Slashdot Mirror
Anonymous Cancels Drug-Ring Attack
snydeq writes "Anonymous supporters have backed off threats to expose Zeta drug gang collaborators, an operation launched in early October as a retaliation for an alleged kidnapping of an Anonymous follower by the Mexico-based drug gang. Members of Anonymous had posted a video claiming the group could identify journalists, police officers, and taxi drivers who collaborate with the Zeta crime syndicate. Zeta has not shied away from targeting its online critics. In September the crime group hung two people from an overpass warning bloggers and 'online snitches' to beware. The decapitated body of another social-media reporter was found later with a similar warning. Worried about the impact on both misidentified people and Anonymous followers, other supporters of the Anonymous movement worked to dismantle the operation over the weekend. In effect, the group canceled the attack, according to online news site Milenio."
Not so tough now, are you Anonymous?
Their "we can do anything, beware us!!" pissing contest quickly turned around when they realized shit just got real.
They pick on the vulnerable for lulz. That's about it.
I've been happy to hear lately about anonymous's campaign against child pornography distribution. I was even more happy to hear that they were taking action against Zeta. But this withdrawl makes me question the mettle of the group. Any time you fight against organized crime, there will always be fallout. But the only way these groups have been pushed further underground or quashed is by taking action, and typically through infiltration and exposing the key players. If they have it in their ability to expose corruption, and do not do so, then they're just as bad as the corrupt officials enabling the criminals.
And backing down only teaches the cartels that this form of intimidation works. I would never back down from some mexican with a machete.
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I hope you're trolling. The accusation that it was rape was retracted immediately by a senior prosecutor. The facts have surfaced that it turns out to be regarding a condom that broke, a matter which was politically labeled rape by a feminist police officer who was a personal friend of the accuser and also member of the same socialist party. Sweden has previosly bent over for US interestes, even violating their own constitution by allowing CIA "rendition" flights to send Swedish citizens to Egypt for torture. The Julian Assange case is another case of US information warfare.
Here we go again, talking of Anonymous as a unified group. What makes someone a member of Anonymous? It seems claiming to be one suffices. So, someone posted a threat to the Zetas in the name of Anonymous, and another person posted a notice saying Anonymous will not be taking action against the Zetas. That's about all that can be said about this.
I would never back down from some mexican with a machete.
No, you'd die. Idiot.
It's a good thing they backed away. Anonymous usually attacks organizations that are somewhat bound by law and fear of PR disasters, so their retaliation is quite limited. Drug cartels care for neither of them. That's why being a reporter in Mexico is a very risky thing to do.
Had they gone ahead with their attacks, they could have unleashed hell for all bloggers in Mexico. A lot of blood could be in their hands.
And Darwin smiles....
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Right, because you'd do it if you could.
I mean, clearly you're risking your life fighting Mexican drug cartels right here ... as you call them cowards ... in the safety of your own home ... while you post on slashdot.
I think Anonymous is a bunch of idiots, but you're fucking retarded for calling them cowards.
Take your computer courage and STFU, you're EXACTLY like them. Big talk behind a computer, and I'm certain you'll shut up and cower in the face of actual danger.
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A group like Anonymous can only operate in a free society where the rule of law constrains the actions of large and powerful actors. Shame and humiliation of powerful players is possible because they are unable to fully marshal their resources to strike back. Sure, Western governments have made some arrests, but in the end, the military and large corporations are limited in what they can do (yes, they can illegally and secretly do things, but the complexity, costs and risks of doing it are extremely high). The cartels however are a different animal, an opponent in an environment with no such constraints. They have repeatedly killed with impunity, and Anonymous members in Mexico are no different. Unless Anonymous' entire membership is in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the cartels are much more likely to drop a bomb on a member of Anonymous than the CIA is.
Anonymous had a chance to do some good, they pussied out like the fucking poseurs they are.
While I'm at it, we've INVADED countries for lesser atrocities than these barbarian Zeta motherfuckers have committed. WHERE'S YOUR BALLS NOW, U.S.? Send a few dozen cruise missiles up their asses!
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall, re Voltaire
Anon; "We'll expose you if you harm him."
Zeta, "Go ahead. We will kill every man, women, and child wearing a guy fawkes mask."
The problem is that targeting a government agency or what have you might lead to them tracing back and nailing the actual people involved, not just someone that happens to be in the same group but was on vacation that week. With these cartel guys, if you've EVER been associated with Anon and they find you, they don't really give a shit, you're fair game to them. They are just as happy making an example of you as they would be to catch the masked clown that made these idiotic threats to begin with. That's a real problem with groups like Anonymous. With no clear leadership, some "faction" can spout off crap that endangers everyone.
You can throw out all the police state, abuse of power crap you want, the bottom line is in the end the FBI is accountable to SOMEONE and subject to laws and public outrage. There IS a limit to what they can and will do to you. The cartels have no such limit.
Palm trees and 8
organizations like drug cartels are practically sociopath organizations. it is very tough for even major governments to handle them.
the fact that anonymous is actually taken by the drug cartels as a serious threat that requires this much action basically tells that anonymous is on the same league with them in regard to impact now.
and someone will leak the data eventually.
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Don't fuck with Russians and don't fuck with ruthless organized crime operations. As the saying goes, you mess with the bull, you get the horns. Fucking with the FBI is messing with the de-horned milk cow, not the bull.
Anonymous isn't a person, it's a meme. Even when you identify the people who participate and hold them responsible for the actions of the group, you're doing nothing to define what it is or keep it any less intangible. "We are legion" is another Christianity, another Patriotism, another The 99%, and it is indestructible because it has no body. It is only by the elimination of any memory and evidence that this kind of thing can be destroyed.
Even when governed it has no nature or goal. It is exactly as what each person who is aware of it decides it to be. The way those who call themselves Anonymous see themselves is just as much authority as the way those who do not call themselves Anonymous see them. It is the Ship of Thesius incarnate, My Grandfather's Axe in practice.
Don't bother judging the supposed declarations you see today. Just because you saw one collective of "Anonymous" back off doesn't mean another won't act differently. But still, we'll call them all the same. Every time they do something we appreciate or find unforgivable we'll still blame that same meaningless word.
Zeta made the mistake of having a name.
"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
What about 'a mexican with really long fingernails'? Would you believe 'a very tanned white guy with bottle opener'?
My present is the activity I am currently engaged in with the purpose of turning the future into a better past.
Anonymous: We are going to release information about corrupt politicians and officers and reveal sensitive data about your bank accounts and properties.
Slashdot: NO! DON'T DO THAT! THERE WILL BE BLOODSHED! YOU ARE NOT WORST THAN TERRORISTS!
Anonymous: Sigh, fine, we won't.
Slashdot: HUR HUR not so tough now, are you?
But... the future refused to change.
This Mexican drug cartel shit is out of control. They are practically right up our ass. Their presence is felt in almost every community in America, they extort public servants and teachers in Mexico (many have been killed and they demand 50% of their pay), and they flaunt their power or complete lawlessness to the world. Hitler did less than this and it was enough to mobilize the entire fucking globe to stop his party's advance. The Mexican drug cartels make the SS look like fucking strawberry shortcake and no one stands up to this shit. However ineffective "anon" is or would have been I laud them for trying or attempting to do something--whoever they are. WTF People!? Remember too that these drug cartels most likely operate in your community as well--yes IN America. They are everywhere. I'm truly saddened by all this.
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I think that more likely the cartels called anonymous' bluff and they backed down once they realized that this was actually real. Anonymous is made up of a few thousand members that do nothing but talk a lot of shit, make threats, etc. and a small handful of skilled hackers. In the past what has happened is that one or two of the hackers have broken into something (i.e. sony) and released a lot of data while the rest of the group takes all the credit. But even the skill of these few hackers is questionable. The servers they broke into had known security vulnerabilities that were unpatched due to incompetent administrators, one guy actually gave out the password to his server after some social engineering. The recent "child porn bust" was some "genius" who managed to write a script to return a list of names and other information that was publicly available in the first place.
I suspect what happened here is that a lot of members said "we're going to take down the cartels", the cartels didn't like that and responded by killing people. So now you're left with a bunch of shit-talking idiots and a few good hackers. The hackers aren't exactly useful here because I'm pretty sure the drug cartels don't go around storing details of their crimes on insecure servers. MAYBE some cartel member has an email account that might be of some use, but good luck hacking into a gmail account that you don't have any prior knowledge of. The rest of the anonymous members decided that maybe they should stop poking a hornet nest and tried to play it off as "well, we don't want anyone else to get hurt" rather than "we threatened some bad people, couldn't back it up, and got someone killed so we're not doing that anymore".
-1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
Cowards wouldn't have initiated a challenge in the first place. Cowards don't throw down a gauntlet in front of the Zetas, and then walk away quietly. Something else is awry.
I have no idea whether anonymous are cowards or not, but you are dead wrong, the behaviour exhibited is exactly how the classical cowardly school yard bully works, pushing people around and making demands until confronted and then finding some excuse to back down. whether they are cowards or not, backing down in this situation I think was probably smart, the moronic thing was getting into the situation in the first place, what sort of retard attacks a gang of people with money, resources and a complete lack of ethical or legal constraints. Such a confrontation can only end badly, while saying "ner ner, can't prove it was me" to the FBI might work, it will do nothing but earn yourself and your family an early grave with these people.
There is this concept you need to learn about called hypocrisy. BitZtream was just pointing it out.