It looks like people tend to post new Anonymous threads for new news relating thereto, so here’s the latest: FBI busts at least 14 in America and 5 in Europe on charges relating to Anonymous’s Paypal attacks.
Wonder if they will come back with their usual “those guys had nothing to do with us” bravado, or if they’ll actually shut the fuck up for a brief while.
Edit: Hmm, looks like the FBI did this earlier this year too. Wonder if Anonymous is a hydra or if they’ll actually eventually bust enough of them that the rest will get tired of being bustable.
True, but then there’s been splinter groups of hackers actively “doxing” the guys in charge of Lulzsec etc. Not sure that’s the deal with who got arrested here, but it’s still good to see.
Ah, in fact, it would appear that at least some of these guys are more than just the LOIC kiddies. One of the doxing groups seems to be confident that LulzSec’s major guys have been caught.
Anonymous is a philosophy. That is most enticing to smart young kids who think themselves immortal and untouchable. So I’m going to go with ‘eh’ on this one.
Anonymous has always been about a group of people who know what they’re doing, and a horde of followers who operate as a nice human shield and a brute force weapon.
Any news like this must be taken with a grain of salt.
Politicians want numbers and photos. For that sending the FBI to 5 houses of 13 years old that have run LOIC serve the purpose. But is a total waste of resources. We don’t really know if this raid has ben PR theather, or something real. We need confirmation from other sources that this attack has hit something else than meatshields.
I think these “hacker groups” have performed a pretty valuable service over the past months. They’ve set a precedent – they’ve shown, once more, how weak the IT infrastructure of many Western companies and institutions are. Imagine if they were really attacked by someone with real malicious intent? Someone who wanted to disrupt, destroy or disinform? If kids can do this in their spare time, imagine what intelligence bureaus can do.
The fact that a bunch of script kiddies are able to break into high-profile companies and even take down security firms, demonstrates how arrogant and inept these companies are. A lot of ire has been directed towards the companies themselves for not protecting their data better, and I think that’s the central point of the entire imbroglio: Companies ask for and keep personal information, or just grab what they can, and then do jack shit to protect it.
Consider DDoS-ing a form of protest. An internet demonstration. Protesters congesting the streets of a city, strikers blocking the gates to the factory.
Civil disobedience is based on consciously breaking a law and willingly submitting to the consequences. There’s effectively no risk for someone using the LOIC. In no way is DDOS’ing a company you don’t like for, I don’t know, not releasing a game on the right format, or trying to protect their investments comparable to risking arrest or physical harm by taking to the streets to protest an unjust law, or war or judicial outcome.
