[Ironchefpython]

> wouldn't you just move the files and change the password?

The encrypted files were distributed via bittorrent, with the password given to trusted individuals. This was done as a "dead-man's switch"; insurance against "prior restraint" (which can cover anything from incarceration to termination, depending on your level of paranoia).

See http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/01/cablegate_leak_row/

The problem is this:

    Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.

    -- Benjamin Franklin

Once the password started being shared to people without professional security training and the temperament to keep secrets, it was only a matter of time before it all came out. Regardless if you agree with wikileak's political and social philosophies, and even if you feel they provided much-needed sunlight/disinfectant, as an organization they acted like a bunch of preteens running a club out of a treehouse.