Anonymous Strikes Back: Hits MPAA, RIAA, DoJ, More
Tango down, claims Anonymous as they strike out at the DoJ and the whole clan behind SOPA and PIPA. Looks like someone stirred up the hornets nest.
As previously reported, Megaupload -- along with Megavideo -- was shut down by the FBI on Thursday. The group behind the websites have been charged with copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit racketeering and money laundering. Many individuals named in the indictment are now in custody while a few others are still at large.
Now rewind to the moment before the FBI made its announcement. Hactivist group Anonymous remained somewhat dormant during the whole SOPA/PIPA bag of drama, offering its vocal resentment since the legislation reared its head. DDoS attacks have been few and far in-between, or so it seemed. There was the whole Symantec source code controversy, but that too seemed to have fizzled.
But in the here and now, we have the Megaupload thing, and it's not pretty. In retaliation, Anonymous has emerged, initially striking at the Department of Justice website with a nasty DDoS attack. But it's not stopping there, oh no sir. Anonymous has become a disturbed hornets nest that now has all of its occupants out and buzzing, striking in defense at everything that's pissed it off in the last month.
According to Anonymous itself (in addition to other reports), the group has knocked out the following websites: RIAA, MPAA, Universal Music Group, the US Copyright Office, BMI and French copyright authority HADOPI. There may be more, but that's the list we have for now. Anonymous agents are currently buzzing on IRC, trying to coordinate their DDoS attacks in the same direction.
An RIAA spokesman confirmed to CNN earlier today that the RIAA website was indeed knocked offline, but indicated that it was merely a flesh wound compared to the damage the DoJ caused to the file sharing community. "The fact that a couple of sites might have been taken down is really ancillary to the significant news today that the Justice Department brought down one of the world's most notorious file sharing hubs," he said.
Anonymous operative Barrett Brown told RT on Thursday afternoon that more was coming, and that Anonymous-aligned hacktivists are pursuing a joint effort with others to "damage campaign raising abilities of remaining Democrats who support SOPA." Operatives involved in the project will use an "experimental campaign" and search engine optimization techniques "whereby to forever saddle some of these congressmen with their record on this issue." RT claims this is the largest coordinated attack in Anonymous' history.
"DDoS is the internet what the Billy club is to gang warfare: simple, cheap, unsophisticated and effective," said Rob Rachwald, director of security strategy, Imperva. "But DDoS lends itself well to the Anonymous model which relies on crowd sourcing. During Operation Payback, Anonymous inspired an army of thousands in an attempt to bring numerous commercial sites. In this case, they’re boasting '5,600 DDoS zealots blasting at once.'"
As of this writing, Twitter is slowing down to a crawl, but the AnonymousIRC feed and other Anonymous-related agents are lit up with chatter about the current attacks. "http://www.fbi.gov - you feel censored yet? We sincerely hope you like your own medicine! #Anonymous #OpMegaupload," reads one tweet, basically announcing that the FBI's website is now down for the count.
"FBI.GOV TANGO DOWN! #Megaupload," reads another tweet. Yep, there went the FBI. Who's next, we wonder.
Those interested in keeping up with the attacks can watch Anonymous in action on Twitter by heading here, here and here. Grab some popcorn while you're at it... this might get entertaining.
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i support this
I may have to change my opinion of these hack/slacktavists
On a side note Tom's still hasnt fixed the issue where if you type a comment before you log in then log in it erases your comment. just FYI.
Anonymous can be anyone, that is referred to as a group is a feature of language more than an expression of what anonymous is. There is a good reason why the name anonymous was chosen, it wasn't to create a specific group with restricted membership.
I am certainly not saying that Anonymous's something is not better than nothing but besides some minor chaos, what are they accomplishing? Chances are the technicians behind fixing the DDos Server crashes are not responsible for SOPA or PIPA. The actual people who put these bills into action are almost losing nothing by having their website taken down other than the pride that they know they are getting to us emotionally. Am I missing something, I am fully against SOPA and PIPA I just do not know that crashing a server for a day or two is achieving anything.
Hoorah!
If you like this article, you're a terrorist. NDAA says you can disappear forever.
meh ddos attacks are boring. Give us the personal info (SSN, private phones, emails, wtvr might be damaging) of all people responsible for SOPA and PIPA. Then we'll talk.
i had a meguapload account with a lot of files uploaded for backup purposes. shutting down megaupload means i lost those data and my $230.
I sincerely support Anonymous.
Can someone please tell me what possible good is going to come of these people lashing out like spoiled children? Taking down a few websites isn't going to hurt the industry in the slightest.
Actually, I'm pretty sure it just plays into the industry's attempts to paint opposition to SOPA and Protect IP as coming from pirates and vandals, rather than on legitimate and principled grounds.
crap megaupload gone? I used it for sharing notes and stuff. im gonna sue the government for lowering my grade!
i'm joining their fight right now, on twitter and other outlets. btw megupload site is back up...
http://109.236.83.66/
anonymous = robin hood of internet..
I understand anonymous embarrassing those trading child porn, and exposing their names across the internet, I support that part of anonymous, but taking the private info of those in law enforcement, and in the military, and making that info public is hypocritical, and dangerous to their family members. They don't care.
They exalted themselves to the level of Almighty and then thought they could decide what is right and what is wrong. They might do a little bit of good, but they do far more harm than the little good they actually do. They are wanna-be anarchists who then try to create order the way "they" want it.
So this is what the little pesky kids are up to these days : )
MEGAUPLOAD IS BACK!!!!!
http://megaupload.au.tc/
Let me just say, the people running Megaupload, should they be guilty of the money racketeering/ laundering charges, deserve to go to jail for that. I do not put it past the government to trump up charges just to get these guys in handcuffs, so I'm NOT saying they are guilty, but if they are, those are serious crimes. Megaupload however does NOT deserve to be taken down, it is a website, it is not "guilty" of a crime. Even if there are illegal files hosted there, there are also legit files there hosted by legit people. This is the internet version of the police finding out there's stolen property in an apartment and burning the ENTIRE building down. This is not Judge Dredd, they are not THE LAW. You find your suspects, you take them to court, they are only guilty when proven so. Due process in itself is going to be gone soon, even though that's been slowly dying since the Patriot Act.
I'm really baffled as to who the Feds think they are anymore. They are literally taking people's internet property with a move like this. They should be lucky they're just getting script kiddie DDoS and limp wristed protesting, because at this rate it won't be too much longer until they stir up too many people and it's pipe bombs and sniper fire instead. There's always a few loose cannons in any organized protest, the bigger the protest, the more there are. All it takes is one.
They need to leave the MPAA/RIAA websites alone though, their sites themselves are the best examples of what tools they are. One of the top tabs in the MPAA landing page is dedicated entirely to Chris Dodd which promises access to his latest speeches, biography, and a "high resolution photograph of Senator Dodd." (Protip bro, you don't get to keep calling yourself Senator when you are NOT a Senator any longer.) Does ANYONE really want a high res photo of Chris Dodd? That kind of narcissism is reminiscent of Hitler.
James Madison would support Anon.
fbi.gov IS kinda laggy.. lol
that explains much, must have pissed off anonymous 3,200+ ddos attacks logged on this router in the last hour.
couldn't figure out why charter internet keeps dropping.
James Madison would support Anon.
so would most of the framers of the constitution.
OpMegaupload in pictures: http://goo.gl/2CL44
What happened to the studios that were file sharing? NOTHING!
Let me see if I have this right SOPA/PIPA allow anyone to have a site taken down/blocked because it supposedly infringes upon a copyright/trademark or some other intellectual property. Anonymous takes down/blocks access to sites they dont like for whatever reason they fancy at the time... . Hmmm seems to me theyre doing the exact same thing, only one is not a law (hopefully it never will be), and the other is classified as a crime.
While I support the opposition to these 2 bills, I believe Anonymous is causing more harm to those who oppose these bills case, than they are doing to help it. Those who support these bills will point to this and other so called hactivist groups and say "see this is why we must have these bills!"
And yes I do consider them to be so called hactivists. Shutting down or denying access to sites like Sony and others just because you don't like them or how they do business is not activism it's acting like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum in the middle of the candy isle cause mommy or daddy wont buy you a candy bar! Of course this is also the same way I see the SOPA/PIPA supporters MPAA/RIAA acting.
As the figures said about the alphabet: They've got the g,u,n,s but we've got the numbers!
I too support anonymous now, fully. LOIC here i come.
If you like this article, you're a terrorist. NDAA says you can disappear forever.
The scary thing is this is true
The National Defense Authorization Act pretty much gives the federal government the ability to deem anyone acting or speaking out against it, a 'terrorist'. Absolutely ridiculous. And I don't really care for Anon too much, but I think for once they have the right idea as far as who to attack this time around. It sure isn't hurting my feelings to see these groups getting hit.
Ughh, I'm going to go focus on something less depressing for a while, like Skyrim.
Look the real question here is whether we shall call them Hactivists or Hacktivists. Tom's Hardware is obviously still on the fence about this.
Also Anonymous is totally helping. Like a seat belt helps a bicyclist. It's all anonymous and nothing to do with real legitimate sites protesting in legitimate ways for legitimate reasons.
Remember if a meter maid gives you an undeserved ticket. Set the pentagon on fire.
And please stop trying to justify websites that you know mainly deal in stolen file sharing. They are raking in ad revenue and most of their hosted content is illegal. These actions aren't the appropriate ones by law enforcement but don't pretend they are shutting down the corner store where granny gets her groceries. It's annoying and immature.
But yeah megaupload is definitely the only or at the very least best way to share class notes......gag. Actually I think there's gonna be something else to blame for those failing grades Jack Sparrow. Yes, all that time spent on stolen PRON!
Opposing idiots on all sides is the way to go.
James Madison would support slavery too. Actually he did. But yeah good reference for people that stand for freedom every facet. Tool. Nerds are a lot more dumb than they get credit for.
just found this when i went looking for a video about reasons for the patriot act/NDAA being compared to facism/communism:
Anonymous - Don't Mess With Us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2W [...] AAAAAAACAA
We have seen you Corrupt our People, Corrupt our country and we will not sit and watch while you allow bills such as SOPA and PIPA to be passed.
my brothers ISP charter started losing connection on thursday afternoon my sister in law kept calling me to come over and fix it for her i had to come over 3 times finally i just stayed there after i restarted her router over an over each time
Log File
System log:
Thu Jan 1 00:00:01 1970 -WAN DHCP Client Connected IP XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
Thu Jan 1 01:34:02 1970 -192.168.2.2 logout
Thu Jan 1 01:34:11 1970 -192.168.2.2 login
Firewall log:
Thu Jan 1 01:28:17 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:28:20 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:29:06 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:29:07 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 172.17.20.32
Thu Jan 1 01:29:09 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:29:29 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:29:33 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:29:41 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:29:41 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:29:57 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:29:57 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:30:09 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 172.17.20.32
Thu Jan 1 01:30:11 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:30:19 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:30:29 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:31:18 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 172.17.20.32
Thu Jan 1 01:31:20 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:31:33 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:32:28 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 172.17.20.32
Thu Jan 1 01:32:30 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:32:41 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:32:46 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:32:55 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:33:12 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:33:24 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 172.17.20.32
Thu Jan 1 01:33:24 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 58.218.199.87
Thu Jan 1 01:33:26 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
Thu Jan 1 01:33:26 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 69.25.27.20
Thu Jan 1 01:33:28 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 69.25.27.104
Thu Jan 1 01:33:28 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 69.25.27.20
Thu Jan 1 01:33:30 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 69.25.27.104
Thu Jan 1 01:33:45 1970 1 Blocked by DoS protection 10.150.224.1
that is just the list of attacks since i restarted the router a few minutes prior.
in LESS than one hour earlier in the day the router had been attacked 3,200 times
judging from the date i'd say the sntp server is offline also as it is displaying the wrong time and date which can not be manually set and was working fine when i checked this router the last time this issue happened a few weeks ago on their old ISP WindStream which was having the same problem.
after talking to their tech support they would not or could not get a system administrator to block the IP's windstream was being attacked by for over 3 months according to their list on the website reporting tool tech support gave me.
that's when i recommended to my brother to find a new ISP if he was going to continue with online banking and credit card info. i was glad i had disabled as much of his wireless as he would allow and locked down his router and computer as much as possible years ago from this kind of thing.
How in the hell do you edit a post? Does a tech website not yet have that futuristic technology?
Anyway.
Let's pretend that between freedom and every I typed "in"
I fully agree with what Anonymous is doing but wish it was more than just DDoS attacks.
Perhaps this is more of just a warning of what is to come however.
I am certainly not saying that Anonymous's something is not better than nothing but besides some minor chaos, what are they accomplishing? Chances are the technicians behind fixing the DDos Server crashes are not responsible for SOPA or PIPA. The actual people who put these bills into action are almost losing nothing by having their website taken down other than the pride that they know they are getting to us emotionally. Am I missing something, I am fully against SOPA and PIPA I just do not know that crashing a server for a day or two is achieving anything.
It's not the actual action of fixing the site, but the insult to the company - an insult can strike deeper than any attack.