was included in the 1996 membership directory of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, which Cryptome helped to publish.[31][32] Cryptome disclosed its link to Nicholas in 2000.[33]

Her cousin is Andrew Natsios, former administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development and former U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan[20]

Library[edit]

As of October 14, 2015, the complete Cryptome archive contains 98,900 files totaling 42 gigabytes. Of that total, 81,000 files are "Cryptome Files" which are available in the online archive. The remainder consists of 112 INSCOM dossiers, 14,000 files on corruption in Venezuela, and several thousand files of "supplemental" material. Cryptome only distributes its complete archive in the form of a USB drive, free to public libraries, and to others in exchange for a "donation".[34] As of 21 October 2015, about 350,000 Wikileaks documents were made available on a separate USB.[35]

Download policy[edit]

Users of the online archive are limited to downloading one hundred files per day. According to Cryptome, the online archive "is seeded with a few hidden trojans and viruses" which the server sends to anyone who accesses more than 100 files per day, a countermeasure targeted at automatic systems which crawl Cryptome while copying content in bulk.[8]

Editorial policy[edit]

According to the website, "Cryptome welcomes documents for publication that are prohibited by governments worldwide, in particular material on freedom of expression, privacy, cryptology, dual-use technologies, national security, intelligence, and secret governance -- open, secret and classified documents -- but not limited to those."[36]

In a 2013 Associated Press article, John Young explained that "we have an editorial role in selecting files, but we don't tell people what to think about them."[37] Earlier that year, Cryptome said that "if a document will annoy, and best, deeply anger, believers in authority then it gets published."[38]

In a separate interview, John Young declared that “Facts are not a trustworthy source of knowledge. Cryptome is not an authoritative source. It’s a source of imaginatory material. Don’t trust Cryptome, we lie to you helplessly. Don’t believe anything you see there.”[39] Later in the same interview he quoted the Cryptomes' privacy policy, saying "Cryptome is not trustworthy, and lies."[21][40] When asked about providing context for material, Cryptome said "we do not believe in 'context.' That is authoritarian nonsense. For the same reason, we do not believe in verification, authentication, background."[38]

According to the website, "Documents are removed from this site only by order served directly by a US court having jurisdiction. No court order has ever been served; any order served will be published here – or elsewhere if gagged by order."[8] However, documents are removed at the request of law enforcement as well as individuals.[28][41][42]

Other activities[edit]

Cryptome's trade mark application describes its business as "computer services, namely, on-line scanning, detecting, quarantining and eliminating of viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, adware, malware and unauthorized data and programs on computers and electronic devices."[43] Another trade mark application by Cryptome describes "electronic storage of electronic media, namely, images, text and audio data" with a focus on "[s]cientific and technological services and research and design relating thereto; industrial analysis and research services; design and development of computer hardware and software; legal services."[44]

History[edit]

1993: John and Deborah meet and their collaboration begins "some time late in 1993".[20][45]

1994: What will become Cryptome begins with John and Deborah's participation in the Cypherpunks electronic mailing list and Urban Deadline.[20]

1996: Cryptome officially begins. In an article written by John Cook, "the closest Young comes to explaining to me why he created Cryptome is this: 'I'm a pretty fucking angry guy.'"[20]

1999: In May, Cryptome posts a list of alleged MI6 officers found on a mailing list.[14]

2000: In July, two FBI agents speak with Cryptome on the phone after Cryptome publishes a Public Security Intelligence Agency personnel file. The file lists 400 names, birthdates, and titles, notably included Director General Hidenao Toyoshima. The FBI expresses concerns over the file, but admits it was legal to publish in the United States but not Japan. After speculation that the documents may have come from someone called "Shigeo Kifuji", Cryptome identifies the source as Hironari Noda.[15][46]

2002: In January, Cryptome applies for press credentials with New York City. They are denied because they "could not provide letters of reference" regarding their previous press activities.[47] In December the Attorney General issues a subpoena requiring that John Young appear before a grand jury and turn over "all logs recording the I.P. addresses and/or users" who visited Cryptome. John Young posts a notice online declaring that visitor logs are deleted daily,[48] a statement which may be contradicted by statements in 2015 (see below).

2003: In November, Cryptome is visited by two FBI agents from a counter-terrorism office, asking about information which Cryptome "had a gut feeling" could be a threat to the nation and the purpose of Cryptome.[49]

2004: New York City removes warning signs around gas mains after Cryptome posts pictures of them, citing security concerns.[50]

2006: Cryptome becomes one of the early organizers of Wikileaks. John Young reveals that he was approached by Julian Assange and asked to be the public face of Wikileaks; Young agreed and his name was listed on the website's original domain registration form.[51][52][53]

2007: In the early part of the year, John Young and Deborah Natsios leave Wikileaks due to concerns about the organizations' finances and fundraising, accusing it of being a "money-making operation" and "business intelligence" scheme, and expressing concern that the amount of money they sought "could not be needed so soon except for suspect purposes."[51][52][53] Cryptome publishes an archive of the secret, internal electronic mailing list of the Wikileaks organizers, from its inception through Young's departure from the group.[17] On April 20 the website receives notice from its hosting company, Verio, that it would be evicted on May 4 for unspecified breaches of their acceptable use policy.[54][55]

2010: Cryptome's Earthlink account is compromised and its website is defaced. The attackers claim to have copied a large cache of data, posting screenshots of the compromised email account. Cryptome confirms the accuracy of the information taken, but contests specific assertions, claiming they had only about seven gigabytes of data, not the seven terabytes the attackers claimed to copy.[56] In February, Cryptome is briefly shut down by Network Solutions for alleged DMCA violations after it posted a "Microsoft legal spy manual".[57][58][59] Microsoft withdraws the complaint 3 days later and the website is restored.[60] In March, PayPal stops processing donations to Cryptome and freezes the account due to "suspicious activities". The account is restored after an "investigation" by PayPal.[41][61] Cryptome ends on bad terms with Wikileaks, with John Young directly accusing them of selling classified material and calling them "a criminal organization". He calls Julian Assange's anti-American rhetoric insincere, calling him "just a crowd pleaser".[52] In a separate interview, he calls Assange a narcissistic and compares him to Henry Kissinger. Young accuses George Soros and the Koch brothers of "backing Wikileaks generously".[62]

2011: In July, Cryptome names the CIA analyst who found Osama Bin Laden.[63][64] In September, Cryptome publishes a list of Intelligence and National Security Alliance members, alleging that they were spies. Cryptome removes the names of members from the list upon their requests.[65]

2012: In February, the Cryptome website is hacked to infect visitors with malware.[66] In August, internet hacktivist The Jester accuses Cryptome of running the website Cryptocomb and exposing Mark Owen.[67] Cryptome denies any connection to Cryptocomb or exposing Mark Owen's identity.[68]

2013: In February, Cryptome's website, email and Twitter account are compromised, potentially exposing whistleblowers and sources. Cryptome blames hackers Ruxpin and Sabu.[69][70] In June two US Secret Service agents visited Cryptome to request removal of a former presidential Bush family email allegedly hacked by Guccifer.[41] In August, a complaint about Cryptome's identification of alleged Japanese terrorsts leads Network Solutions to briefly shut down the site.[6] In October Cryptome informs its users that Network Solutions has generated logs of site's visitors, and that requests to delete the logs are not being honored.[71] According to Network Solutions's website, logs are deleted after thirty days and Cryptome could choose to prevent the logging.[72] In December Cryptome reports receiving a letter attempting to blackmail them. The letter appeared to be related to Guccifer and Snowden.[73]

2014: In January, Cryptome uploads a copy of the Guccifer archive to Google Drive, posting the links on Pastebin and their website.[73] Later that year, Cryptome attempts to raise $100,000 to fund the website and its other disclosure initiatives.[7][74] In June, Cryptome is pulled offline again when malware was found infecting visitors to the site.[75] In July, Cryptome says it would publish the remaining NSA documents taken by Edward Snowden in the "coming weeks".[76] Since then, Cryptome has not published any new Snowden documents.[77]

2015: In September, Cryptome announces that their encryption keys are compromised,[78] then later claims they are not.[79] Later that month, a GCHQ document leaked by Edward Snowden reveals that the agency is monitoring visits to Cryptome.[80] Cryptome confirmed the information in the slide, stating that logs showed the IP address "visited Cryptome on dates listed for files shown."[81] In October, a sold edition (USB stick) of the Cryptome archive is observed to contain web server logs, containing clues to the identities of Cryptome visitors. The logs had been mailed out to users who ordered the site's archive since 2013. Cryptome denied the logs were real, accusing the discoverer of forging the data before confirming they were real.[82][83][84][85] Cryptome's privacy policy at the time said that "No user data is collected by Cryptome. Logs are deleted several times a day," adding the caveat: "Cryptome is not trustworthy, and lies."[21] Cryptome later added the comment that "there are no accidental leaks".[86] Cryptome posts pictures of logs dating back to the site's creation, claiming that Cryptome is for sale. Cryptome later claims that the sale is a parody and that "Cryptome has no logs, never has", noting that their "various ISPs have copious logs of many kind" along with metadata and that Cryptome tracks these "to see what happens to our files".[55][81][87][88][89] Later in October, Wikileaks launches a searchable version of the Cryptome archive and Cryptome's tweets.[90]

Reception[edit]

A 2004 New York Times article assessed Cryptome with the headline, "Advise the Public, Tip Off the Terrorists" in its coverage of the site's gas pipeline maps.[50] Reader's Digest made an even more alarming assessment of the site in 2005, calling it an "invitation to terrorists" and alleging that Young "may well have put lives at risk".[91][92]

The Village Voice featured Cryptome in its 2008 Best of NYC feature, citing its hosting of "photos, facts, and figures" of the Iraq War.[93]

Wikileaks accused Cryptome of executing a "smear campaign" in 2010 after Cryptome posted what it alleged were email exchanges with Wikileaks insiders, which Wikileaks disputed.[56][94][95]

Cryptome was awarded the Defensor Libertatis (defender of liberty) award at the 2010 Big Brother Awards, for a "life in the fight against surveillance and censorship" and for providing "suppressed or otherwise censored documents to the global public". The awards committee noted that Cryptome had engaged with "every protagonist of the military-electronic monitoring complex".[96]

In 2012, Steven Aftergood, the director of the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy, described John Young and Cryptome as "fearless and contemptuous of any pretensions to authority” and “oblivious to the security concerns that are the preconditions of a working democracy. And he seems indifferent to the human costs of involuntary disclosure of personal information.” Aftergood specifically criticized Cryptome's handling of the McGurk emails, saying "it’s fine to oppose McGurk or anyone else. It wasn’t necessary to humiliate them".[97][98]

In 2013, Cindy Cohn, then the legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, praised Cryptome as "a really important safety valve for the rest of us, as to what our government is up to."[28] In 2014, Glenn Greenwald criticized Cryptome for posting a copy of his copyrighted book and for other things, including posting maps to his home, but called Cryptome "quite productive and valuable. On the whole, I'm glad there is a Cryptome".[7]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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  2. ^ Joseph Cox (2014-07-06). "Why All the Snowden Docs Should Be Public: An Interview with Cryptome". Vice. 
  3. ^ "Cryptome claims all Snowden files will be published in July to avert a war". RT. 2014-07-01. 
  4. ^ Alexander J Martin (2015-09-16). "Cryptome founder revokes PGP keys after weird 'compromise'". The Register. 
  5. ^ "Deborah Natsios and John Young Bibliography". 2011-10-16. Retrieved 2013-03-09. 
  6. ^ a b "Cryptome suffers brief take-down over Japanese 'terror' files". 
  7. ^ a b c "A Radical Pro-Transparency Website Is Raising Money To Annoy Glenn Greenwald". 
  8. ^ a b c "Cryptome: Other Stuff". Cryptome. 
  9. ^ "Cryptome Exposes CIA Hypnosis Programs". 
  10. ^ "ja-conspiracies.pdf" (PDF). 
  11. ^ "Whistleblowing Website Cryptome Hacked, Conspiracy Theories Do Not Abound". 
  12. ^ "How a White House Flickr Fail Outed Bin Laden Hunter 'CIA John'". 
  13. ^ Bruce, Gary (2010). The Firm: The Inside Story of the Stasi. Oxford University Press. p. 32. ISBN 9780195392050. 
  14. ^ a b "List of MI6 Officers". 
  15. ^ a b McCullagh, Declan (2000-07-21). "FBI Pressuring Spy Archivist". Wired. Retrieved 2013-12-28. 
  16. ^ John Ware and Alasdair Palmer (2003-05-18). "Is he or isn't he?". The Daily Telegraph. 
  17. ^ a b Dan Duray (2010-12-08). "The Original Wikileaker". The New York Observer. 
  18. ^ Cryptome (2015-10-05). "26 Years to Release Snowden Docs by The Guardian". 
  19. ^ "More Edward Snowden Leaks on the Way? New York-based site Cryptome says it will publish the remaining NSA documents that Edward Snowden swiped". 
  20. ^ a b c d e f "Secrets and Lies". Archived from the original on March 24, 2008. 
  21. ^ a b c "Cryptome Other Stuff". cryptome.org. Retrieved 2015-10-11. 
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  23. ^ "Bibliography & Awards". 
  24. ^ "The SAGE Handbook of Architectural Theory". 
  25. ^ "Deborah Natsios". 
  26. ^ "NATSIOS NICHOLAS ANDREW". 
  27. ^ "Nicholas Andrew Natsios Obituary". 
  28. ^ a b c "Older, less flashy than WikiLeaks, Cryptome perseveres as a favored site for sharing secrets". 
  29. ^ "Deborah Natsios, Cryptome, City of Redactions, published March 21, 2015, Currently at Dem Passwords Gallery, LA, March 21-April 11, 2015". 
  30. ^ "CIA and the House of Ngo, Covert Action in South Vietnam, 1954-63" (PDF). 
  31. ^ "Assn. Former Intelligence Officers. Membership Directory. 1996". 
  32. ^ "2,619 CIA Sources: The Crowley Files". 
  33. ^ "Cryptome Discloses Ex-CIA Link". 
  34. ^ "Cryptome Donations". 
  35. ^ Cryptome. "Cryptome WikiLeaks Archive 2006-2015". 
  36. ^ "Cryptome". 
  37. ^ "Older, quieter than WikiLeaks, Cryptome perseveres". 
  38. ^ a b "LeaksWiki Continues and Cryptome Interview". 
  39. ^ "An Excerpt From 'This Machine Kills Secrets': Meet The 'Spiritual Godfather Of Online Leaking'". 
  40. ^ "An Excerpt From 'This Machine Kills Secrets': Meet The 'Spiritual Godfather Of Online Leaking part 2'". 
  41. ^ a b c "A Discussion With Cryptome". Gawker. 2013-06-19. Retrieved 2013-11-02. 
  42. ^ "US Secret Service Visits Cryptome". 
  43. ^ "CRYPTOME - Trademark Details". 
  44. ^ "CRYPTOME - Trademark Details". 
  45. ^ "Open Source Design 01: The architects of information". 
  46. ^ "FBI Requests PSIA Lists Removal". 2000-07-22. Retrieved 2013-03-09. 
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  48. ^ "Subpoena for Cryptome's logs". 
  49. ^ "FBI Visits Cryptome". 2003-11-08. Retrieved 2013-03-09. 
  50. ^ a b "Mapping Natural Gas Lines: Advise the Public, Tip Off the Terrorists". New York Times. 2004-08-29. Retrieved 2015-10-03. 
  51. ^ a b "Website for Leaked Data Shines Spotlight on WikiLeaks". 
  52. ^ a b c "WikiLeaks sold classified intel, claims website's co-founder". 
  53. ^ a b "Wikileaks' estranged co-founder becomes a critic (Q&A)". 
  54. ^ "Cryptome Shut by Network Solutions". 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2013-03-09. 
  55. ^ a b Gohring, Nancy (2007-04-30). "Verio dumps controversial Cryptome site". Computerworld. Retrieved 2013-03-09. 
  56. ^ a b "Secret-Spilling Sources at Risk Following Cryptome Breach". 
  57. ^ Quigley, Robert (2010-02-24). "Site Leaks Microsoft Online Surveillance Guide, MS Demands Takedown Under Copyright Law (UPDATE 6)". Geekosystem. Retrieved 2013-03-09. 
  58. ^ Diaz, Jesus (2010-02-24). "The Secret Government Surveillance Document Microsoft Doesn’t Want You To See". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2013-03-09. 
  59. ^ "Microsoft Online Services Global Criminal Compliance Handbook" (PDF). Wired. 2010-02-24. Retrieved 2013-03-09. 
  60. ^ "Microsoft Demands Takedown of Microsoft Spy Guide". Cryptome. 2010-02-26. Retrieved 2013-03-09. 
  61. ^ "Now PayPal Goes for Cryptome, Suspends Account". Fast Company. 2010-03-08. Retrieved 2013-05-14. 
  62. ^ "Wikileaks are for-hire mercenaries - Cryptome". 
  63. ^ "CIA John Who Hunted Osama bin Laden Photos". 
  64. ^ "How a White House Flickr Fail Outed Bin Laden Hunter 'CIA John'". 
  65. ^ "INSA spies" (PDF). 
  66. ^ "Breaches galore as Cryptome hacked to infect visitors with malware". 
  67. ^ "JESTER ACTUAL on Twitter: "John Young. Runs 'cryptocomb(dot)org', thinks it clever naming SEALs to AlQaeda: https://t.co/7NgZVVbh See previous tweet for his apology.". 
  68. ^ "CRYPTOCOMB - cryptocomb-bombast.pdf" (PDF). 
  69. ^ "Cryptome site, Twitter and email account hacked again". 
  70. ^ "Cryptome Email, Website and Twitter Account Hacked". 
  71. ^ "Network Solutions Log File Spying". 
  72. ^ "How To Enable / Download The Web Logs". 
  73. ^ a b "Alleged 7GB Guccifer Archive Offered for Sale". 
  74. ^ "Cryptome Kills the Kickstarter: an interview with John Young". 
  75. ^ "Cryptome pulled OFFLINE due to malware infection: Founder cries foul". 
  76. ^ "More Edward Snowden Leaks on the Way?". 
  77. ^ "42 Years for Snowden Docs Release, Free All Now". 
  78. ^ "Someone Stole the Encryption Keys of WikiLeaks Precursor 'Cryptome'". 
  79. ^ John Young. "JYA and Cryptome Passphrase Are Secure". Cypherpunks. 
  80. ^ "From Radio to Porn, British Spies Track Web Users’ Online Identities". The Intercept. Retrieved 2015-10-03. 
  81. ^ a b "Cryptome". cryptome.org. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015. 
  82. ^ "After calling it disinfo, Cryptome admits they leaked their logs". 
  83. ^ "Leak site Cryptome accidentally leaks its own visitor IP addresses". The Daily Dotaccessdate = 2015-10-11. 
  84. ^ "Cryptome grudgingly admits to leak of users' ancient IP addresses". 
  85. ^ "Cryptome dataset - 98,900 files". 
  86. ^ "Cryptome on Twitter: "@Dicedotcom @slashdot There are no accidental leaks, denial, fingerpoint, cover-up, confession, award, reward, glory days bore."". 
  87. ^ "Cryptome logs 15-10-14". 
  88. ^ "Cryptome stats 1996". 
  89. ^ "cryptome-sale-parody.pdf" (PDF). Cypherpunks mailing list. 2015-10-16. 
  90. ^ "Search Cryptome Archive - WikiLeaks". 
  91. ^ Crowley, Michael. "That's Outrageous – Let's Shut These Websites Down". Reader's Digest. Archived from the original on December 9, 2006. Retrieved 2013-03-09. 
  92. ^ Young, John; Crowley, Michael; Natsios, Deborah. "Let's Shut Down Dangerous Websites". Cryptome. Cryptome. Retrieved 3 October 2015. 
  93. ^ "John Young and Deborah Natsios". 2008. 
  94. ^ "War of the Nerds: The Battle Over Wikileaks". 
  95. ^ "WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Fights Calls to Step Down". 
  96. ^ "Preistraeger". Big Brother Awards. 
  97. ^ "Steven Aftergood". 
  98. ^ "The Man Behind the ‘Blue Ball’ Emails Scandal That Snared Brett McGurk". 

External links[edit]