Barrett Lancaster Brown, a journalist who posted a hyperlink in an IRC chat was indicted on December 7, 2012 by the US Department of Justice. According to the press release”By transferring and posting the hyperlink, Brown caused the data to be made available to other persons online, without the knowledge and authorization of Stratfor and the card holders”
The moral of the story – Think before you post things on the internet. Just because data has been “hacked/exfiltrated and posted online someplace” it doesn’t mean that it’s up for carte blanche review by the world. For example, if you downloaded the Wikileak’s cables in 2010 – you are/were in possession of classified materials. Which means if you’re ever thinking of a career with the federal government and/or contractor that requires a security clearance you may have some considerable issues.
In this case Brown was acting like a spokesperson for Anonymous so it’s believed that he had forward access to information from the Stratfor breach. If Brown is convicted for sending out a hyperlink in an IRC chat, then anyone who ReTweets (RT) an Anonymous post regarding leaked “protected” data could also be held accountable by US law.
Here are some more articles talking about this indictment.
- http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/11/3754558/barrett-brown-anonymous-indicted-stratfor-hyperlink
- http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2012/12/new-federal-indictment-lists-12-more-charges-against-barrett-brown-once-the-self-proclaimed-spokesman-for-anonymous.html/
Also to note here, Brown was simply indicted in this case and it will be some time before we see a trial. This might be a good case to follow…