WikiLeaks releases new cache of encrypted files

WikiLeaks announced Saturday that it released encrypted versions of new data on its Facebook and Twitter accounts as "insurance," but did not specify what the files would possibly protect the organization against.

The data is available to download via three separate links that lead to Bit Torrent files, for which users need an additional key to decipher the data. WikiLeaks did not disclose when the key would be released.

Several people reported having trouble downloading the data due to the large size of the files, ranging from 3.6 to 349 gigabytes – the content of which is the subject of much speculation on the Internet.

The information went up before the sentencing of whistleblower Bradley Manning, who recently apologized to the U.S. government for leaking around 750,000 classified document to Julian Assange, WikiLeaks' founder. Judge Col. Denise Lind found him guilty Wednesday on 20 of the 22 charges against him, including violating the U.S. Espionage Act.

Around two hours before the data was released, TIME journalist Michael Grunwald reportedly tweeted that he was looking forward to writing "a defense of the drone strike that takes out Julian Assange," causing a backlash online.

WikiLeaks responded by saying that it received similar threats before.

Edward Snowden, the former U.S. security contractor who leaked classified information on the National Security Agency's data surveillance program, was recently granted asylum in Russia and said that he would not leak any more information harmful to U.S. interests.

Al Jazeera and wire services