Hacktivists may target feds working on WikiLeaks case

An Army investigator and a contracted computer forensics specialist connected to the pre-trial hearing of Pfc. Bradley Manning may find themselves on the receiving end of a hacktivist group's plot, reports NextGov.

Manning faces 22 charges of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents from the Defense and State departments to WikiLeaks. Public chat rooms associated with the Anonymous group have been discussing possible actions against Lt. Col. Paul Almanza and ManTech computer forensics expert Mark Johnson, according to Internet consultant Gregg Housh. Almanza is presiding over Manning's Article 32 hearing and Johnson testified about communications between Manning and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. However, Housh says no specific plan has been agreed upon.

Anonymous has previously shown its support for WikiLeaks with distributed denial-of-service attacks against PayPal for terminating WikiLeaks' account, as well as a calling for a legal boycott of the payment site.