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Member Claims Anonymous "Might Well Be the Most Powerful Organization On Earth"

Posted by samzenpus on from the time-for-an-army dept.

wasimkadak writes in with an interview with Anonymous member "Commander X" in which he talks about how the hacktivists are the most powerful group on the planet. "Christopher Doyon, a.k.a. Commander X, sits atop a hillside in an undisclosed location in Canada, watching a reporter and photographer make their way along a narrow path to join him, away from the prying eyes of law enforcement. It's been a few weeks of encrypted emails back and forth, working out the security protocol to follow for interviewing Doyon, one of the brains behind Anonymous, now a fugitive from the FBI. Doyon, who readily admits taking part in some of the highest-profile hacktivist attacks on websites last year — from Tunisia to Orlando, Sony to PayPal — was arrested in September for a comparatively minor assault on the county website of Santa Cruz, Calif., where he was living, in retaliation for the town forcibly removing a homeless encampment on the courthouse steps. The 'virtual sit-in' lasted half an hour. For that, Doyon is facing 15 years in jail."

15 of 241 comments (clear)

  1. Most powerful? by Robert+Zenz · · Score: 5, Informative

    Oh really?

    1. Re:Most powerful? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 5, Informative

      Also less powerful than Amazon's cloud hosting or Lolita City which survived Anonymous' best efforts (sadly).

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    2. Re:Most powerful? by ddd0004 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well, not counting those guys, because getting beheaded is the ultimate DOS attack.

    3. Re:Most powerful? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      I checked Wikipedia: they were going to release information on Zeta only because they had kidnapped an anonymous member. Los Zetas actually released their member, that's why they rescinded on OpCartel:

      On 6 October 2011 a man identified himself as a member of Anonymous posted a video on the Internet (YouTube) under the account MrAnonymousguyfawkes stating that Los Zetas had kidnapped one of their group members and demanded Los Zetas Cartel release the individual.

      ...Meanwhile, a retired head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Puerto Rico, Mike Vigil, warned that "Los Zetas should take Anonymous seriously."...

      ...On 4 November 2011, Anonymous posted on the Iberoamerican Blog that the kidnapped member had been released and that they had confirmed his identity. They also stated that they would not be moving forward with releasing the information they had of several cartel members.

    4. Re:Most powerful? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Lolita City? Who's the mayor, Pedobear?

    5. Re:Most powerful? by spintriae · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The fact that they even attempted to DDoS EC2 shows they are nothing more than script kiddies. EC2 is not a PIII in Amazon's broom closest. It's a large scale server infrastructure designed by some of the smartest hackers in the world explicitly to withstand incredibly high traffic. Any legitimate hacker could have explained that to them, but they managed to get well passed the planning stage of their little DDoS with not a single one of them mentioning it?

  2. So wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... Being able to interrupt poorly-secured websites for a matter of minutes makes you "the most powerful organization on earth"?

    1. Re:So wait... by Trepidity · · Score: 5, Funny

      This is why, from 1996 to approximately 1999, Slashdot, with its feared cyberterror weapon "the Slashdotting", was widely considered the most powerful organization on earth.

      --
      10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
  3. Powerful in their own minds, maybe by finlandia1869 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People running around and doing the equivalent of tearing down billboards and defacing storefronts. Big whoops. Last I checked, the major players in the global financial network have actual power. And most central/federal governments, too. This guy needs a cold beer and a sense of proportion. Ok, maybe not the latter; we know that's the one thing that no one in the universe can afford to have. Make it two beers, then.

    1. Re:Powerful in their own minds, maybe by jimbolauski · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Delusion is the most power weapon they have in their arsenal, they realized their "power" when they attacked Scientology, and whipped it off the map. I would compare anonymous to a kid with a stick it's great for poking things bigger then you when there is a cage between you (anonymity), but as soon as there is no cage they have no real power as was shown with the Mexican cartel. If they truly want to see how powerless they are they can go ahead and release the classified data they claim they have and watch how many members are rounded up for treason. They think governments fear them but truly governments don't see them as a threat and as soon as that changes they're in for a sobering realization.

      --
      Knowledge = Power
      P= W/t
      t=Money
      Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
    2. Re:Powerful in their own minds, maybe by honestmonkey · · Score: 5, Funny

      Their chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Their two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Their *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Their *four*...no... *Amongst* their weapons.... Amongst their weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... I'll come in again.

      --
      Everything you know is wrong, Just forget the words and sing along.
  4. Re:Hmmm.... by nman64 · · Score: 5, Funny

    the US secrete service

    Yes, those secretions are to be avoided at all costs.

  5. Ok, yeah, sure... by Sarten-X · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So Anonymous first defines itself as being the collective voice of everybody (with a disproportionate representation of 4chan), then claims it's the most powerful organization in the world. Good for you, guys, really... Now you can take on the Tautology Club.

    Unfortunately, I've just formed my own organization, called "Irresponsible", and everybody who doesn't know they're a part of Irresponsible is also a part of it! Because they're irresponsible in knowing what groups they're a part of, see? Since geological processes also don't take responsibility for their actions, they're also part of the organization. Who's the most powerful now, huh?

    Now, Irresponsible! Scream at a wall! Tear down posters! Show how mad you are at everything that doesn't appease you by inconveniencing others!

    --
    You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
  6. Poseurs by roothog · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's funny how if a group is *actually* powerful, you never see them making claims that they're powerful. Their actions say more than words.

    Anonymous are just poseurs. Not only are they poseurs on world-scale power, they're poseurs on computer hacking, all they know how to do is run DoS attacks. They're an embarrassment.

  7. Re:Oh yea? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's right. In this month's issue:

    Walking the Tightrope: How much physical threatening is too much?

    Dealing with NDT "we're dealing with a badass" image macros

    Metal album covers as avatars: the Internet equivalent of a Tapout shirt

    Skill of 1000 hackers: Interview with Ichsun

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel