Latvian officials struggled Wednesday to come to grips with an enigmatic group that stole millions of classified tax documents from government computers in a purported effort to expose waste and graft in Europe’s weakest economy.

The massive data theft from the tax authority’s computer system has raised concerns about cybersecurity in the Baltic country.

It has also embarrassed politicians and other public officials whose income and wealth – often many times the national average – are being exposed to the public at a time when Latvia is undergoing painful budget cutbacks to rebound from a severe recession.

News of the electronic security breach surfaced last week, when an organization calling itself the People’s Army of the Fourth Awakening told Latvian TV it had downloaded millions of classified documents over several months from the revenue service’s Web site.

One of the group’s members, who uses the name “Neo” - apparently in reference to the hero of the popular “Matrix” films – has been making some of the documents available on the Internet.

On Wednesday “Neo” published salaries of members of Latvia’s police force and, in comments on a Twitter account, said “I call on the police union to analyze the data and determine whether the salary reform is fair and to continue the fight against crime.”

Earlier this week “Neo” released data showing that the CEO of Riga’s heating company, Aris Zigurs, paid himself a 16,000 lat ($32,000) bonus last year – a hefty sum for a city-owned utility, especially at a time when many municipal workers have had their salaries slashed. Zigurs confirmed to Latvian media the data was accurate.

It is unclear where “Neo” and the other organization members – if they exist – are located, though “Neo” has indicated that he or she is currently abroad. Even “Neo’s” gender remains a mystery, though local media believe it is a man.

“Who is Neo?” asked a Twitter entry on Wednesday. “Behind Neo’s mask is something more than flesh, behind this mask is an idea that hopefully no one in power can stop.”

While some government officials have questioned “Neo’s” motives, many Latvians are supportive.

“There is very little trust in Latvia’s institutions right now, so anyone who can expose the system is going to be a hero,” said Juris Kaza, a political commentator and blogger.

Latvia’s economy is the weakest in the European Union, with unemployment reaching 23 percent. It is currently carrying out painful social reforms, and many public employees have had their salaries slashed up to 50 percent.

History of Latvia – cyber whistleblower shocks Latvians

Top government officials earn approximately 2,000 lats ($4,000) a month and in some cases more, while teachers have seen their monthly salaries slashed by approximately one-third over the past year to some 300 lats ($600).

Discontent has soared, making it possible for cyber-activists such as “Neo” to win people’s admiration.

“Judging by the overall reaction, it seems that Latvians are getting some new heroes – a sort of Robin Hood,” Maris Kucinskis, the head of parliament’s national security council, told Latvian Radio on Tuesday.

The nation’s security council discussed the breach and expressed concern that only 50 percent of the country’s 175 state-run data systems have security oversight. President Valdis Zatlers called for immediate action to install proper security on all systems.

Computer experts concluded that the breach did not constitute a cyber-attack and was the result of poorly developed software and systems management.

Police, meanwhile, are searching for “Neo” and other suspects behind the data theft. Police chief Valdis Voins said Latvia has turned to other countries for assistance in the investigation.

“One thing is clear now – we’re only at the beginning of a long investigation,” police spokeswoman Ieva Reksna said.

Canadian Whistleblower Richard Colvin will get paid

Canadian Whistleblower Richard Colvin will get paid by the federal government for the diplomat’s legal fees. Richard Colvin is the Canadian who blew the whistle on alleged Afghan prisoner abuse.

At the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade an official said that two invoices from Mr. Colvin’s previous lawyer, in the amount of $20,000, are being paid and payment for a third invoice, which was submitted in December, has been met with approval.

Additional funds have also been set aside to a maximum of $50,000, to pay potential and additional legal expenses, according to Joffre LeBlanc.

In a letter sent to the Military Police Complaints Commission, Mr. Colvin’s Toronto attorney, Owen Rees, said his client believed the Canadian government was refusing to pay his legal bills as payback for Mr. Colvin’s revelations before a special House of Commons committee in the fall.

Mr. Rees said the government was basically not paying Mr. Colvin’s legal fees after his testimony.

Mr. Colvin, currently an intelligence officer at the Canadian embassy in Washington, revealed to the Canada committee that several senior government officials were aware that Canadian Forces in Afghanistan were handing over detainees to face likely torture by Afghani authorities in 2006 – 2007.

His allegations rocked the government and led to furious denials from generals, former generals and cabinet ministers, including Defence Minister Peter MacKay, who questioned Mr. Colvin’s credibility.

Conservative MPs on the Afghan committee made claims that Mr. Colvin had been a victim of fraud by Taliban propaganda.

Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh says it is ridiculous that Mr. Colvin has had to fight so hard to retain independent legal representation, and he doesn’t believe the department was merely slow to respond to the request for money.

“The Harper Conservatives did not hesitate to pay former prime minister Brian Mulroney’s legal fees,” said Mr. Dosanjh. “Taxpayers paid over $2-million to cover Mr. Mulroney’s legal costs at the inquiry into his dealings with [German-Canadian businessman] Karlheinz Schreiber.”

A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office suggested politics played no role in either case. “In both cases, the decision to reimburse legal fees was taken at the departmental level,” Andrew MacDougall said.

At this time, two of the three opposition parties claim they’ve heard the government will not restart the committee on Afghanistan once Canadian Parliament returns from its forced hiatus. The committee is where the most attrocious revelations about the treatment of Afghan prisoners have been revealed.

Prime Minister Harper’s decision to prorogue Parliament dissolved all committees. It would take the unanimity from all parties in the House of Commons to re-start the opposition-dominated committee.

However a spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office said opposition parties are making a fuss about nothing.

“Afghanistan remains a public policy priority, and the special committee on Afghanistan will be reconstituted once the new session begins,” deputy press secretary Andrew MacDougall said Wednesday.

New Democratic MP Paul Dewar was cynical about this. “They shut down Parliament,” said Mr. Dewar, the party’s foreign affairs critic. “I don’t put anything past them. They could kill a committee. That’s nothing.”

The Liberal Party is also critical, but Bloc Québécois defence critic Claude Bachand seemed prepared to give the Tories the benefit of the doubt. “I don’t think they can stop the committee,” said Mr. Bachand.

Demands made by opposition committee members to see uncensored documentation in December created a standoff with the Conservative government.

The Liberals introduced a motion demanding that the records be put forward; failing that, Mr. MacKay could be called before the “bar” in Parliament to respond to questions, and could even be removed from his seat if found in contempt.

General Rick Hillier – Colvin Testimony on Detainee Torture Ludicrous

The confusing regulatory mess

A whistleblower complaint got a little messy Tuesday morning as lawyers argued about whether Manitobans should pay higher power rates while things get sorted out.

Manitoba Hydro did ask the Public Utilities Board for a 2.9 per cent rate hike effective April 1. But it’s clear the “mega-hearing” needed to determine whether Hydro deserves a rate increase will take months longer than that, especially if the whistleblower’s concerns over Hydro’s financial and power supply risks spark an entirely separate hearing.

In the meantime, the PUB is considering whether Hydro needs more money from homeowners now – perhaps a 2.9 per cent hike, or something less than that.

But some intervenors at Tuesday’s hearing said Hydro shouldn’t be rewarded for stalling the regulatory process and releasing only a trickle of documents. The province’s big corporate power users said giving Hydro a rate hike without a real hearing would set an “injurious and unprincipled precedent.”

Whistleblower asks Manitoba Hydro about $160 million

Hydro argued it needed modest and regular rate hikes to maintain its good financial picture.

Meanwhile, at the downtown courthouse, Hydro began an appeal to force the whistleblower to hand over her reports to KPMG, another consulting firm Hydro has hired to test the whistleblower’s findings that Hydro could face bankruptcy and blackouts.

Yet another hearing is likely later this week to discuss a ban on publication.