Julian Assange is the founder of WikiLeaks, the Internet-based publishing organisation which makes headlines around the world by releasing suppressed information about corporate, government and military corruption and misconduct. In 2012 Assange co-authored the book Cypherpunks about the encroaching mass surveillance of the internet. When Edward Snowden, the former NSA intelligence contractor, revealed the detail and extent of mass US government surveillance, WikiLeaks stepped in with legal and logistical advice and successfully helped him avoid US extradition and gain political asylum.