Skip to main content

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange faces broadened charges of conspiring with 'Anonymous' hackers in new federal grand jury indictment

* WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is facing a new grand jury indictment charging him with conspiring with "Anonymous" and "LulzSec"-affiliated hackers to access classified US government documents. * The Department of Justice said in a press release Wednesday that a Virginia grand jury returned a second superseding indictment that doesn't add new charges but does "broaden the scope of the conspiracy" that Assange has been charged with orchestrating. * The DOJ previously charged Assange with 18 criminal counts, including violating the Espionage Act. * Assange currently remains in custody in the United Kingdom while the US continues to seek his extradition. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is facing a new federal indictment in the US that claims he conspired with hackers associated with groups including "Anonymous" and "LulzSec."  A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, returned the second superseding indictment against Assange on Wednesday. It doesn't add new charges but the Department of Justice in a press release explained their case does "broaden the scope of the conspiracy" Assange was previously charged with orchestrating. "Assange and others at WikiLeaks recruited and agreed with hackers to commit computer intrusions to benefit WikiLeaks," the press release said. In the release, the DOJ said that in 2012 "Assange communicated directly with a leader of the hacking group LulzSec (who by then was cooperating with the FBI), and provided a list of targets for LulzSec to hack." It also said WikiLeaks obtained and published information retrieved as part of a hack into an "American intelligence consulting company by an 'Anonymous' and LulzSec-affiliated hacker." Federal prosecutors previously indicted Assange for obtaining and disseminating sensitive national security information in 2010. In April and then with a superseding indictment in May 2019 the US government charged Assange with 18 total criminal counts, including violating the Espionage Act. The 2019 indictment also alleged that Assange helped former US army analyst Chelsea Manning hack a password on a classified Pentagon computer. In its release Wednesday, the DOJ called the leaks "one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States." Assange currently remains in custody in the United Kingdom as the US seeks his extradition to Virginia, where he would eventually be put on trial. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Why Pikes Peak is the most dangerous racetrack in America
https://bit.ly/3fUZizj

Popular posts from this blog

The 11 most important details we already know about the PlayStation 5, Sony's next-generation video game console set to arrive this year

* The PlayStation 5, Sony's next-generation game console that's deep in production, is scheduled to launch during the 2020 holiday season. * As you might expect, the PlayStation 5 is promised to be more powerful than the existing PlayStation 4 — and we've slowly been learning more about the next-gen console's new features since it was first revealed. * So far, Sony has offered a first glimpse at the new console via its new DualSense gamepad, and a tech demo highlighted the technical prowess of the new machine. * Here's everything we know so far about Sony's next-generation PlayStation console. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The PlayStation 5 is almost here. Sony's next-generation PlayStation game console is scheduled to arrive this holiday season, but we already know plenty of details about it right now: how powerful it is, its main features, and we've even gotten a good look at its new gamepad.  Here everything we kno...

Tokyo installed see-through public toilets in a park to let people inspect their cleanliness before using them, at which point the glass turns opaque

* Two see-through bathrooms have been installed in public parks in Tokyo. * They are made from "smart glass" designed so people can see how clean they are inside before using them. The glass turns opaque when the bathroom is locked and in use. * The stalls are part of a project that is redoing 17 of the city's public bathrooms with different designers to make them more accessible and appealing. * The goal is to fight assumptions that public toilets are "are dark, dirty, smelly, and scary," said the nonprofit foundation behind the project. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Tokyo has installed two see-through bathroom facilities in public parks, allowing people to see how clean they are before deciding to use them, at which point they turn opaque. The bathrooms are made of colored "smart glass," which turns opaque when the stalls are locked, said Shigeru Ban, the architect behind the designs. You can see how it works her...

Bill Gates says the world would need as many as 14 billion doses of a coronavirus vaccine to stop the virus

* The world could need as many as 14 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines, Bill Gates said on Thursday in a blog post about the race to develop a way to make people immune to the disease. * "We need to make billions of doses, we need to get them out to every part of the world, and we need all of this to happen as quickly as possible," Gates said. * Gates said he had his eyes on eight to 10 promising candidates, adding that healthcare workers and people in low-income countries should be first in line once we find one that works. * While potential vaccines are progressing with historic speed, they're still months, or even years away, and the biggest challenge lies ahead in proving whether they are safe and effective in humans. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Bill Gates believes we may eventually need to produce as many as 14 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines globally and that we're anywhere from nine months to two years away from making tha...