WikiLeaks Considering Moving Servers Off-Shore — Way Off-Shore
WikiLeaks Considering Moving Servers Off-Shore — Way Off-Shore
Posted 01/31/2012 at 3:31pm
| by Ryan Whitwam
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If you were wondering what WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has in common with a super-villain, wonder no more. It’s his desire for an eccentric base of operations. According to sources inside WikiLeaks, the site is looking for a new server location, and some bizarre options have been explored including a certain micro-nation sea platform you might remember.
The financial backers of WikiLeaks are reportedly concerned about prosecution if the site data is stored anywhere that US law can reach. The servers are currently based in Sweden and Iceland. The idea has been floating that WikILeaks might set up shop on the micro-nation of Sealand. This is a WWII-era anti-aircraft platform that The Pirate Bay briefly considered using. Sealand is in international waters, and might afford some legal protection.
Another notion is even a bit more unusual: boats. Some have reported on plans to place servers on old military barges in international waters. The logistics of this plan, and the Sealand strategy, seem dubious at best. Servers have been run from Sealand, which has Internet access, but will WikiLeaks make the move? We don't know that this report is true, we just really hope that it is.
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Biceps
February 01, 2012 at 10:14am
This isn't very different from the whole 'data haven' idea floated by Neal Stephenson in his book, Cryptonomicon. Not sure if other people are aware of this, but you can fairly easily grow an island just by running an electrical current through an uninsulated cable in the ocean - over time, calcium carbonate builds up on the cable and you have a structure. So, while a boat could sink or be sunk, with some solar cells and cables and careful planning, you could fairly cheaply build and entire network of artificial server islands. And cheap means replaceable. Now THAT would be cool.
Hey.That_Dude
February 01, 2012 at 10:25pm
And the acid rain would do what to those Islands? And how many amps you would need to make that much CaCO3 build up....
Biceps
February 02, 2012 at 6:36pm
Ah, skeptic! Well, the islands only form at or below the water line, so you'd probably have to worry more about the acidity of the ocean than acid rain. I guess it is more of a reef than an island. Just Googled it - it's from a company called Biorock.
From Planetsave.com:
Biorock makes steel frames suitable for underwater use that have a strength comparable to concrete. A low power electrical current is run through the frames and helps to stimulate the growth of limestone rock and corals (it does not harm animals). You can see some photos of Biorock’s technology at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=ZBQlZEydzJoI do completely realize this is a bit of a hair-brained idea, but you never know.
Hey.That_Dude
February 03, 2012 at 8:25pm
Ah, I was envisioning mounds of CaCO3 in the ocean. That's just a safe guard for steel from the corrosive ocean. Cool though.
LatiosXT
February 01, 2012 at 9:07am
Wouldn't it be a logistical nightmare to keep a server farm up and running in a disused platform? Wikileaks won't be able to keep its services free unless it starts charging for membership or achieves more than 50% ad to content ratio.
win7fanboi
February 01, 2012 at 7:43am
If this works you know whats next, pirate website setting up shop in middle of the ocean. Would be ironic though if the Somalian pirates raided the pirate site servers.
biggiebob12345
January 31, 2012 at 7:46pm
Let them move to a boat or platform. All the easier for our govt. to either park a jamming boat next door or cut their internet cable in the middle of the night.
Hey.That_Dude
February 01, 2012 at 9:13am
within 13 miles and they(Sealand) have the legal rights to blow the crap out of that boat. Try jamming a sat. from 13 miles away. OH! and they can use all the Sat. freqs. to have some pretty amazing bandwidth... terrible latency.
Ghok
January 31, 2012 at 7:34pm
The best defence against Wikileaks is to not do shit that a lot of people find immoral at best and evil at worse.
If you must do questionable things (and I have no doubt, governments have to make some hard choices sometimes), hide it better.
I'm glad Wikileaks is around, though sometimes they're a little too weird for their own good.
KenLV
January 31, 2012 at 4:55pm
Hmmmm...last time I checked, they don't try to arrest the servers, they go after the people. So, unless Ass-ange is planning on moving into the middle of the sea it wouldn't help him a bit. Not that I'm against the idea as it would at least reduce his pool of available women to (allegedly) molest.
Of course you ALSO have to be able to reliably get your data to and from the hidie-hole. And how tough would it be to stop that from happening?
The Corrupted One
January 31, 2012 at 7:33pm
Satellites signals would mysteriously have bad reception in the middle of the ocean.
A fishhook would mysteriously pierce the very expensive undersea DSL cable.
Eoraptor
January 31, 2012 at 4:22pm
What's really freaking sad is that in today's political corporate climate, this is not THAT irrational a plan of action.
Biceps
January 31, 2012 at 3:37pm
Honestly, this is an interesting idea that will provide them with exactly no added security. Know who the US won't bomb? Sweden and Iceland. Know what place could very easily have an 'accident' that sent it oh-so-unfortunately tumbling into the frothing oceans below? Sealand. Just sayin'.
Maybe for a mirror server, but don't put all your eggs in one basket if you are pissing off a superpower on a daily basis.
The Corrupted One
January 31, 2012 at 7:31pm
Haven't the EU special forces already invaded the platform some time ago?
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