HN user
Not sure if this is the book but Confessions of an Economic Hitman details how this process evolved since the 70s into the full-blow economic warfare we (our reps, leaders, and big corps) practice today.
DDB was the guy in charge of the servers, crypto, and backups for submissions as well as administering the submission system.
The first big dispute between him and Assange was over his use of WL funds in purchasing IT assets. Assange thought he was making unnecessary and/or dubious purchases...which it now seems was the case.
He was s sysadmin, not just some shlub who logged in and hit delete.