Thread: Federal authorities take on Anonymous hackers

Federal authorities take on Anonymous hackers

SAN FRANCISCO — Anonymous is not so anonymous anymore.

The computer hackers, chat-room denizens and young people who make up the loosely affiliated Internet collective have drawn the attention of the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal investigators.

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What was once a small group of pranksters has become a potential national security threat, federal officials say.

The FBI has carried out more than 75 raids and arrested 16 people this year in connection with illegal hacking claimed by Anonymous.

Since June, Homeland Security has issued three “bulletins” warning cybersecurity professionals of hacking successes and future threats by Anonymous and related groups — including a call in Manhattan to physically occupy Wall Street on Sept. 17 to protest various U.S. government policies.

San Francisco police arrested more than 40 protesters last month during a rowdy demonstration organized by Anonymous that disrupted the evening commute. The group called for the demonstration after the Bay Area Rapid Transit system blocked cellphone service in San Francisco stations to quell a planned protest over a police shooting on a subway platform.

“Anonymous’ activities increased throughout 2011 with a number of high-profile attacks targeting both public- and private-sector entities,” one of the bulletins issued last month said.

Some members of the group have called for shutting down Facebook in November over privacy issues, though other Anonymous followers are disavowing such an attack, underscoring just how loosely organized the group is and how problematic it is to police.

“Anonymous insist they have no centralized operational leadership, which has been a significant hurdle for government and law enforcement entities attempting to curb their actions,” an Aug. 1 Homeland Security bulletin noted. “With that being said, we assess with high confidence that Anonymous and associated groups will continue to exploit vulnerable publicly available Web servers, Web sites, computer networks and other digital information mediums for the foreseeable future.”

Followers posting to Twitter and conversing on Internet Relay Chat insist there are no defined leaders of Anonymous and that it’s more of a philosophy than a formal club, though a small group of members do the most organizing online.

“Anonymous is not a group, it does not have leaders, people can do ANYTHING under the flag of their country,” wrote one of the more vocal members who asked not to be identified.

“Anything can be a threat to National Security, really,” the member said in an e-mail interview. “Any hacker group can be.”

Some members ‘dangerous’

The member said that the group as a whole is not a national security threat but conceded that some individuals acting under Anonynous’s banner may be considered dangerous.

DHS’s latest bulletin, issued Sept. 3, warned that the group has been using social-media networks to urge followers working in the financial industry to sabotage their employers’ computer systems.

The DHS warning comes on the heels of several Anonymous-led protests of the San Francisco Bay area’s transit agency that led to FBI raids of 35 homes and dozens of arrests, as well as to the indictment of 14 followers in July on felony computer hacking charges in connection with a coordinated “denial-of-service attack” against PayPal’s Web site last year.

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notice how no one gave a damn about who they were until the psn ddos?

Originally Posted by Lightyear

notice how no one gave a damn about who they were until the psn ddos?

Proof that $ony runs the US government or coincidence?
You be the judge.

Originally Posted by The Doctor

Proof that $ony runs the US government or coincidence?
You be the judge.

not directly. but there are a lot of people who would be pissed off about not being ale to play online and have relatives in government.

Originally Posted by The Doctor

Proof that $ony runs the US government or coincidence?
You be the judge.

Agreed!!
It makes you think!! Anonymous (like ireggae said) are not exactly an organised group with a leader, it's just, like minded people, kickin up a fuss and joining a cause!! (mainly ddos attacks) but yet, sony and Co (Tw*ts) are doing a good job of puplicly ridiculing these people (i.e arresting 14 - 18 year olds associated with Anon and putting it in the press/paper) just to give the parents of these young kids, who (shock horror ) had no PSN for 2 months a reason to be angry!!!

I hate getting played!!, 1 on 1 i'd embarass/kick the fuc* out of these guys!
(Beer is bad, Um Kayy!!)

The government wants to talk about national security. How about every time they decide to police the world and that pisses people off, that causes problems with national security. How about when they spread our men so thin to countries with no real reason they are there while our border is almost completely unprotected. So while ahmed the terrorist is crossing from mexico or canada they're ogling and fondling little six year old suzie and making sure grandma isn't hiding explosives in her catheter. If putting our national security at risk is treason, then they are the most treasonous.