The hacker group Anonymous seems to be getting into the heads of IT professionals, according to a new survey by security software vendor Bit9.
The "Bit9 2012 Cyber-Security Survey," released April 23, found that while 61 percent of the 1,861 IT enterprise security professionals who responded believe Anonymous or similar “hacktivist” groups were most likely to attack, most say the greatest danger may lie elsewhere.
Anonymous is a complex and chaotic movement: It is the heroic free speech efforts that helped protesters in Tunisia and Egypt; it is the lulz -- oddball, and sometimes vicious, pranks -- pulled to prove a point; and it is the AntiSec movement that compromises companies and critics to show that no one is beyond reach.
The FBI announced Monday that it arrested John Anthony Borell III, 21, on charges of participating in two January 2012 Anonymous attacks against police websites in Utah. Borell was arrested in Ohio on March 20, 2012, and indicted by a federal grand jury on April 4, 2012, on two counts of computer intrusion involving SQL injection attacks. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
We imagine that one of the hardest parts about being an ‘Anonymous’ hacker is remaining anonymous. We’re not talking about shielding your identity from authorities, as they seem to have that pretty wrapped up, we mean not bragging to folks that you’re one of the masterminds behind the mayhem. Seems a few hackers struggle with just that – like Anonymous hacker, John Anthony Borell III. He got sloppy on Twitter and now he’s in a world of trouble for it.
UK branch member 'Winston Smith' revealed the next targets for Operation Trial at Home distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in an online radio broadcast on Monday.
"What's the next target for attack? Definitely GCHQ, and it's definitely the Home Office," Smith said in answer to a question on Twitter from ZDNet UK.
An alleged member of Anonymous has been tracked down after he posted a picture of his scantily clad girlfriend in an image bragging about his hacking exploits.
Higinio O. Ochoa III from Texas has been charged hacking into the websites of at least four US law enforcement agencies before, in one case at least, posting personal information including home addresses and phone numbers related to dozens of police officers.
Hacktivist group Anonymous reportedly plans to launch more attacks on Chinese government Web sites to "uncover corruption" and take down the "Great Firewall of China".
The group wanted to alert the Chinese government that they "aren't afraid", and were going to "show the truth" and "fight for justice", Anonymous hacker, f0ws3r, told Reuters in a report Monday.
China was struggling Thursday to restore several government websites that international hacking group Anonymous says it attacked in an apparent protest against Chinese Internet restrictions.
On a Twitter account established in late March, Anonymous China listed the websites it says it hacked over the last several days. They include government bureaus in several Chinese cities, including in Chengdu, a provincial capital in southwest China.
In a recent interivew with Softpedia News, members of LulzSec Reborn claimed that they were not connected to Anonymous, but it seems that there’s more to it than that. An Anonymous representative reveals that not only they’re not connected, but also, they’re totally against the newly formed collective.
Despite popular reports, the hacktivist group Anonymous is not hacking, killing, or taking down the Internet today via DDoS attacks on root DNS servers. The Internet will remain completely functional.
