He said that of Microsoft's Computer Online Forensics Evidence Extractor (COFEE) tool and related documentation in Nov. 2009 came several weeks after the information first become available on P2P networks.

WikiLeak's announcement of the Microsoft document suggests that it was obtained from a source, though it also appears to reference its previous availability on P2P networks.

Harrer added that Tiversa has in the past observed several highly targeted searches by computers with IP addresses based in Sweden for specific data on P2P networks. In almost all cases, the computers were searching for documents that were later published by WikiLeaks, Harrer added.

"It is very obvious to us that a lot of [what WikiLeaks posts] have been on P2P," he said. "We have kind of known about it since they came out in 2006."

The issue of inadvertent data leaks on P2P networks is an old one, though its threat to companies and governments remains as potent a threat as ever.