Missing Cybersecurity Expert Is Latest Mystery Surrounding WikiLeaks

By Aaron Kesel

A WikiLeaks associate and well-known information security author behind “Information Security for Journalists” has gone missing according to the WikiLeaks Twitter account.

.@JulianAssange associate and author of "Information Security for Journalists" @ArjenKamphuis has disappeared according to friends (@ncilla) and colleagues. Last seen in Bodø, #Norway, 11 days ago on August 20. pic.twitter.com/dV75NGKpgI

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 31, 2018

Arjen Kamphuis, 47, was last seen in Bodø, Norway, 16 days ago on August 20th. According to police, Kamphuis purchased camping equipment including a folding Kayak and may have gone hiking.

It’s worth noting that the phone had its sim card switched to a German sim card, NL Times reported. Dutch police further detailed that Arjen’s phone was turned on for a short time last week.

Arjen was supposed to return to the Netherlands on August 22nd, but never made it back. His employer reported him missing on August 29th, according to the police.

Arjen was last seen in Bodø on August 20th. Ten days later, on August 30th, the phone was turned on in the vicinity of Vikeså, south of Stavanger.

The phone was powered on for 20 minutes according to Dutch investigators.

The police do not assume a crime; however, they are using a special unit Kripos in the search. Kripos is a unit that investigates organized crime and is used in cases of missing persons, RTL Nieuws reported.

That isn’t enough for family and friends who haven’t spoken to him or seen him in 16 days. There is great concern over the disappearance of Arjen. Especially since Arjen is a person of interest for spies according to Peter Tatchell, an independent WikiLeaks commentator and human rights campaigner who spoke to Sputnik.

The Dutch cybersecurity expert worked in collaboration with the international news agency Reuters and WikiLeaks to train journalists in the field of information security. Arjen was also known to have cooperated with various whistleblowers.

Notably, if something questionable happened WikiLeaks has faced a number of suspicious circumstances happening to its organization, starting with the death of two developers of WikiLeaks inspired submission system “SecureDrop,” security expert James Dolan; and Aaron Swartz, said to have taken his own life at age 26 after being persecuted by U.S. prosecutors.

It is suspicious enough that WikiLeaks released ominous tweets highlighting that none of the organization’s employees, volunteers or associates have any psychological health problems or drug problems that could lead to sudden death.

NOTE: No present WikiLeaks staff, including our editor, have medical, psychological or drug conditions which could lead to sudden death.

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 13, 2017

Not to mention that WikiLeaks – the recently recognized institution of journalism by UK tribunal – had an incident in 2016 where someone tried to break into the embassy where its founder Julian Assange has been held for the past 5 years held illegally.

19 mins ago at 2:47am an unknown man scaled the side wall+window of the Ecuadorian embassy in London; fled after being caught by security.

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 22, 2016

Shortly before that tweeted warning, WikiLeaks did actually have two strange deaths of lawyers who represented Julian Assange within less than a month of each other: John Jones who died on April 18th, 2016; and Michael Ratner who died May 11, 2016. Jones was found dead on the train tracks at West Hampstead Thameslink station. Ratner was said by the New York Times to have died of “complications of cancer.”

The official narrative being pushed on Jones’ death was a suicide. However, the publication has seemed to hint there was potential “foul play” involved, tweeting out a ruling by a court last year shortly after the unknown man tried to climb in Assange’s balcony. The inquest found that the death of Jones was not a ‘suicide’, which opens the door to lawsuits.

Inquest rules that death of Julian Assange's lawyer, John Jones QC, was not 'suicide', opening door to law suits https://t.co/WRJZLvT4S9

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 21, 2016

Here’s hoping that the efforts being organized find Arjen safe in the mountains, and he’s not another WikiLeaks associate that vanishes or dies mysteriously.

In December of last year, WikiLeaks had its main law office in Madrid broken into by three people dressed in all black in hoodies who very professionally taped up security cameras and rummaged through documents, Activist Post reported.

So WikiLeaks has had an eventful last couple years; the fact that another associate is currently missing is worrying.

Friends and family are spreading the hashtag #FindArjen in support, digging into security cameras at the Scandic Havet in Bodø in the north of Norway where Arjen was last seen and anything that might help to find his whereabouts.

“We investigate where he has traveled, information about the hotels he visited, telecommunications, and question people who may have missing information,” The Norway authorities said. adding “At the moment there is no reason to assume that there is a crime, but we keep all possibilities open.”

Aaron Kesel writes for Activist Post. Support us at Patreon. Follow us on Minds, Steemit, SoMee, BitChute, Facebook and Twitter. Ready for solutions? Subscribe to our premium newsletter Counter Markets.