anonymous

Study: Anonymous hacktivists not very anonymous

Few have neutral views about the actions of Anonymous, the group of hacktivists that has allegedly turned the Web sites of such large brands as PayPal and MasterCard into hobbling dodderers.

Many are fascinated by the idea that a very loose grouping of random individuals across the world can, in such a sprightly manner, disrupt the working of large organizations.

And yet the question arises as to how anonymous these folks really are.

Already, one 16-year-old Dutch hacktivist has already been arrested for his alleged part in money-moving disruptions.

And, speaking of Holland, the University of Twente there has just performed a piece of research … Read more

WikiLeaks fans should think before they botnet

Do you support WikiLeaks? Are you mad at critics trying to snuff it out? Maybe you're thinking about joining the online protests aimed at shutting down the Web sites of its opponents. Don't.

A loosely organized group of vigilantes under the name Anonymous have turned the botnet guns of their Operation Payback campaign, which previously targeted antipiracy organizations, on PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Senator Joe Lieberman, Sarah Palin, and others who have criticized WikiLeaks or stopped doing business with the document-sharing project. The WikiLeaks fallout has hit a frenzy since the site began releasing diplomatic cables last month that … Read more

Anonymous explains self amid WikiLeaks drama

The Anonymous group that has been attacking Web sites of organizations that it deems enemies of WikiLeaks has apparently issued a press release to explain its motivations and structure.

"Anonymous is not a group of hackers," Anonymous representatives wrote in a statement (PDF) issued today. "We are average Internet citizens ourselves and our motivation is a collective sense of being fed up with all the minor and major injustices we witness every day."

The group said it does not intend "to steal your personal information or credit card numbers" and does not plan on … Read more

Dutch police arrest suspected pro-WikiLeaks hacker

Dutch authorities said today that they have arrested a 16-year-old hacker involved in the pro-WikiLeaks attacks on the Web sites of MasterCard and PayPal.

The Dutch National Prosecutors Office said that the teen, who was not named, was arrested by a high-tech crime team last night.

The arrest comes after a group known as Anonymous--a label that's been adopted before by activists who have electronically assaulted the Church of Scientology and the Australian government--organized attacks on Web sites of companies that have distanced themselves from WikiLeaks. Distributed denial-of-service attacks enlist thousands of computers, all making simultaneous connections, in hopes … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1367: Holding on by an aglet (podcast)

It's a shoestring-and-gum operation around here, and someone took our gum. But somehow, we've got another show for you today, and we're talking more Wikileaks Web warring (WWW3, perhaps?), Google activating 300,000 phones a day, and Apple's refusal to let you donate money via iPhone apps (and weirdly robotic response). --Molly

Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (640x360) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS (640x360)… Read more

The Anonymous hackers: Are they really the Borg?

We've learned one new detail about the group of hackers attacking sites that have offended WikiLeaks: They seem to be fond of "Star Trek."

The British magazine The Economist yesterday scored an instant-messaging interview with members of the hacking group Anonymous, which in recent days has attacked sites belonging to Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal, just to name a few. They don't seem to be connected in any way to WikiLeaks or its embattled head, Julian Assange. But they are willing to attack sites they believe are blocking the work of WikiLeaks.

The Economist's reporter (who … Read more

Facebook, Twitter boot WikiLeaks supporters after Visa attack

A hacker group that calls itself "Anonymous" says it took the Visa Web site down today in retaliation for the credit card company suspending payments to the WikiLeaks site.

Earlier today, the group hit the MasterCard site with a distributed denial-of-service attack for the same reason, and it took down PayPal over the weekend. The MasterCard site was back up this afternoon.

"IT'S DOWN! KEEP FIRING!!!" the group tweeted on its Operation Payback campaign page.

Visa said yesterday that it was suspending payments to the controversial whistle-blower site, joining MasterCard and PayPal.

Operation Payback also … Read more

WikiLeaks supporters attack MasterCard site

Activists fighting on behalf of WikiLeaks brought down MasterCard's Web site today, according to the BBC and other sources.

The hacking group Anonymous is taking responsibility for a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the credit company's site in retaliation for MasterCard's decision on Monday to block donations and payments to WikiLeaks, which was first reported by CNET.

MasterCard's main site was at times either offline or extremely slow to load this morning. Ping requests to the site also timed out, an indication that the site was unreachable.

Early this morning, the Anonymous group, which … Read more

Online activists fighting to keep WikiLeaks alive

Though it's in hot water with the U.S. government, WikiLeaks is being supported by online activists fighting to keep the site alive.

WikiLeaks is being propped up by a barrage of mirror sites created by activists following moves by Amazon to stop hosting its site and Domain Name System provider EveryDNS.net to cut off its DNS services, according to The New York Times. Such mirrors can replicate an entire Web site, ensuring that all content and documents remain online and accessible even if WikiLeaks' own site is taken down.

But some of WikiLeaks supporters are adopting a … Read more