Anonymous ‘FFF’ Attack Schedule

Oh, for crying out loud.  Why don’t these guys just go away?   According to Wired, Anonymous is giving itself a weekly deadline now, a new attack every Friday.  How entertaining.  Following the Tuesday compromise of tear gas maker Combined Systems’ website, Antisec attacked a Federal Trade Commission webserver which hosts 3 FTC websites.  They claim this hack was in opposition of the controversial international ACTA copyright treaty, widely protested around the world for its potential impact on freedom of expression.

Those responsible for this week’s attacks spoke with Wired, and claimed that the attacks renewed a promise, previously noted in the defacement of CSI, and reiterated on the FTC websites, “every Friday will bring a new attack against government and corporate sites under the theme of #FFF” (‘F’ the Feds Friday).

They’ve decided try to balance between protest defacements like these two most recent ones, and posting material that can damage firms and agencies.   Jerry Irvine of the National Cyber Security Task Force told the New York Times last week that attacks would become more frequent, describing the collective as “unstoppable,” because of the poor state of online security.

How Was FBI Call Compromised?

I am pretty sure that everybody knows that the FBI and Scotland Yard were embarassed recently by the notorious hacking group, Anonymous, when they spilled the beans that they were now watching the watchers, listening in to a confidential phonecall taking place between investigators accross the pond.  If you haven’t heard it, find it here.  The New Statesman has an overheated article here that can provide additional details.

So how did this brazen and seemingly high tech hack take place?  A conference call was arranged two weeks earlier by FBI agent Timothy Lauster, who wanted to discuss on-going investigations into Anonymous and other hacktivist groups.  In an email to Scotland Yard’s e-crimes unit, the time, date and phone number to call were provided, along with the pass code for entry.

The Anonymous ‘Movement’?

I’ve been reading way too much of this garbage on the Internet lately, and it is starting to stick in my craw.  Crap like this.  It seems that everyone has accepted that the hacking group Anonymous is above the law, and has some special insight that makes them a voice of reason.  21st century Robin Hoods.  I hope that this is just the result of sensational journalism, and not what people are really believing.

“The beginning years have intensified their activities demonstrating great technical skills.”

No, what it has demonstrated is a disregard for your privacy, a lack of moral fiber, a little too much technical knowledge, and the patience that is common in a good criminal.

“As always, the movement gives voice to social dissent and protest against amendments and decisions of governments guilty of not listening to the masses.”

The Movement?  What bloody movement?  This is a bunch of self-entitled, self-indulgent, egotistical miscreants that are incapable of operating within the confines of the law or rules of society.  These are people that have an abundance of tools, have found cracks in programs and protocols, and are taking advantage of those flaws.  They are no more a movement than the clowns that walk into a bank with a note in one hand and a formiddable looking pocket in the other.

Law Enforcement Sites Hacked

The “Anonymous” group of hackers have attacked the websites of several law enforcement agencies worldwide.  In Boston and Salt Lake City, police say personal information on confidential informants and citizen drug crime complaints, amongst other personal information was compromised.

The attacks come after Anonymous published a recorded phone call between the FBI and Scotland Yard early Wednesday, claiming to have had access to confidential information for months, and in Greece, the Justice Ministry took down its site Friday after a video by activists was displayed there for at least two hours.  In Boston, a message posted on the police website said, “Anonymous hacks Boston Police website in retaliation for police brutality at OWS,” referring to the Occupy Wall Street movement, and claimed that hundreds of passwords were released in retaliation for brutality against Occupy Boston participants.

Boston police acknowledged in October that websites used by members of the police department may have been compromised.  It had asked all department personnel to change their passwords on the police department’s network.

The Salt Lake City website remained down Friday as the investigation continues, and criminal charges are being considered.  Police blamed the attack on Anonymous’ opposition to an anti-graffiti paraphernalia bill that failed in the state Senate.  The bill would have made it illegal to possess any instrument, tool or device with the intent of vandalism.

The hacktivists say they attacked the website of a Virginia law firm which represented a US Marine convicted in a 2005 attack in Iraq that resulted in the deaths of 24 unarmed civilians.

Action really needs to be taken, these hooligans are being allowed to run amok around the Internet, interfering with all manner of systems, and potentially causign life threatening consequences.  Their lack of good judgement and disregard for who suffers as a result of their exploits makes these people a serious threat to businesses, innocent by-standers, and law enforcement officers alike.

Anonymous’ Latest Shennanigns

Over the weekend, Anonymous defaced CBS‘ website, and apparently deleted all of their online content.  Monday they were working on defacing a Brazilian city site.  Now they have taken to Twitter, asking their “followers” to select their next targets for them, The Register reports.

Still seething over the arrest of Megaupload mogul Kim Dotcom, Anonymous tweeted the following:

Just out of curiosity, what would you like to see #Anonymous hack next? Tweet and let us know…

They are vowing to keep up the pressure, launching attacks and causing disruptions until Dotcom is released.

MegaUpload Arrests Spark Anonymous Fury

Gizmodo.com is reporting that the shutdown of Megaupload, accused of breaking copyright laws, has spawned retaliatory attacks by the hacktivist group Anonymous.  Gizmodo is continuing to update their article regularly, and I highly staying on top of it.  Among sites reported as being down are the Universal Music Group and BMI, the US Copyright Office, the Motion Picture Association of America, and several law enforcement and government agencies.  Recent claims by Anonymous indicate that this is their biggest DoS campaign, ever.

“The government takes down Megaupload? 15 minutes later Anonymous takes down government & record label sites,” a member of Anonymous said via Twitter.

Stratfor Follow-up

Barrett Brown, the outspoken and unofficial representative of the hacktivist group “Anonymous” wants to clear the air.  According to him, Stratfor was not breached in order to obtain customer credit card numbers.  That was just gravy, intended to do damage and grab headlines.  Rather, the operation was pursued in order to obtain the 2.7 million e-mails that exist on the firm’s servers.

This data includes correspondence with thousands of contacts who have spoken to Stratfor’s employees anonymously, off the record, for over more than a decade.  Many of those contacts work for major corporations, within the intelligence and military contracting sectors, government agencies, and other institutions

Anonymous and associated parties have developed an interest since in these organizations since February of 2011, when another hack against HBGary revealed a “widespread conspiracy” by the Justice Department, Bank of America, and other parties to attack and discredit Wikileaks and other activist groups.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/26/1049117/-Why-Stratfor-was-Really-Hacked

Anonymous Takes Down Child Porn Site

ArsTechnica also reports that pedophiles connecting to a concealed child pornography site got an unwelcome surprise last week.  The hacktivist group Anonymous took down “Lolita City”, a child pornography site run on over a concealed “darknet,” and account details of 1,589 users from the site’s database were posted as evidence.  I don’t usually have much good to say about Anonymous or hacktivists in general, but I have even less good to say about those who exploit children.

The takedown is part of Anonymous’ Operation Darknet, an anti-child-pornography effort aimed at thwarting child pornographers operating on on the Tor Network to mantain anonimity.   Anonymous’ attack was focused on a hosting service called Freedom Hosting, which the group claims was the largest host of child pornography on Tor’s network.  “By taking down Freedom Hosting, we are eliminating 40+ child pornography websites,” Anonymous claimed in its statement.  “Among these is Lolita City, one of the largest child pornography websites to date, containing more than 100GB of child pornography.”

Score 1 for the good guys, courtesy of the bad guys…

LulzSec, Anonymous, & The End of The Internet

So it seems that LulzSec, the notorious hacking group, is not so altruistic and politically bent as they first appeared.

They apparently like to play computer games, and can’t resist showing off to the world just how kewl their new found skillz are.

They are looking more and more to me as an opportunistic bunch of parasites that have gotten drunk on their own intoxicating brew of exploits and media hype.  What used to sound like the kind of claims and warnings issued by supposed “whitehat hackers” and self proclaimed whilstle blowers is now sounding more and more like “look at me, I am the coolest kid on the block!  I wear my hat backwards, and I can spit real far!”

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First, check out the Sony incidents timeline at attrition.org.  Then peruse the recent headlines gathered regarding LulzSec.