[caption id="attachment_4485" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Julian Assange"]
[/caption]Samantha Torrence - There has been much hullabaloo about Julian Assange and his website WikiLeaks. The response to the leak of classified documents has been mixed and polarizing, but there are strong warnings that accessing the information has legal implications everyone should know.
Some people hail Assange as a hero, while others view him as an information terrorist. Amid the news stories one may find links to, or quotes of, the information on the WikiLeaks website or its available mirrors. If you are an American citizen, then clicking on or sharing these links can be potentially illegal. Why? Because even though the information has been leaked and viewed by possibly millions around the world it is still considered Classified Information.
According to Executive Order 13526 Section 1.1(4)(c) information that is classified does not lose its security classification even if it is leaked. The classification authority must first declassify any information before it is deemed available for everyone. EO 13526, which was enacted on December 29, 2009, has made it clear that the documents on WikiLeaks are therefore still classified documents. The question then remains what are the consequences for accessing or forwarding the documents?
People accessing WikiLeaks may be subject to the U.S Code –Section 798 regarding the disclosure of classified information. According to the code, upon conviction a person caught knowingly accessing classified information and giving access to the information to unauthorized people will be given no more than 10 years in jail and forfeit all property and money connected to the information leak.
Government workers and Military members may have even more to worry about when it comes to accessing WikiLeaks from government computers. The computer Fraud and Abuse act may apply to any person accessing WikiLeaks from government property. Symantec explains the law and the resulting consequences in a 4 part briefing for security workers. Upon reading the law one will understand that accessing a computer without proper authorization and accessing the classified documents from that computer may put you in jeopardy of breaking the law.
While all of these suppositions must be interpreted by the courts, the possibility that people can be prosecuted has been established long before Julian Assange released the illegally obtained documents. The founder of WikiLeaks has perhaps unwittingly put Americans in danger of breaking the laws of their land.
References
http://www.symantec.com/connect/articles/us-information-security-law-part-3
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/usc_sec_18_00000798----000-.html
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