Bank Of America Sets Up WikiLeaks Defense Team

In a burst of wikipanic, Bank of America has dived into full-on counterespionage mode.

In an interview from October 2009, WikiLeaks director Julian Assange told Computer World that his organization was in possession of cache of information taken from a 5GB hard drive of a Bank of America executive. It apparently took until November of this year for the news to sink in at BofA, where, according to the New York Times, they have now launched a broad internal investigation, in an attempt to discover the content and source of the alleged leak.

"If something happens, we want to be ready," one bank official told the NYT. "You want to know what your options are before it comes out, rather than have to decide on the spot."

15 to 20 bank officials, along with consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, will be "scouring thousands of documents in the event that they become public, reviewing every case where a computer has gone missing and hunting for any sign that its systems might have been compromised."

So far, the team hasn't found the source of the leak. As for the content, the NYT reports that the counterespionage task force is focussing closely on BofA's acquisition of Merrill Lynch, which was investigated by the SEC in 2009 and 2010, along with the bank's acquisition of the ailing mortgage giant Countrywide Financial in 2008.

As Assange put it in a recent Forbes interview, his organization latest link will detail the "the ecosystem of corruption" in corporate America.

No word yet as to when this newest material will be leaked, but according to the Computer World interview, the delay may be a matter of presentation. "It's a difficult problem. We could just dump it all into one giant Zip file, but we know for a fact that has limited impact. To have impact, it needs to be easy for people to dive in and search it and get something out of it."

As for the impact, Assange wants the world to think enron. "For this," Assange told Forbes, "there's only one similar example. It's like the Enron e-mails."

The day of Assange's Forbes interview, Bank of America had its worst day since May 2009.

Read the full piece at the NYT.

Comments

[ThinkyMcgee]

05:35 PM on 01/22/2011

Bank of America treated me so poorly, it is a wonder they have any customers at all. Charged me outrageous fees for the tiniest infractions, charged fees on a closed account, cancelled a credit card while I was on vacation because they misfiled my SS number and wanted me to come in to a branch so that they could clear it up (which I of course could not because they had no banks in Hawaii). And I have a great credit rating, it's not like I'm someone payday advancing or that has credit card debt.

I have no doubt that the emails are all about how they can charge exorbitant fees on the tiniest of infractions, and trying to suck the most money from the people with the least.

[Rob Skelton]

05:46 PM on 01/17/2011

F.U.B.O.A. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvEIYH3iL94

[ConnieInCleveland]

08:04 AM on 01/17/2011

No matter what the Justice Department thinks about the act of 'whistle blowing', a crime is a crime. The exposed criminals should be prosecuted! It shouldn't take a whistle blower to get justice, but if that's what it takes, so be it.

To not prosecute corporations and individuals exposed by the 'whistle blower' would be a injustice of the worst kind.

Some are calling for cuts in social programs. IMHO stopping crimes, which are pilfering millions illegally would be the best place to start. If ordinary Americans are going to make sacrifices to get the budget back on track, the wealthy should at least be held accountable, if someone 'blows the whistle', i.e. exposes the truth!

Accountability and shame is a necessity!

Yes we can!

[BillKen]

09:57 PM on 01/09/2011

I first did business with B of A about thirty years ago. I had a new business and thought B of A
would be great place to bank but unfortunately what I found was a bank that was not customer
friendly and was just crazy about fees. The relationship lasted a year and I cut my loses and went elsewhere. I do all my banking through the credit union now and find that my business is appreciated. I think this Wikileaks document dump couldn't be happening to a more deserving
and disgusting business organization. Semper Fi

[BullmastiffDog]

09:41 AM on 01/06/2011

I'm pretty sure I will have to pay a higher fee for that.

[Coyote1177]

10:59 PM on 01/05/2011

We need to invest in infra structure and re-up our manufacturing and science with all newer cleaner and better. We are so big. We are developed, we have comppetant and capable and willing people, we have our own food water, military. We do not need to depend on China. Let them peddle their wares to others.

[Coyote1177]

10:58 PM on 01/05/2011

I think we should throw out all credit scores and zero all debts fold the banks and start over with new money and new rules that benefit the majority of the people in the Usa not the other way around. Wish they would have done that instead of Tarp, I even wrote to some of my elected officials who I beleive were some of the few to vote against Tarp.

[Coyote1177]

10:48 PM on 01/05/2011

What are they so worried about. Nothing has been relaesed and laready they are defending? Must be pretty bad. As I suspected.

[vascopyjama]

01:31 AM on 01/05/2011

May you live in interesting times.

[Coyote1177]

10:49 PM on 01/05/2011

The chinese have cursed us!

[Orwellian]

12:45 AM on 01/05/2011

You mean there's gong to be some bonus earning and knocky knees instead of the usual 5-star resort conferences with complimentary massages on the company?

Sweet.

[loki]

10:14 PM on 01/04/2011

and the millions of dollars it will cost them to cover their arses from their wrong doings? will be passed along to BOA customers. Enjoy!!

[Debbie McPherson]

12:01 PM on 01/08/2011

loki
 
I have heard that many BOA customers are deserting the rat invested ship every day - best way to dismantle a too big too fail bank  - take your money out of it !!!!Best idea. In fact, why would anyone keep their money there, now???

[TexasTreader]

12:07 PM on 01/08/2011

True. I'm seriously considering opening a new account in my mattress.

[Wealth-to-Freedom]

08:33 PM on 01/04/2011

Missing Computers and hard drives which they cannot figure out who. Really?

Go Wikileaks get the Bank of America out into the public scrutiny. It is getting better and better.

[Mik McAllister]

09:16 PM on 01/04/2011

I know where every hard drive I have ever had has gone. I also know what was on those hard drives at the time they left my possession.

When copyrighted material I had created was sold on eBay, and subsequently used in mass publication of material I was not credited for, I knew exactly who was to blame.

Most IT departments have extensive tracking databases. BoA is blowing smoke. They know exactly what is missing.

In all likelihood, this team is set up only to provide that smoke-screen. You can bet they have other people working on options to offset the release.

[digdeeper]

06:24 AM on 01/08/2011

Interesting take, thanks.

[floodmfx]

12:34 PM on 01/04/2011

Wikileaks must have them good - if they are gearing up their defense already

[marleysghost]

12:24 PM on 01/04/2011

We need a legion of hackers and a full scale assault on the banking and military industrial complex and flood the world with raw data that cannot be denied - then expose the miscreants and demand redress.

[Justin Stamper]

03:20 PM on 01/04/2011

Sounds good!

[Debbie McPherson]

12:05 PM on 01/08/2011

marleys
 
I'll be big business wishes they had bribed Congress to outlaw the internet a long time ago  - it's just marvelous how secrets are getting out and spreading like wildfire - Assange is wonderful, a real hero for the serfs who have been forced to serve the secret greed and conspiarcy between Big Business and Govt  - I hope he has a lot more and I hope that more and more internet genius' come out with ways to hacks and release all the dirty little secrets...it's at the least very fun to think about pulling back the veil and revealing the corruption so it can not be denied...

[Robert Oxsalida]

11:03 AM on 01/04/2011

Bank of America should be worried about Julian Assange, This Bank has taken so much money and is still unwilling to give loans. I hope he reveals their internal corruption. Things need to be made more transparent with BOA and other banks like Citi, etc. Everyone needs to be held accountable! The American has the right to know!

[Coyote1177]

10:50 PM on 01/05/2011

Want to know bad!