Information security specialists claim that Julian Assange, the controversial cyber activist and founder of WikiLeaks platform, was constantly spied on for seven years, time he remained a political refugee at the embassy premises of Ecuador in London.
According to reports, a security company called
Undercover Global, based in Spain, was in charge of spying on the activist
as much as possible. The company showed special interest in monitoring meetings
between Assange and his lawyers, collecting a large amount of audio and video.
According to information security experts, the
company would have been hired by the government of Ecuador as a security
measure against the possible consequences of keeping Assange as a refugee from
the Ecuadorian government. Files compiled by the security company have
reportedly included secret plans to take Assange to Russia or, failing that, to
Cuba. However, the activist would have refused to make this move, considering
it a defeat of his campaign.
Surveillance over Assange increased throughout
the administration of Lenin Moreno, President of Ecuador; according to
information security experts, the Ecuadorian government even subjected the
activist to some psychological tests, as well as paternity tests to determine
if he was the father of the baby of one of his collaborators. Finally, in April
2019 Lenin Moreno allowed British authorities to enter the embassy to detain
Assange.
Sources close to Ecuador’s London embassy say
Assange already suspected he was spied on; due to this suspicion the activist
began to take security measures such as the use of a voice distorter, as well
as shifting their meetings to random places, such as women’s restrooms in the
embassy.
Assange is currently being held in the UK and,
according to specialists from the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS),
U.S. justice seeks his extradition, accusing him of illegally publishing
thousands of secret documents from the U.S. State Department, in addition to
leaking classified information about American military campaigns in the Middle
East.
