Anonymous vs. The World

[diogen]

This is even hard to call a lesson.
Lesson in what? Stupidity? Egotism? What the internet is all about?

But this is a story that beats anything from Hollywood and most likely will get end up there shortly
How one man tracked down Anonymous—and paid a heavy price
In less that 24 hours anything a person was doing online including 40,000 e-mails was hacked, made public and put on Pirate Bay.
And this was a person running a security company and planning to sell some information (about this very group that "mutilated" him for that) to the feds.

A 16-year old girl was among the "executors"...

Hard not to appreciate the skills!

Diogen.

 

[SatinKzo]

Good read.

 

[diogen]

And here are the details...
(Virtually) face to face: how Aaron Barr revealed himself to Anonymous

Brutal...

Diogen.

 

[SatinKzo]

Reading this, I am getting a gut feeling that this was a setup operation to trap members of anonymous

 

[diogen]

Reading this, I am getting a gut feeling that this was a setup operation to trap members of anonymous

Not impossible, I guess.
But that would be giving the feds too much credit, I think.
I'm not ready to do that.

Diogen.

 

[diogen]

And how it was done
Anonymous speaks: the inside story of the HBGary hack

Frankly, the skills of Anonymous members were matched by the stupidity of the main hero - Aaron Barr.

DIogen.

 

[Pepper]

Amazing, scary stuff.

 

[Tyralak]

Moral of the story? Don't screw with Anonymous. Srsly, this guy is either an attention whore, or he's unbelievably stupid. This story reminds me of those Jack's Link Beef Jerky commercials "Messin' with Sasquatch" It's just a dumb, dumb thing to do.

Also, picture related.

 

[diogen]

This iceberg is going to topple a few Titanics...
Black ops: how HBGary wrote backdoors for the government

Diogen.

 

[diogen]

I start to like these guys...
God hates hackers: Anonymous warns Westboro Baptist Church, ‘stop now, or else’

Having practically destroyed a few computer security businesses/careers, they picked an easier target.

My prediction would be: they already control their web infrastructure. And they will do what they promise.
Hard to imagine anybody would follow the ultimatum, especially someone as this church...

Diogen.

 

[Tyralak]

I start to like these guys...
God hates hackers: Anonymous warns Westboro Baptist Church, ‘stop now, or else’

Having practically destroyed a few computer security businesses/careers, they picked an easier target.

My prediction would be: they already control their web infrastructure. And they will do what they promise.
Hard to imagine anybody would follow the ultimatum, especially someone as this church...

Diogen.

Oh yes. Not to mention, they HATE animal cruelty. Especially toward cats. 4chan Tracks Down Kitten Dumper And Puppy Thrower | The Frisky
Also: http://ology.com/life-and-money/bosnian-police-catch-puppy-thrower

 

[diogen]

Call it being fed up
Anonymous seizes Westboro Baptist’s domain during live TV confrontation

I always respected professionally done work, being it musicians or mercenaries.
Those guy do professional work...

Diogen.

 

[diogen]

And the aftermath...
Anonymous vs. HBGary: the aftermath

Despite the fact that the attackers hid themselves behind Tor software and proxy servers,
he believes the company stands a “very good chance” of catching the perpetrators.

If they do get caught, they will most likely be charged with every successful hacking job in the last few years.

Payment for the lulz, I guess...

Diogen.

 

[diogen]

Barr stepping down
Anonymous forces HBGary Federal CEO to step down

One schmuck less in the fast politicising security industry.
The million $$$ question is: how many nonschmucks are there?

Diogen.

 

[Pepper]

Barr stepping down
Anonymous forces HBGary Federal CEO to step down

One schmuck less in the fast politicising security industry.
The million $$$ question is: how many nonschmucks are there?

Diogen.

Zero. Where can I pick up my check?

 

[Tyralak]

Barr stepping down
Anonymous forces HBGary Federal CEO to step down

One schmuck less in the fast politicising security industry.
The million $$$ question is: how many nonschmucks are there?

Diogen.

Score one for Anonymous.

 

[lucavex]

Everyone seems underestimate Anonymous. Sadly, the truth of the matter is that even those who see and understand that Anonymous is "serious business" (to use their terminology), they are still vastly underestimating Anonymous. Also, everyone must remember that for every good deed Anonymous does, there are hundreds of evil deeds they commit simply "foar the lulz". They cannot be controlled, they cannot be named, and they cannot be numbered. Vigilantes one day, Villains the next. And it's all quite marvelous to spectate.

 

[diogen]

They cannot be controlled, they cannot be named, and they cannot be numbered. Vigilantes one day, Villains the next.

And I strongly believe those "deficiencies" are the primary reasons of their strength.
And I don't think this is going to change any time soon...

It will be interesting to watch what the hunt for them will bring...

Diogen.

 

[lucavex]

The hunt for them I believe will turn into the internet equivalent of The War on Drugs

They may find individuals here or there, they may even take down a splinter group or two, but as long as you can hide your identity online, Anonymous will always exist. As long as the human need for expression without fear of retribution is filled within the medium of the internet, Anonymous will exist.

Trying to take down Anonymous is fruitless. My opinion? As long as the internet exists. As long as two computers can communicate with each other, Anonymous will exist.

 

[diogen]

Well, Anonymous is immortal just based on the name!
If the whole gang ends up in jail tomorrow, I can claim to be Anonymous and always was. Or you...

But being anonymous on the web is hard. If possible.
The question is whether the information revealing the location/identity of the hunted
will be around when people knowing what to look for show up. If they ever show up.

I have this feeling not many people are actually interested in finding them...

Diogen.