Anonymous Strikes Back, Hacks "Internet Security" Firm

[AnonOperations]

We ask you to support us, not for our sake, but for your own. Do not allow governments, corporations, or anyone else to control what you are allowed to see, hear, and think. Censorship will not be tolerated.

 

[Thedayrecker]

OH SHI--

BRACE FOR EPIC!

In all seriousness, I take my hat off for Anon. Well done sirs and sirettes.

 

[KingFall]

It depends on perspective. I am impressed with Anon.. afraid a bit, too. They're a force not to be trifled with or mocked, not matter what you think you know.

.

Anonymous isnt fighting for my freedom or anybody elses, they are simply being dicks. Infact the only thing they are doing is destroying freedoms. I really enjoy the fact that you blindly trust everything that these guys are telling you simply because they say they are doing it for the people. You have absolutely no evidence at all that what anonymous is saying is actually true or not. All you have is the word of admitted criminals, not somebody who I would blindly put my trust in. I say shoot them all and be done with it, the world would be better off without assholes like anonymous fucking with everybody.

How is what they are doing any different from what the FBI and the company attempted to do, which is the knowing distribution of private information to an enforcer of the law. They can't search your home without a warrant and probable cause. Probable cause does not translate into 'Maybe perhaps this person is part of an amorphus and nigh-impossible to define group of people that you are targeting.'
I'd go so far to say that each and every arrested person has the right to prosecute the company and any personnel involved with that information gathering.

The Escapist seems to be slip down the middle, I don't understand that. Anonymous is possibly the last bastion of humanity left in this world, their sticking up for ability to use the internet as is without the fucking government stepping in. Are we really so jaded that we hate the people on our side?

....They stole a man's social security account, hacked his twitter account and then claimed it to be a victory. If they're fighting for us, I'm jumping ship and lighting my modem on fire. I refuse to be part of a group who steals from a person who is doing their job.

They are the worst representatives of the internet one could ask for.

Just doing your job is just as bad as an excuse as just following orders.

Yes. It is. But it is also what he was doing. Just his job. Of course, his job was to gather the private information of other individuals, or at least orchestrate and authorize the actions of his subordinates to that end. He is responsible for it, and he paid an equal price for it.


---

All in all, I think this could go either way. Anon is numerous, crafty, and almost impossible to 'kill'.
The FBI and the Government aren't where they are because they're a bunch of incompetent fools. They are trained, intelligent, and have a lot of incentive to succeed.

Meh. My two cents. Kick ass work from Anon, but keep a few things in mind..

It's like hunting every flea on Earth. You will lose.

You can squash a lot of ticks with a big enough hammer.

 

[feather240]

This news deserves a new thread

As some of you know. Some Bank of America leaks are soon to be coming out. Anonymous uncovers proposed systematic attacks on Wikileaks. Bank of America attempts to hire firms to attack Wikileaks

This gives more credence to Assanges claim the information might 'bring down a few banks if it were released.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/data-intelligence-firms-proposed-attack-wikileaks/

http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/fi9df/firm_hacked_by_anonymous_plotted_against/

http://www.thetechherald.com/articl...-a-systematic-attack-against-WikiLeaks?page=1

After a tip from Crowdleaks.org, The Tech Herald has learned that HBGary Federal, as well as two other data intelligence firms, worked to develop a strategic plan of attack against WikiLeaks. The plan included pressing a journalist in order to disrupt his support of the organization, cyber attacks, disinformation, and other potential proactive tactics.

Three data intelligence firms concocted a plan to attack WikiLeaks on behalf of Bank of America, according to a published report.

The three firms, Palantir Technologies, HBGary Federal and Berico Technologies, planned to "disrupt" Salon.com columnist Glenn Greenwald's support of WikiLeaks, create a disinformation campaign to discredit the secrets outlet, sow discord among WikiLeaks volunteers, and use cyber attacks to target the website's infrastructure.

The proposed assault on WikiLeaks, The Tech Herald reported, was revealed after the "non-group" of hacktivists known as "Anonymous" gained access to more than 44,000 emails from HBGary Federal's COO, Aaron Barr, after he said he had identified "core leaders" of the group. Barr also said he had information that could potentially lead to their arrest. The emails were released to the public in a 4.71 gigabyte Torrent file.

The emails show the proposal was developed at the request of the Hunton and Williams law firm, which had a meeting with Bank of America on December 3 to discuss legal action against WikiLeaks.

"They basically want to sue them to put an injunction on releasing any data," an email between the intelligence firms said. "They want to present to the bank a team capable of doing a comprehensive investigation into the data leak.

There are rumors their network (HBGary) is the home of the J3st3r. J3st3r claimed that his group took down wikileaks. I haven't been able to confirm that it is the home of the J3st3r but anons are saying someone there has been attacking their servers.

http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/grand-jury-to-collect-fbi-evidence-about-anonymous-0501/

The United States government is taking a serious stab at uncovering the identities behind the online hacking collective known as Anonymous.

I just read that a while ago. Here's a PDF link too.

http://www.wikileaks.ch/IMG/pdf/WikiLeaks_Response_v6.pdf

 

[teknoarcanist]

There is no effective strong-arm tactic to combat a group like Anonymous, for the same reason that the military approach to the 'war on terror' makes zero sense, at a fundamental level:

IT.
IS.
A.
DECENTRALIZED.
ENTITY.

For the love of god -- just google the word 'decentralized'!

Shut down the site?
They'll make a new one. You're wasting time and energy.

Arrest some of them?
They function autonomously.

Arrest all of them?
Good luck with that, buddeh. Should complement victory in the 'war on drugs' too, when that finally comes through.

Same with the 'war on terror' and how we've tried to take down Al Qaeda.

Control the area?
They'll go elsewhere.

Kill some of them?
They function autonomously. You're wasting time and bullets.

Kill all of them?
Good luck with that.
Hell, even IF, in some bat-shit hypothetical scenario, you could push a button instantly ending the life any member of the group......more would take their place the very next day.

You can't fight an ideological enemy on anything other than ideological grounds. It just does not make sense, at a basic logical level, if you take five seconds to think critically about the nature of what you're going up against.

Nothing short of a Federal law prohibiting internet anonymity -- and rapid-response kill-on-sight shock troopers enforcing it -- is going to stop Anonymous or some other entity exactly like it from existing.

Like...just look at this nonsense.
http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/grand-jury-to-collect-fbi-evidence-about-anonymous-0501/

The FBI has to convene a grand jury to figure out how DDOS attacks work? Is their google broken? And they want the identities of Anonymous members? Because arresting them will...accomplish...what...exactly? Deterrence?

Because arrests of file-sharing suspects have established that that works so well?

Fucking hell, is THIS the width and breadth of the skills of the agencies which are ostensibly supposed to protect us from REAL threats? Because if so...color me less-than-impressed.

Honestly just the...the balls-to-the-wall idiocy displayed by these people. The willful ignorance and lack of critical thought. It makes me froth with rage.

(FTR: The comparison between Anonymous and terror cells was metaphorical, not practical. I f'in <3 Anon.)

 

[Starke]

Except these aren't talented individuals. These are not the hackers that danced around the FBI 20 years ago. These are script kiddies, and one guy who was able to spoof an email. That isn't a job qualification for the FBI.

Well then find the folks who wrote the scripts and hire them .

At some point we are going to find someone talented.

I will remain in my stance, if you can use a tool well enough then you are talented. I wouldn't call a carpenter a child because he uses a hammer instead of his fist.

Yeah, but this is more like being able to press enter and run. I mean, the kids we're talking about were using compiled software, it's point and click. The people who developed it originally had nothing to do with anonymous.

 

[Starke]

There is no effective strong-arm tactic to combat a group like Anonymous, for the same reason that the military approach to the 'war on terror' makes zero sense, at a fundamental level:

There are some flaws in your analysis that make zero sense, at a fundamental level.

IT.
IS.
A.
DECENTRALIZED.
ENTITY.

For the love of god -- just google the word 'decentralized'!

No, anonymous claims to be decentralized. Just Google "claims to be" and see if you can ferret out the difference.

Shut down the site?
They'll make a new one. You're wasting time and energy.

Except, no one's done that... or at least if they have, no one cared on any side enough to talk about it...

Arrest some of them?
They function autonomously.

Except they don't. I mean, they like to claim they don't have any central structure inside the movement, but that is quite frankly bullshit. They had people who identified themselves as staff. They had an efficient distribution system that got the same LOIC client to everyone. They selected and attacked specific targets. None of this makes sense for a decentralized entity. People will not march in line without someone to manage it at some level. Anonymous does have it, they just like to claim otherwise.

Arrest all of them?
Good luck with that, buddeh. Should complement victory in the 'war on drugs' too, when that finally comes through.

The United States imprisons a higher percentage of our population than China, a higher percentage than Russia did during the height of the Soviet Union, and a higher percent of our population than any other country in history. We can't arrest them all? Don't make me laugh. The only thing they have going for them at this moment is that we don't care enough to track each and every one of them down. Now, if their behavior continues to ramp up, if their attacks start to provoke countries with developed cyber-warfare plans like China? Expect that to change, fast.

Same with the 'war on terror' and how we've tried to take down Al Qaeda.

Control the area?
They'll go elsewhere.

We're talking about Anonymous not Al Qaeda. The "area" is their mom's basement. Control the area and they're pretty good and fucked. And before you get off on some Gibsonian view of the internet as an area, it's not. Control the area? We already do. Something that Anonymous members are slowly starting to realize as the indictments start coming down.

Kill some of them?
They function autonomously. You're wasting time and bullets.

Yeah... but here's the funny thing. We're talking about kids. Sure they believe in something, but do they actually believe in it enough to die? Do they actually believe in it enough to go to prison for 15 years and never be allowed to touch a computer again in their lives?

You see, you're right about one thing, that's how Anonymous viewed the situation. They didn't think it was possible to get caught. But now, a surgical strike has taken out their staff, and anyone who tries to continue their protests is going to risk ending up like them. This is going to very effectively filter the handful of true believers from those who thought it was good idea because it didn't put anything on the line. Now, you're right, we can't kill the handful of true believers that will be left, but they won't be able to recruit new people, with the threat of identification and imprisonment right there, and they won't be able to operate the way they had. Finally, this is the internet, not the deepest of dark Africa, they're not even hard to track.

Kill all of them?
Good luck with that.
Hell, even IF, in some bat-shit hypothetical scenario, you could push a button instantly ending the life any member of the group......more would take their place the very next day.

No, they wouldn't.

You see, it turns out this isn't at all true. Al Qaeda learned this the hard way in Iraq. They came in with a campaign of local suicide bombers all planned out. But, after a couple months they found they couldn't recruit new people. It turns out... shockingly that people don't want to die.

Anonymous picked up new members because no one was going to prison over this. No stress, right? Except now it seems people will go to prison for this. That's different. And no matter what noble ideal drives you, the threat of reprisal will always cost you potential members.

You can't fight an ideological enemy on anything other than ideological grounds. It just does not make sense, at a basic logical level, if you take five seconds to think critically about the nature of what you're going up against.

Except you're not. Ideologies have been eradicated. Fucking cultures have been eradicated throughout history through force of arms. Ideological conflicts that did end with the concept being wiped out. History is full of sloppy ends here and there that we can't explain because whatever drove these people is unknown.

The church fucking edited Aristotle to conform with what they wanted, and it took well over 1000 years to find out what he'd been writing originally.

Nothing short of a Federal law prohibiting internet anonymity -- and rapid-response kill-on-sight shock troopers enforcing it -- is going to stop Anonymous or some other entity exactly like it from existing.

Like...just look at this nonsense.
http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/grand-jury-to-collect-fbi-evidence-about-anonymous-0501/

The FBI has to convene a grand jury to figure out how DDOS attacks work? Is their google broken? And they want the identities of Anonymous members? Because arresting them will...accomplish...what...exactly? Deterrence?

No, the FBI needs to convene a grand jury to indict these people. See, a grand jury isn't a fishing expedition, it's the federal prosecutor effectively saying "I'm ready to go to trial on this person, but because it's a major charge, I need you 30 people to sign off on it, so here's my argument." If you're going up in front of a grand jury it's because you're about to get indicted, not because law enforcement got confused.

Because arrests of file-sharing suspects have established that that works so well?

Nope. Different animal. The file-sharing cases have been civil cases, no arrests, just lawsuits. You see if someone sues you for something and you don't have money, well you don't have money. But in a criminal case, well, if you don't have money you can still be sent to prison.

Fucking hell, is THIS the width and breadth of the skills of the agencies which are ostensibly supposed to protect us from REAL threats? Because if so...color me less-than-impressed.

Anonymous went from being a vague enigma to being a list of 40 staffers who are now up on charges in less than two months. The FBI knows who they are. What they did. Where they are. And has enough evidence backing this up to impanel a grand jury. That's some pretty good and pretty precision work there.

Honestly just the...the balls-to-the-wall idiocy displayed by these people. The willful ignorance and lack of critical thought. It makes me froth with rage.

And by "these people" you mean the journalists who can't tell their ass from their handshake? The people who report a grand jury as a fishing expedition or Fox News reporting that Bulletstorm will provoke rapes? A journalist's first duty is being able to write in complete sentences and fact check. Not to understand every aspect of the world in a holistic understanding of the universe.

So, yeah, there's some hilarious shit and errors in the news that's coming out. But, if you for one second mistake the media flash and polish for the truth, you've been sadly deluded. It's close, it's mostly accurate, but, surprise, they fuck up the details, and that's not news, that's just random shit.

(FTR: The comparison between Anonymous and terror cells was metaphorical, not practical. I f'in <3 Anon.)

Yeah, but it does illustrate aspects of human psychology that shouldn't be ignored.

 

[Calbeck]

Anonymous is no longer merely a hate machine

Then it has lost the mass of its fan base. As soon as they figure that out, that is. -

Anonymous is an independant entity with its own goals outside of restrictive political procedure.

*snerks*

Then you've got the (AnonOps) Anonymous. They're more focused on political issues, not conservative but fans of individual freedom and transparency of government.

Sounds like "small-l" Libertarians. Also sounds like a tiny minority of Anon. Which remains reliant on mass for its operations. Making it about as useful as any other small political group, which is to say, not very. Which is demonstrated by what's been accomplished so far --- defacing a security firm's website (humorous but not actually damaging to the firm's operations), plus briefly-maintained DDoSes of sites maintained by companies who refused services to Assange.

The functional result is that more people have been annoyed, and they have both Anonymous and Assange --- on whose behalf Anonymous has been doing this --- to blame for their inconveniencing.

They're not blaming the companies. They're not blaming the government. They're not calling for Assange to be left alone in order to avoid having more minor embarrassments or inconveniences inflicted by Anonymous. If anything, they're going to be more supportive of the pursuit, trial and incarceration of Assange, if for no other reason than it annoys Anonymous at least as much as Anonymous has annoyed them.

 

[Calbeck]

Anonymous went from being a vague enigma to being a list of 40 staffers who are now up on charges in less than two months. The FBI knows who they are. What they did. Where they are. And has enough evidence backing this up to impanel a grand jury. That's some pretty good and pretty precision work there.

Well stated. Also good points on the fact that most Anons will simply run for the hills when exposed to the realities of criminal liability. They're not going to cover for each other, and they're not going to fall on their swords, because it's not a back-me-up brotherhood sort of outfit. It's just millions of trolls looking for a good time, with a small core of politically-off-the-wall goofballs who themselves would be excellent meat for trolling.

Seriously: replace "Anonymous" with "Libertarians", and Anons would be all a-lol over defacement attacks on a security firm and a few DDoSes of a few companies. They'd be trolling the Libertarian Party websites, doing parodies of the same things, and making funny references to Julian Assange's name.

It makes me froth with rage.

LOL U MAD? -XD

 

[AnonOperations]

-XD

Spoiler

In all of human history, there has never been an innovation which has empowered individual liberty like the Internet.
Simply observe how the most tyrannical of the worlds regimes always pull the plug on the World Wide Web whenever their
people rise up to demand their freedom. The forces arrayed against a Free Internet are powerful and evil, and Anonymous, PLF
is dedicated to fighting against them. We are prepared to go to prison, or even be killed - in this epic battle for
the very soul of humanity. We will defend a Free and open Internet with every tool and tactic at our disposal.

Anon and The Peoples Liberation Front is now, and has from it's inception been a NON-VIOLENT, pascivist group of freedom
fighters. Never have we as a group or individually EVER been so much as accused of an act of violence. No one anywhere
has anything to fear from our group, that is unless they are evil, criminal - or tyrants. Those have much to fear from
us and they DO fear us. For over two decades we have used information and technology to battle in a non-violent way to
win justice and freedom for everyone.

Our secondary mission is to assist liberation movements and groups across the globe in deploying electronic and network
technology. We also provide direct assistance to organized protests all over the world by providing technical assistance,
intelligence gathering, electronic security and cyber warfare abilities.

Finally, we have an intelligence division which is dedicated to gathering the secrets of the enemies of freedom for the
purpose of global dissemination. By turning their own intelligence techniques and technologies against them, we spy on
them spying on us. We use the data gathered in the furtherance of the above causes.

We are not in this for glory or fame. All of our members are anonymous, and bragging of any kind is strictly forbidden.
We fight for the day when fighting will be unnecessary, and all the worlds people will be free.

Operation Anonymous is Internet history in the making. Never before have so many disparate groups of hackers joined
forces to lead and direct a truly staggering number of concerned citizens to form a massive Internet "army". Tens of
thousands strong, OpAnon has successfully crushed some of the most robust web sites in the world, including MasterCard,
PayPal - and even the Swedish Prosecutors web site ! Dedicated LONGTERM to the defense of WikiLeaks and it's heroic
founder Julian Assange, OpAnon Command meets daily with it's supporters and monitors the situation minute by minute and
issues strategic and target data in realtime to those soldiers of freedom who have joined forces with us.

We Are Everywhere - We Are Legion - We Never Forget - We Never Forgive - Expect Us

 

[Canebrake]

You're making a huge mistake in taking on Anonymous. Anonymous can bring corporations and governments to their knees if they want to. They have no leaders, they have no official structure, they just are. They are simply a force of nature, and try as you might, you can't beat nature. You can hold it back, guard against it, but in the end, it always wins. To quote Three Dog quoting Mr. Universe, "You can't stop the signal."

Dont this people have anything better to do? If they used all that time and energy on legal things they could make lots of money.

wow anonymous really needs to be taken out there too dangerous and too good at what they do

Agreed. 'Anonymous' are really just criminals who use ID theft to fund their crimes. Calling themselves 'heroes' is insulting to anybody who works for a living.

Calling them heroes is wrong, sure, but they aren't villains. They are neither good nor evil. As I said before, they're more a force of nature.

They cause dissent and unrest. And stress political ties that lead to wars.
They distribute information given by traitors.
How is helping traitors not wrong? How is starting wars that didn't need to be fought not wrong?
That's blood they are spilling.

And Anon is like Julian's little dog.
Comitting crimes in his name And terrorizing innocent people when they aren't.

The Only time Being a traitor is ok is when the government is Corrupt.
Are all the Countries in europe and america corrupt?
America may be a bit of a loose cannon but they fight for liberation of the people. (weather or not they say so.)

Hussein was a horrible leader.
How is taking him down wrong?
Can you blame a bank for wanting to secure it's customers data aganst people like julian?
It's practically their sworn duty.