WikiLeaks relaunches completely anonymous submission system

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange addresses the media and his supporters from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he is taking refuge. WikiLeaks sources will be kept completely anonymous from even the site's operators thanks to a revamped submission system, founder Julian Assange announced Friday. The controversial site launched a new Beta version to protect whistleblowers' identities from state surveillance, keeping "national security sourcing in mind." “WikiLeaks will continue publishing, as it has since its foundation, full archives of suppressed documents in strategic global partnerships,” Assange said in a post on the site. It has not had a truly anonymous system for more than four years, after disgruntled staffers took control of the site's platform in October 2010, Wired reported. The group continued to spill state and company secrets by publishing without revealing how the information was obtained. The revamped system will allow anonymous users to upload directly to the site and choose when it goes live. WikiLeaks announced it has a new submission system aimed to protect its users’ identity. wikileaks.org WikiLeaks announced it has a new submission system aimed to protect its users’ identity. "We had to rethink this and rework it, and put a lot of expertise into updating it and upgrading it," spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson told Wired. "We're hoping for a good flow of information through this gateway." WikiLeaks funded four research projects to find the best way to maintain its users' anonymity through online submissions. Hrafnsson did not detail how the new system worked, just that, "we've wanted to make sure we can deliver on the promise that people can give us information without being traced." It has been up and running for a few weeks for testing, Hrafnsson said. The anti-secrecy group became a household name in 2010 with the release of more than 700,000 classified State Department cables while the anonymous server was still in place. U.S. Army Private First Class Chelsea Manning (3rd l., then known as Bradley Manning) was sentenced for leaking secrets in 2013. GARY CAMERON/Reuters U.S. Army Private First Class Chelsea Manning (3rd l., then known as Bradley Manning) was sentenced for leaking secrets in 2013. Officials discovered Bradley Manning, now Chelsea Manning, was behind the monumental leak after a computer search found Manning had looked up classified military networks related to the released documents. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013. WikiLeaks also created a searchable database of hacked Sony emails, making it even easier for people to find the already-available documents. The new system also allows users to mark down whether sources need protection. WikiLeaks helped Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency whistleblower, find asylum in Russia. "There was only one publisher that said, 'We want to help the source, we want to make sure he's ok, we want to make sure that, no matter what happens, he has somebody on his side," Snowden reportedly said. "And that was WikiLeaks." Assange has taken refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London after he was accused of sex crimes in Sweden.