Hacker group Anonymous, where does it stop?

KenSwee

They've gone after paedophiles this time but put aside this subject for the moment. This is a hot topic and I think most sensible people abhor the idea of paedophiles so I'd rather discuss the group in question than the subject too much although you're welcome if you like.

I'm not sure about vigilantes. Where does it stop? What's next?

What would happen if these guys got too much power? What if they get their facts wrong in their next hit. It's not impossible to happen and the results could be catastrophic next time. I think I remember some tabloid releasing a list of paediatricians thinking they were paedophiles (correct me if I'm wrong)?

I don't like the idea of people hiding behind masks telling us who is right or wrong. We have enough problems with law enforcement and governments hiding behind masks without the need for guys like this. We give the responsibility to our police and judicial system to find the wrongs and if they fail, then it is up to us to ensure they succeed. Not anonymous do gooders. I know they are hitting all walks of life but I still don't think it justifies their right to do so.

What does everybody else think?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2171867/Hacker-group-Anonymous-posts-names-email-addresses-paedophiles-online-vigilante-attack-child-sex-sites.html

Biggins

They are a double-edged sword but I'd rather they exist than not.

christmas2012

anonymous are watching you

anonymous just hacked your computer

Michael Weston

That maybe I would like fish for dinner but I will most likely go for chicken.

gaffer91

KenSwee wrote: »

I don't like the idea of people hiding behind masks telling us who is right or wrong.

I thought that was what the internet was all about?

The Snipe

Anonymous are there to fight for freedom of the internet, I personally support them 100% in MOST of their actions. Also, the term you used is wrong, they are not hackers they are crackers. Theres a difference, hackers build, crackers break down.

Biggins

...And they DO save lives occasionally:

http://www.news.com.au/technology/drug-cartel-bows-to-anonymous-threats/story-e6frfro0-1226189909831

A MEXICAN member of online "hacktivist" group Anonymous was released by a Mexican drug cartel after the web group threatened to expose details of the crime ring's activities.
Televisa reported that the man kidnapped in the eastern port of Veracruz was released ahead of a November 5 deadline set by Anonymous, after which it planned to divulge the Zetas's links to politicians and others.

Goodshape

Very good recent article from Wired on Anonymous, worth a read:

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/07/ff_anonymous/all/

Biggins

The Snipe wrote: »

Anonymous are there to fight for freedom of the internet, I personally support them 100% in MOST of their actions. Also, the term you used is wrong, they are not hackers they are crackers. Theres a difference, hackers build, crackers break down.

Correct - thats a constant misrepresentation by the media.

Logical Fallacy

The Snipe wrote: »

Anonymous are there to fight for freedom of the internet, I personally support them 100% in MOST of their actions. Also, the term you used is wrong, they are not hackers they are crackers. Theres a difference, hackers build, crackers break down.

After the PSN hack they can suck my balls. They sank a load of small developers, cost countless people their jobs. Largely indicitive that they don't think of the consequences of what they do.

KenSwee

christmas2012 wrote: »

anonymous are watching you

anonymous just hacked your computer

Switches off computer nervously.

The Snipe wrote: »

Anonymous are there to fight for freedom of the internet, I personally support them 100% in MOST of their actions. Also, the term you used is wrong, they are not hackers they are crackers. Theres a difference, hackers build, crackers break down.

Excuse my ignorance. Alas, I'm not up on my terms. Stand corrected.

Chuck Stone

It excites me a little that people come together in a horizontal, non-hierarchical, way to stick it to 'the powah'.

KenSwee

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

. Largely indicitive that they don't think of the consequences of what they do.

That's one of my biggest fears about groups like this. And what if one group forms to justify the wrongs of another group, where will we be?

What if religion gets involved?

Scruffles

very few people in anonymous are actual hackers,most of them are low grade/armchair activists who discuss issues on IRC,sometimes using DDoS website based shells and DoS clients to knock sites or servers offline,trolling big trolls like that awful shirley whatshername.

good job they are keeping themselves anonymous with their latest job; theres a far right group over here that does the same thing exposing the paedos;they fully d0x them and everything,but they get death threats,legal threats and all sorts of trouble from the paedos.

Biggins

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

After the PSN hack they can suck my balls. They sank a load of small developers, cost countless people their jobs. Largely indicitive that they don't think of the consequences of what they do.

I don't like anyone losing their jobs.
I could add however that if some programmers were not good enough to write good enough secure code along with good security validation code (that in total couldn't be cracked), then they should not be employed in a business that also deals with personal information.

In an age where there is far too many already stealing or trying to currently steal personal information for further stealing, I'd rather weak programmers be exposed and our data is in the long run more secure by the learning of lessons.

Again, I don't like anyone losing their jobs - any of the programmers that lost their jobs, some possibly through lack of adequate enough skills, they will just have to up their game - and in the long run, they should be better off for it - and thus maybe more employable?

Goodshape

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

After the PSN hack they can suck my balls. They sank a load of small developers, cost countless people their jobs. Largely indicitive that they don't think of the consequences of what they do.

The thing is, "Anonymous" are fairly amorphous. It's more of a movement than a distinct group of people. I don't think (could be wrong, I have no inside knowledge) that the PSN attack was all that popular even within the overall movement.

It also wan't an unprovoked attack to disrupt PSN users, but a response to heavy-handed restrictions Sony put on newer PlayStation devices and to expose the dreadfully lax security they placed around user data.

Tym

Mexican drug cartel after the web group threatened to expose details of the crime ring's activities.

How many lives would they have saved by realeasing that data (shrugs). I find it suspicous that they only did it to save one of their own...

Arawn

Goodshape wrote: »

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

After the PSN hack they can suck my balls. They sank a load of small developers, cost countless people their jobs. Largely indicitive that they don't think of the consequences of what they do.

The thing is, "Anonymous" are fairly amorphous. It's more of a movement than a distinct group of people. I don't think (could be wrong, I have no inside knowledge) that the PSN attack was all that popular even within the overall movement.

It also wan't an unprovoked attack to disrupt PSN users, but a response to heavy-handed restrictions Sony put on newer PlayStation devices and to expose the dreadfully lax security they placed around user data.

Was that not cos of sony trying to sue the guys that cracked the ps3

Arawn

Goodshape wrote: »

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

After the PSN hack they can suck my balls. They sank a load of small developers, cost countless people their jobs. Largely indicitive that they don't think of the consequences of what they do.

The thing is, "Anonymous" are fairly amorphous. It's more of a movement than a distinct group of people. I don't think (could be wrong, I have no inside knowledge) that the PSN attack was all that popular even within the overall movement.

It also wan't an unprovoked attack to disrupt PSN users, but a response to heavy-handed restrictions Sony put on newer PlayStation devices and to expose the dreadfully lax security they placed around user data.

Was that not cos of sony trying to sue the guys that cracked the ps3

Biggins

Tym wrote: »

How many lives would they have saved by realeasing that data (shrugs). I find it suspicous that they only did it to save one of their own...

I suspect the info that they gleamed would in time make its way to those they felt would have an eventual difference.
I certainly hope so.
I would find it hard myself to just sit on such information.

Tym

Tym wrote: »

How many lives would they have saved by realeasing that data (shrugs). I find it suspicous that they only did it to save one of their own...

Why?

I have a lot of respect for the likes of Anonymous. Imagine how the internet would be without groups fighting for us.

Borderfox

Well done to them, people tend to end up in pieces from the Zetas.

Biggins wrote: »

...And they DO save lives occasionally:

http://www.news.com.au/technology/drug-cartel-bows-to-anonymous-threats/story-e6frfro0-1226189909831

A MEXICAN member of online "hacktivist" group Anonymous was released by a Mexican drug cartel after the web group threatened to expose details of the crime ring's activities.
Televisa reported that the man kidnapped in the eastern port of Veracruz was released ahead of a November 5 deadline set by Anonymous, after which it planned to divulge the Zetas's links to politicians and others.

Biggins

Borderfox wrote: »

Well done to them, people tend to end up in pieces from the Zetas.

Between them and similar, the death toll at their hands is something shocking.
...But thats another thread. I won't meander off...

Andy!!

Deleted User wrote: »

Why?

As he said... they could have done a lot of good by releasing the info anyway. Locked up a few corrupt politicians/police, hurt the drug dealers a little if not a lot.

KenSwee

Goodshape wrote: »

The thing is, "Anonymous" are fairly amorphous. It's more of a movement than a distinct group of people. I don't think

Sounds like al-Qaeda

Goodshape

KenSwee wrote: »

Sounds like al-Qaeda

That's pretty alarmist.

It sounds like a lot of things.

Caliden

KenSwee wrote: »

....

What would happen if these guys got too much power?
....

Who are they though? They are a faceless group of individuals from all corners of the globe.

They're also not in the business of profit or censorship and are quite the opposite so I support them and their cause.

Logical Fallacy

Biggins wrote: »

I don't like anyone losing their jobs.
I could add however that if some programmers were not good enough to write good enough secure code along with good security validation code (that in total couldn't be cracked), then they should not be employed in a business that also deals with personal information.

In an age where there is far too many already stealing or trying to currently steal personal information for further stealing, I'd rather weak programmers be exposed and our data is in the long run more secure by the learning of lessons.

Again, I don't like anyone losing their jobs - any of the programmers that lost their jobs, some possibly through lack of adequate enough skills, they will just have to up their game - and in the long run, they should be better off for it - and thus maybe more employable?

Sorry Biggins mate, I don't mean Sony staff who got the cosh over it, I mean the staff of third party games developers who rely on the PSN and X-box Live to reach customers. Many were unable to launch titles when they need to and as such went under, unable to recoup the costs of the games development.

They had nothing to do with Sony but were simply collateral damage.

N64

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

After the PSN hack they can suck my balls. They sank a load of small developers, cost countless people their jobs. Largely indicitive that they don't think of the consequences of what they do.

Blame sony for bad security measures.

PogMoThoin

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

After the PSN hack they can suck my balls. They sank a load of small developers, cost countless people their jobs. Largely indicitive that they don't think of the consequences of what they do.

You've got to remember, Sony cared so little about their customers that they stored their credit card details in a plain text file on an unpatched Apache server. Then they came out and announced to their valued customers that all was OK, they had everything fixed, when they hadn't fixed the original sql injection allowing the hackers in in the first place, Criminal.

I will never for as long as I live buy a Sony product again, fcuk them.

EdanHewittt

This video discusses the Anonymous issue phenomenon very well:

My thoughts?

Well the DDOS attacks are all in vain, because most of the sites they've targeted only go down for, at BEST, 3 days.

If we need to see real results, we need to go after the root of the problem - which lies in the banks. I expect some serious bank hacks to go down in the next few years.

RBS FIASCO

PC CDROM

Heroes.

villains.

The distance between them both is tiny.

I'll just keep myself to myself thanks and they can all go fuk themselves.

If that's OK.

EdanHewittt

The term "Anonymous" has been around since the dawn of ARPANET.

The Imageboards have a thing where you post as 'Anonymous' - That's how it started. It all started with the advent of 4chan and Imageboards.

Anonymous is nothing more than a brand-name for a group long established before the likes of 4Chan.

"Anonymous", the word, was coined, and put into widespread use as a result of the chans. Now it seems uber-leets are calling themselves Anon, when they're really just pen-testers showing of their skills.

Probably the only good thing about this new umbrella term Anonymous is groups can now setup Donation services, to fund their lulz-worthy-adventures.

You're not going to donate to a group calling themselves "PenTesters USA"...You're going to shovel money into the now Brand-Like entity that is Anonymous.

JoeTheBuilder

Meh. Nobody likes vigilantes, but on the other hand our internet is under an unprecedented attack from governments hellbent on restricting and regulating it, and Anonymous seem to be the only people with both the resolve and the ability to make it a hassle for them. "A necessary evil" one might call them.

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

After the PSN hack they can suck my balls. They sank a load of small developers, cost countless people their jobs. Largely indicitive that they don't think of the consequences of what they do.

You realize that was a separate group, right? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LulzSec

Andy!! wrote: »

As he said... they could have done a lot of good by releasing the info anyway. Locked up a few corrupt politicians/police, hurt the drug dealers a little if not a lot.

They were planning to, but were warned subsequently that releasing the information could draw violent reprisals which would catch a lot of bystanding civilians in the crossfire, if I remember rightly...

Biggins

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

Sorry Biggins mate, I don't mean Sony staff who got the cosh over it, I mean the staff of third party games developers who rely on the PSN and X-box Live to reach customers. Many were unable to launch titles when they need to and as such went under, unable to recoup the costs of the games development.

They had nothing to do with Sony but were simply collateral damage.

Sorry to hear that.

FouxDaFaFa

They're far less dickish than they were back in the day now that the likes of Lulzsec have separated from them. One thing I have a lot of respect for is their attempt to take on the Zeta cartel in Mexico. They're fighting back on behalf of mexican bloggers and forum-users (just like this one) who are killed for anonymously criticising the Zetas online. They're not always successful but it's something.

http://techland.time.com/2011/11/10/fourth-blogger-reportedly-killed-by-los-zetas-mexican-drug-cartel/

1ZRed

I don't care what they do but stay the fuck away from my playstation and don't come near it again!

Biggins

They might be needed in Russia soon just to that Russians can read some truths before sites are blocked or taken down:

http://www.euronews.com/2012/07/12/web-protests-over-russia-s-new-internet-law/

Russian-based websites have reacted with alarm to the State Duma’s approval of a new information law blacklisting some sites. Opponents say it amounts to a crackdown on open political debate.

Wikipedia did a protest on Tuesday I think, for Russians.
Their Russian site consisted of a a page indicating everything was censored.

Edit: Found it: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48132783/ns/technology_and_science-security/

karma_

EdanHewittt wrote: »

Well the DDOS attacks are all in vain, because most of the sites they've targeted only go down for, at BEST, 3 days.

3 days is like a lifetime on the internet.