Julian Assange

Julian Assange is an Australian publisher, editor, and programmer who launched WikiLeaks in 2006. Born in Townsville and raised in various parts of Australia before settling in Melbourne, he joined the hacker community and later took over running Suburbia Public Access Network, one of Australia's first public internet service providers. He authored or co-authored encryption and network programs, including the Rubberhose deniable encryption system and the Strobe port scanner. As WikiLeaks' editor-in-chief, he oversaw its publication of leaked documents, including the Collateral Murder video, Afghan and Iraq war logs, and U.S. diplomatic cables. The organization also published Bank Julius Baer documents. He has won more than two dozen awards for publishing and journalism, among them the 2009 Amnesty International New Media Award. He contributed research to the 1997 book Underground and cooperated on the Swedish television documentary WikiRebels.