Rise to Success: Career Highlights of Julian Assange
Discover the career path of Julian Assange, from the first major opportunity to industry-changing achievements.
Julian Assange, an Australian editor, publisher, and activist, founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He gained international prominence in 2010 following WikiLeaks' publication of leaked materials from Chelsea Manning, including footage of a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, war logs from Afghanistan and Iraq, and U.S. diplomatic cables. While lauded by some for his work in journalism and publishing, he has also faced legal challenges and controversy.
1987: Becoming a Skilled Hacker
By 1987, at the age of 16, Julian Assange had become a skilled hacker known as Mendax. Around this time, the police raided his mother's home and confiscated his equipment due to allegations of stealing from Citibank.
1988: Hacking of the OTC Mainframes
In 1988, Julian Assange used social engineering to hack into the Overseas Telecommunications Commission's mainframes in Australia.
1989: Possible Involvement in the WANK Hack at NASA
In 1989, Julian Assange may have been involved in the WANK hack at NASA, although this has never been proven, leading to the origin of hacktivism.
September 1991: Discovery of Hacking into Nortel Terminal
In September 1991, Julian Assange was discovered hacking into the Melbourne master terminal of Nortel.
1991: Acclaimed Hacker Status
By 1991, Julian Assange was described as "probably Australia's most accomplished hacker" by The Guardian, reflecting his reputation in the hacking community.
1991: Targeting MILNET
In mid-1991, Julian Assange and two others began targeting MILNET, a US military data network.
1993: Assistance to Victoria Police
In 1993, Julian Assange provided technical support to the Victoria Police Child Exploitation Unit to prosecute individuals involved in child pornography distribution.
1994: Programming and Encryption Work
In 1994, Julian Assange began programming and authored network and encryption programs, such as the Rubberhose deniable encryption system.
November 1996: Mention of "LEAKS" Project
In November 1996, Julian Assange mentioned a "LEAKS" project in an email to lists he had created.
1996: Moderating AUCRYPTO Forum
In 1996, Julian Assange moderated the AUCRYPTO forum and ran a website providing computer security advice to 5,000 subscribers.
1996: Police Assistance Mentioned During Sentencing
In 1996, Julian Assange's role in assisting the police with child exploitation cases was discussed during his sentencing for computer hacking charges.
1997: Contribution to Underground Book
In 1997, Julian Assange contributed research to Suelette Dreyfus's Underground, a book about Australian hackers.
August 1999: Publicizing NSA Patent
In August 1999, Julian Assange publicized a patent granted to the National Security Agency for voice-data harvesting technology.
December 2006: Publication of WikiLeaks Strategy Essay
In December 2006, Julian Assange published an essay outlining the strategy behind WikiLeaks, focusing on using leaks to reduce abuse and dishonesty.
2006: Writing State and terrorist conspiracies
In 2006, Assange wrote "State and terrorist conspiracies" and "Conspiracy as governance".
2006: Establishment of WikiLeaks
In 2006, Julian Assange and a group of dissidents, mathematicians, and activists established WikiLeaks.
December 2007: Founding Supporters at Chaos Computer Club Conference
In December 2007, Julian Assange found key supporters, including Daniel Domscheit-Berg, Jacob Appelbaum, and the Swedish hosting company PRQ, at the Chaos Computer Club conference in Berlin.
2007: Travels on WikiLeaks Business
From 2007 to 2010, Julian Assange travelled continuously on WikiLeaks business, visiting Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.
2008: Writing The hidden curse of Thomas Paine
In 2008, Assange wrote "The hidden curse of Thomas Paine".
2008: WikiLeaks' Editor-in-Chief Role and Publications
In 2008, Julian Assange was WikiLeaks' editor-in-chief, overseeing the publication of internet censorship lists, leaks, and classified media from anonymous sources, including revelations about drone strikes, corruption, and extrajudicial executions.
2008: Swiss Bank Publication Attempt
In 2008, WikiLeaks' international profile increased when a Swiss bank, Bank Julius Baer, attempted to prevent the site's publication of bank records via a Californian court injunction, leading to the "Streisand effect" and drawing global attention to WikiLeaks.
2008: Publication of Tibetan Unrest Footage
In 2008, WikiLeaks, under Assange's editorship, published footage of the Tibetan unrest, contributing to its growing profile.
July 2009: Release of Turks and Caicos Islands Corruption Report
In July 2009, WikiLeaks, under Assange, released the full report of a British commission of inquiry into corruption in the Turks and Caicos Islands after an injunction had prevented its earlier publication, revealing millions in payments to senior politicians.
2009: WikiLeaks' Successes and Unfulfilled Goals
By 2009, WikiLeaks had succeeded in exposing the powerful and publishing material beyond state control, while also gaining media support for advocating freedom of speech, but fell short in crowd-sourcing analysis of documents.
2009: Amnesty International New Media Award
In 2009, Julian Assange won the Amnesty International New Media Award for a collaboration with the Sunday Times on a report about political killings in Kenya, which also led to increased public recognition of WikiLeaks.
February 2010: Publication of Leaks from Manning
In February 2010, WikiLeaks began publishing leaks provided by Chelsea Manning, significantly escalating its impact and Assange's international profile.
April 2010: Release of "Collateral Murder" Video
In April 2010, WikiLeaks released video footage of the 12 July 2007, Baghdad airstrike, titled "Collateral Murder", showing United States soldiers fatally shooting 18 civilians from a helicopter in Iraq, including Reuters journalists. The release sparked debates about war crimes.
July 2010: Publication of Afghan War Logs
In July 2010, WikiLeaks published the Afghan War logs, described by the New York Times as "a six-year archive of classified military documents [that] offers an unvarnished and grim picture of the Afghan war".
October 2010: Publication of Iraq War Logs
In October 2010, WikiLeaks published the Iraq War logs, a collection of 391,832 United States Army field reports from the Iraq War covering from 2004 to 2009. Assange hoped the publication would "correct some of that attack on the truth that occurred before the war, during the war, and which has continued after the war".
November 2010: Publication of U.S. Diplomatic Cables ("Cablegate")
In November 2010, WikiLeaks published a quarter of a million U.S. diplomatic cables, known as the "Cablegate" files, revealing United States espionage, tensions with allies, and corruption worldwide, and helping to spark the Arab Spring.
2010: Travels on WikiLeaks Business
From 2007 to 2010, Julian Assange travelled continuously on WikiLeaks business, visiting Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.
2010: Producing Collateral Murder
In 2010, Assange produced the film Collateral Murder.
2010: Autobiography Deal
In 2010, Assange received a deal for his autobiography worth at least US$1.3 million.
2010: Assange Declares Himself a Libertarian
In 2010, Assange stated he was a libertarian and that WikiLeaks was designed to make capitalism more free and ethical and to expose injustice.
2010: International Attention
In 2010, Julian Assange gained international attention after WikiLeaks published a series of leaks from Chelsea Manning, including footage of a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, military logs from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and U.S. diplomatic cables.
2011: WikiLeaks Hacking During Egyptian Revolution
According to Andrew O'Hagan, in 2011, during the Egyptian revolution, Assange and others at WikiLeaks "hacked into Nortel and fought against Mubarak's official hackers to reverse the process" when Mubarak tried to close the mobile phone networks.
2011: Writing What's new about WikiLeaks?
In 2011, Assange wrote "What's new about WikiLeaks?".
2011: Publication of Unauthorized Autobiography
In 2011, Canongate Books published Julian Assange, The Unauthorised Autobiography, which Assange disavowed.
2012: Hosting "World Tomorrow" Show
In 2012, Assange hosted the World Tomorrow show, which was broadcast by Russian network RT.
2012: Publication of Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet
In 2012, Assange wrote in his book, Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet, about his fundamental principle of "privacy for the weak, transparency for the powerful".
2012: Cypherpunks book release
In 2012, Colin Robinson co-published Assange's book Cypherpunks.
2012: "Operation Speargun" created by New Zealand government
In 2012, documents provided by Edward Snowden showed that the New Zealand government worked to establish a secret mass surveillance programme which it called "Operation Speargun".
2013: Assange considers another senate run
After the 2013 election, Assange said he thought he would try again for a Senate seat in three or six years, and that the WikiLeaks Party would continue.
2013: Assange Claims Hacker Status
In 2013, Assange declared himself the "number three" hacker in the world.
2013: Assange stands for Australian Senate
In 2013, Assange stood for the Australian Senate in Victoria and launched the WikiLeaks Party, but failed to win a seat.
2013: Launch of WikiLeaks Party
In 2013, Julian Assange launched the WikiLeaks Party and unsuccessfully ran for the Australian Senate.
2013: "Operation Speargun" created by New Zealand government
In 2013, documents provided by Edward Snowden showed that the New Zealand government worked to establish a secret mass surveillance programme which it called "Operation Speargun".
2013: Calle 13 song Multi Viral
In 2013, he received a co-writer credit for the Calle 13 song "Multi Viral".
September 2014: Assange discusses "Operation Speargun" via video link
On 15 September 2014, Assange appeared via remote video link at a town hall meeting in Auckland, discussing New Zealand's secret mass surveillance program, "Operation Speargun". He claimed Snowden documents showed he was a target.
2014: Publication of When Google Met WikiLeaks
In 2014, Assange's book When Google Met WikiLeaks was published, recounting a meeting with Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
2014: O'Hagan Writes About Ghostwriting Experience
In 2014, O'Hagan wrote about his experience as Assange's ghostwriter, detailing Assange's reluctance about the autobiography.
July 2015: WikiLeaks' Document Archive
As of July 2015, Assange said WikiLeaks had published more than ten million documents and associated analyses, describing it as "a giant library of the world's most persecuted documents".
2015: Publication of The WikiLeaks Files
In 2015, The WikiLeaks Files: The World According to The US Empire was published with an introduction by Assange.
July 2016: WikiLeaks Released DNC Emails
In July 2016, WikiLeaks released emails and documents from the Democratic National Committee (DNC), revealing efforts to undermine Bernie Sanders and favour Hillary Clinton. This led to the resignation of DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and an apology from the DNC to Sanders. The release was timed by Assange to coincide with the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
March 2017: WikiLeaks Releases Vault 7 CIA Documents
In March 2017, WikiLeaks began releasing the Vault 7 documents, which was the largest leak of CIA documents in history, revealing the agency's hacking capabilities. CIA director Mike Pompeo labeled WikiLeaks a "non-state hostile intelligence service".
June 2017: Assange Supports Reality Winner
On June 6, 2017, Assange publicly supported NSA leaker Reality Winner, who had been arrested three days prior, emphasizing the importance of encouraging non-elite sources to communicate knowledge.
2017: Assange Comments on WikiLeaks Record
In 2017, Assange stated WikiLeaks had a perfect record and that only 2 per cent of mainstream journalists were credible.
May 2019: US grand jury adds espionage charges
In May 2019, a US grand jury added 17 espionage charges related to Julian Assange's involvement with Chelsea Manning, bringing the total to 18 federal charges against him in the US. Assange's defenders argue he was simply publishing leaked information as a journalist.
May 2019: First hearing held on US extradition request
On May 2, 2019, the first hearing was held in London regarding the U.S. request for Julian Assange's extradition. He stated he did not wish to surrender himself for extradition for doing journalism. On June 13, the British home secretary signed the extradition order.
2019: Debate Over Journalistic Status
After Assange's arrest in 2019, journalists and commenters debated whether Assange was a journalist.
June 2020: New indictment filed against Assange
In June 2020, a new indictment alleged that since 2009, Julian Assange had attempted to recruit hackers and system administrators and conspired with hackers from groups like LulzSec and Anonymous.
June 2024: Plea Bargain Agreed
On June 24, 2024, a plea bargain was agreed to, where Assange would plead guilty to one felony count of violating the Espionage Act in exchange for immediate release.
June 2024: Release from Prison and Flight to Saipan
On June 24, 2024, after being released from HM Prison Belmarsh, Assange immediately flew to Saipan to attend the federal courthouse.
2024: Conflicting Views on Assange's Actions
In 2024, Assange's legal counsel referred to him as a journalist, while the US government stated his actions went beyond those of a journalist.
