Every day there's another report of a computer hack. Yesterday it was a video game company and a U.S. Senate database. And today it could be the Federal Reserve. There's no doubt that there's a wave of attacks going on right now, against different targets and with seemingly different motives.
The questions on everyone's mind are who is behind these computer attacks and why are they doing it. This FAQ will help answer those questions in at least some of the cases.
Who is Anonymous?
Anonymous is the best known of the groups that are currently active and publicly taking credit for, even publicizing in advance, attacks on Web sites. It's a decentralized group that specializes in organizing distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks designed to shut down sites, particularly in support of freedom of speech. Past targets have included the Church of Scientology, BMI, the governments of Egypt and Iran, and companies owned by conservative activist billionaires Charles and David Koch. They also conducted a massive compromise of the security firm HBGary Federal, which had reportedly been working with the FBI to identify the leaders of Anonymous.
Anonymous is the best known of the groups that are currently active and publicly taking credit for, even publicizing in advance, attacks on Web sites. It's a decentralized group that specializes in organizing distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks designed to shut down sites, particularly in support of freedom of speech. Past targets have included the Church of Scientology, BMI, the governments of Egypt and Iran, and companies owned by conservative activist billionaires Charles and David Koch. They also conducted a massive compromise of the security firm HBGary Federal, which had reportedly been working with the FBI to identify the leaders of Anonymous.
They launched a series of effective DDoS attacks against PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard late last year after the companies stopped enabling WikiLeaks to receive contributions through those means. Sources told CNET that the group has undergone a loss of membership and radical shift in direction and organizational participation since the arrest of a 16-year-old alleged member in the Netherlands late last year, the arrest of five people (ages 15-26) in the U.K. in January, and the issuing of more than 40 arrest warrants in the U.S. Member identities were reportedly leaked on the Internet as well. The group's strong anti-establishment and political messages have led some to call them hacktivists, which refers to activists who hack. It's unclear how many people participated in their campaigns, which they call "operations," because their system is designed to allow for confidential participation.
Who have they targeted recently and why?
Anonymous pretty much started the recent spate of hackings against Sony, hitting several Sony sites with a DDoS in early April in retaliation for Sony taking several PlayStation 3 hackers to court. PS3 "modder" George Hotz and Sony eventually settled out of court. But attacks on Sony continued, with a major breach at the PlayStation Network that exposed 77 million customer records and at Sony Online Entertainment where more than 24 million records were exposed. Sony has suggested connections between Anonymous and the breaches. While Anonymous was admittedly behind the initial DDoS, it says it wasn't behind the PSN and Sony Online Entertainment breaches, and hasn't claimed credit for any other Sony attacks. Last week, Spanish police arrested three people accused of taking part in Anonymous activities and Anonymous members retaliated by hitting the Spanish National Police Web site. This week, Turkish police arrested 32 people, including eight who were teens, within days of the group launching a campaign to shut down a Turkish government site in response to new Internet filtering laws. Yesterday, Anonymous was planning an attack on the site of the Federal Reserve for today.
Anonymous pretty much started the recent spate of hackings against Sony, hitting several Sony sites with a DDoS in early April in retaliation for Sony taking several PlayStation 3 hackers to court. PS3 "modder" George Hotz and Sony eventually settled out of court. But attacks on Sony continued, with a major breach at the PlayStation Network that exposed 77 million customer records and at Sony Online Entertainment where more than 24 million records were exposed. Sony has suggested connections between Anonymous and the breaches. While Anonymous was admittedly behind the initial DDoS, it says it wasn't behind the PSN and Sony Online Entertainment breaches, and hasn't claimed credit for any other Sony attacks. Last week, Spanish police arrested three people accused of taking part in Anonymous activities and Anonymous members retaliated by hitting the Spanish National Police Web site. This week, Turkish police arrested 32 people, including eight who were teens, within days of the group launching a campaign to shut down a Turkish government site in response to new Internet filtering laws. Yesterday, Anonymous was planning an attack on the site of the Federal Reserve for today.
Posts
