Anonymous

Hackers have embedded a video statement on the homepage of a US government agency in response to the death of digital activist Aaron Swartz. Aaron Swartz who hanged himself in his Brooklyn apartment.

The statement – purportedly from hacktivist collective Anonymous – said Aaron Swartz had died because he “faced an impossible choice” and had been forced into “playing a game he could not win.”

Anonymous, a group of self-described Internet vigilante hackers took control of a government website on Saturday morning.

They left behind a manifesto demanding reform to the American justice system and threats to the free flow of information. They also protested the treatment of recently deceased founder of Reddit, Aaron Swartz who was accused by the government of hacking into an MIT computer.

Last time Anonymous plunged into MIT's servers, it was to set up a small memorial for Aaron Swartz. Today the whole homepage is defaced, and it's really just incoherent.

Where to begin? The defacement says LulzSec and Sabu are behind the attack, which is of course impossible.

Anonymous hackers have published more than 1.7 gigabytes’ worth of documents allegedly stolen from Azerbaijan’s Special State Protection Service (dmx.gov.az) on Par:AnoIA, a site belonging to the Anonymous Intelligence Agency.

The information leaked by the hacktivists doesn’t belong only to the Special State Protection Service, but also to other organizations linked to it, including ING Geneva, Sumato Energy, BNP Paribas, Taurus Petroleum and even security solutions provider Prolexic.

Hackers protesting against the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 set off to infiltrate another round of government websites late on Monday.

The hackers, collectively known as "Anonymous Philippines," defaced the online presence of local government units including Bukidnon, Bolinao and Calasiao both in Pangasinan and Luna in Apayao Province and replaced them with a black screen, a logo and a message citing their right to freedom of expression.

The loosely organized hackers of Anonymous don't just launch distributed denial-of-service attacks for the lulz. They do it to send a message, which is why they've petitioned the Obama administration to recognize DDoS as a legal form of protest.

As 2013 comes into full view, I believe the new year may bring cyber events that will have the greatest impact yet on homeland security and foreign policy. My company recently released the 2013 Threat Predictions Report, and it paints an ominous picture of how rapidly the burgeoning “cyberchaos” industry is maturing.

So far, activist hackers — hacktivists — have rarely inflicted genuine trauma. Usually it’s shenanigans, political embarrassment or low-grade anarchy — as when the hacker group Anonymous hijacks websites of the Syrian government or the Westboro Baptist Church.

McAfee predicted in its 2013 Threat Report that Anonymous would decline in importance this year. If this is an example of what Anonymous has planned for 2013, we hope McAfee is wrong.

KnightSec, a hacking group affiliated with the “Anonymous” collective, posted a YouTube video (embedded) on Wednesday. That video shows teenager Michael Nodianos basking in the "glory" of the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl by his high school football player teammates.

The lunatic power-bigots at the WBC are down another Twitter account—and this time it belongs to its leader's son, Fred Phelps Jr. What's more surprising is that Cosmo the God—yep, that one—is claiming responsibility.

Like last time, the team at UGNazi is saying they've attained full control of a prominent WBC member's account in retaliation for the hate group's plans to picket Newtown victim funerals. They also posted a picture of an alleged email exchange between "church" members, suggesting the account was broken into through a password reset sent to a compromise email inbox.

Nothing is beneath the Westboro Baptist Church, as evidenced by the group's announcement to picket outside Sandy Hook Elementary School in wake of the recent tragedy. The group's most recent, perhaps most deplorable decision has apparently irked one of its oldest enemies: infamous hacker collective Anonymous.