The name is Assange....Julian Assange

 When I first heard about WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, my initial reaction was "Wow...This is cool!"

Initially, I thought he was just an idealistic pro-freedom of information activist, seeking to expose wrongdoings by those with position and power. Then it turns out he was a legendary hacker himself,  having started at the age of 16 under the name "Mendax".

His involvement in helping release documents supplied by a military officer is reminiscent of those Out-In-The-Cold John Le Carre novels where the protagonist finally gets revenge on his evil former 'masters' by exposing and making public their secrets.

Even as the police of several countries close in on him, Assange manages to launch an 'insurance scheme'...sending out most of his documents over the Internet in encrypted form and available to practically anyone, yet accessible only by inserting the keyword that will be delivered 'in case something happens to him'.

Wanted for questioning on suspicion of sexual offences allegedly committed in Sweden, Assange was arrested by the London Metropolitan Police on Dec 7 2010 after a voluntary meeting. Assange has said that the accusation against him is a "set-up" arranged by the enemies of WikiLeaks.

He remains in the custody of London police...for now. He might be extradited to Sweden for the sexual offences charge, or to the US for the leak of classified diplomatic cables. Both charges will be difficult to stick.

Assange is worth more to any government as an "asset" (spy-speak again) than a liability. If the information he leaked now is damaging, imagine what he'll be able to get in the future. It was reported that he began hacking into US government files years before WikiLeaks was even set up.

Whoever Assange ends up being a 'friendly party' to, could either have the upper hand of potential access to the secrets of other nations and/or the technical superiority to withstand attacks by other hackers.

It will be interesting to see how this story develops.