Founded in 1996 by John Young and Deborah Natsios, Cryptome became an online archive for material about government secrecy, intelligence, privacy, cryptography, and national security. The site published alleged identities linked to the CIA, Stasi, Japan’s PSIA, and British intelligence, along with diplomatic cables, surveillance documents, infrastructure maps, and instructions concerning critical-infrastructure attacks and illegal hacking. The New York Times criticized its publication of gas-pipeline maps in 2004 under the headline “Advise the Public, Tip Off the Terrorists,” while Reader’s Digest in 2005 alleged that the material could put lives at risk.
Cryptome’s operating philosophy made the risks explicit: Young said the site expected false documents but did not consider verification its responsibility, and warned users that it lacked technical measures to protect anonymous sources. Critics including Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists and former CIA officer Peter Earnest argued that publishing names and private information could cause serious personal harm; Glenn Greenwald likewise criticized Cryptome for posting maps to the homes of journalists in 2014. The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Cindy Cohn praised Cryptome in 2013 as a safety valve for exposing government activity, illustrating the enduring conflict between transparency and uncontrolled disclosure. Cryptome closed in 2023 amid a dispute over Julian Assange’s prosecution, then reopened soon afterward.
