QUOTE(radek @ Thu 7th July 2011, 12:38am)
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QUOTE(No one of consequence @ Wed 6th July 2011, 10:40pm)
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I have no comment as to the accuracy of the guess, but retired arbitrators continued to have full access to the Arbcom mailing list until sometime in 2009 (if I recall correctly). After some controversy over something or other, and some early leaks that may or may not have been Wikileaker, Arbcom closed the Arbcom mailing list to all but current arbitrators only, and also created the functionaries mailing list, which checkusers, oversighters and past arbcom members in addition to current arbcom members are eligible to join.
The implication of this presumes that they change the password (or whatever guards access to these super sekrit archives) frequently. If not, then someone who had access to it pre 2009 (with some kind of axe to grind), who's access got removed, still could have gone back more recently and checked if "the old password still works" and then...
Maybe it sounds a little far fetched but from what I understand a lot of these security breaches occur for mundane reasons like this. And the leaker did say that the reason for the leak was "stupidity" and this certainly fits the scenario.
I'm under the impression that each Arbcom-L user has an individual username and password, just like on Wikipedia or the Review. Sam Korn's login would have been disabled on January 16, 2009, when he and the other old-timers were removed from access to Arbcom-L. Perhaps the login was not disabled but he also didn't receive new messages. Any other former arbitrator from that time could comment here on what happened. Thatcher commented but he wasn't an arbitrator so he has no direct knowledge of what Sam Korn would have found different.
Thus, there wasn't one password to ArbCom-L -- unless there was.
I've also concluded that Sam Korn may be "Anonymous editor" here on Wikipedia Review. If I'm correct, it would enable me to continue our conversation from two years ago at "False statements at RFA" thread. I haven't examined "Anonymous editor"'s pattern enough to know with confidence, but one clue suggests that he is Wikileaker (both accounts tell someone else "You are a child"). Another clue suggests Anonymous editor is Sam Korn ("I know everything about you, Shalom, your name, your..."). Sam Korn checkusered me or at least reported results to me. This was before "Anonymous editor" taunted me in that way.
This post has been edited by Shalom: