Who was Adrián Lamo, the "vagrant hacker" who betrayed WikiLeaks' informant, Chelsea Manning

"I knew my actions could cost him his life." The words belong to Adrián Lamo, known to have betrayed the soldier of the time Bradley Manning. And in this text, he refers specifically to this fact. This is Lamo who recounted that Manning had leaked confidential information about the US military and WikiLeaks' secret services.

Manning revealed to the portal created by Julian Assange thousands of clbadified documents about the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, including diplomatic cables and the video of the army known as "collateral killing", showing how a helicopter killed a group of civilians in Iraq, including two journalists from Reuters.

Lamo has always claimed that he had to reveal the information to protect his country. He learned the existence of the escape thanks to the confessions made by the soldier of the time.

"It was not easy, of course, but a soldier put it in the hands of WikiLeaks and who knows what thousands of secret documents of foreign governments are managed by foreign governments," he told the journalist David Alandete.

The immediate consequence of his statement was the arrest of Manning in 2010. Three years later, the sentence was known: 35 years in prison after being convicted of 20 counts of the 22 qu or 39 he had worn.

Before betraying the soldier, Lamo's name was already circulating in the media. In February 2002, he hacked the internal network of the New York Times. He entered the journal system, accessed the personal information of contributors, and modified the databases to include his name in the list of columnists.

He also used the LexisNexis system to research and research different topics. Lamo received the nickname "roaming computer hacker" because he was leaking from bars, cafes or public access points to the wifi.

He traveled frequently and for a while he did not know a fixed address. Lamo moved from one place to another in the country because he felt persecuted and threatened in a particular place. He knew that his ability as a hacker could cause him problems.

In August 2002, Lamo was invited to participate in the program. NBC Nightly News and demonstrated his skills by joining the NBC network. In just five minutes, he was able to navigate through internal messages, memos, information about advertiser fees, and more. Soon, they came out of the air.

The newspaper New York Times he continued and in August 2003, an arrest warrant was issued. Lamo went to court a few months later and pleaded guilty to crimes for which he was accused of illegally accessing the newspaper systems, Microsoft and LexisNexis.

The following year, he was sentenced to six months of house arrest, two years of probation and compensation of USD 65,000. Lamo was also found guilty of breaching the computer security of Microsoft, WorldCom and Yahoo.

After these episodes, Lamo went through a deep depression for which he was treated. In 2010, he was hospitalized after his father called the Sacramento County Police Department because his son was showing signs of overdose.

During his hospitalization, he was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, which is usually manifested by difficulties of social interaction, anxiety and limited interests. Usually, people with this disorder have an observation capacity more acute than usual and a more developed ability in some areas.

"I have always said that what I have done is not necessarily technical, it is to see things differently. So, if my brain is connected in another way, it makes sense, "said Lamo after experiencing his diagnosis, as he had published. wired.

Lamo frequently wrote about the Quora social network. In 2017, he published the book "Ask Adrian" (Ask Adrian), a collection of favorite queries you have received on this portal.

Lamo pbaded away on March 14, 2018 at age 37. He was found dead in his apartment in Wichita, Kansas. "A brilliant spirit and a soul of compbadion have disappeared, he was my beloved son," wrote his father, Mario Lamo, on Facebook.

From the Twitter account that defends the cause of Assange (Defend the Assange CampaignThe following text was published when his death was announced: "The coroner announced the death of the FBI snake, Adrian Lamo, Lamo, a fake journalist, a small criminal and a traitor of fundamental human dignity, who promised to Chelsea Manning a journalistic protection., friendship and support, then he sold to the FBI. "