Banks are the new target of WikiLeaks

 The new target of the WikiLeaks website will be banks. This was announced by the site’s owner Julian Assange. The release of confidential data will be at the beginning of next year and will concern major American banks, writes hrt.hr

Assange stated that he plans to publish a lot of data about banks that reveal flagrant violations of regulations, which could destroy some of them. He did not want to specify which banks are involved or whether he would reveal criminal acts, but he compared the new release to the emails that were brought to light after the collapse of the energy giant Enron in 2001.

According to Assange, WikiLeaks has so far prioritized the release of obtained documents related to governments and international relations, but estimates that about 50% of the information it possesses pertains to private companies. He confirmed that WikiLeaks is in possession of many documents related to the oil giant BP, but it is still being assessed whether the material is original. Pharmaceutical companies could also be the subject of one of the upcoming data releases that have leaked to WikiLeaks.

Australia is among the first to establish a special interdepartmental commission that will “scrutinize” the documents and determine how to protect people and national interests. “We are now reviewing all documents that have been published and those we expect could be published, in order to protect our national interests and national security as soon as possible,” stated Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith.

American diplomacy has informed them roughly what to expect in 1,500 notes and attachments related to that country. WikiLeaks published about 400,000 military documents from the Iraq war in October, causing quite a stir. An even greater stir was caused in recent days when the release of about 250,000 confidential diplomatic cables from the State Department began. This provoked sharp condemnation from Washington and led to the initiation of a criminal investigation in the U.S. for the theft of confidential documents from the State Department. (hrt.hr)