Hackers Release AAPT Data To Protest Aussie Policies

An anonymous reader writes "Anonymous is releasing some of the 40GB of data it claims to have stolen from Australian internet service provider AAPT. The hack is reportedly in protest against Australia's proposed data retention regime, which would mandate ISPs to collect and hold transmission data from its users for up to two years."

Comments

Government monitoring will not stop terrorism.

[bejiitas_wrath]

This will not stop the terrorism that we are facing these days, and how much data storage will this entail? All of the torrents, Debian packages and music I have downloaded will be stored? Treating the commoners like terrorists.

Re:Government monitoring will not stop terrorism.

[Z00L00K]

The daily download of the full Linux kernel sources?

Generate enough junk traffic and the data to sift through will be useless and misleading.

Not sure this is the best idea

[tiggertaebo]

I'm really not a fan of ISPs doing mass data retention but I'm not sure that going around endangering customers privacy is the best way of getting ISPs to respect people's privacy.

The problem really is that Anonymous only really has two tools at it's disposal for dealing with people and organisations they don't like - data grab 'n' release and DoS. And you know what they say about when the only thing you've got is a hammer everything starts to look like a nail...

Re:Not sure this is the best idea

[Anonymous Coward]

This is exactly the way to do so.
Even if you think the government can do no wrong
Even if you think businesses would do nothing to risk pissing off their customers
Collecting everyone's data and retaining it is a huge liability, and criminals will always have access to it.

"So criminals stole 2 years worth of private customer data?"
"Yes! Track them down!"
"And what were you doing storing all that data in the first place, which is no good to anyone other than criminals?"

Raw data maybe not good enough deterrent

[Anonymous Coward]

They should instead find parliament members and their families IP addresses and point out what they've downloaded. Raw data of 40GB of something is not a good enough deterrent.

Way to go guys! What an achievement!!

[xQx]

Anonymous is releasing some "historic" data files with "limited personal customer information" that came from a web server of an outsourced company hosting the website for Australia's third or fourth largest ISP ... in protest against the Australian Government's data retention policies?

Now AFIK AAPT hasn't exactly been an advocate of the government's policies... nor are they a particularly prominent ISP now they've sold their residential customer base to iiNet - It's not like they would have been targeted specifically. Seems to me either someone has an axe to grind, or these guys are just releasing what they've got - which isn't much.

What next? They'll release some hacked data found from old hard drives stolen from the IT firm that ran the computers of the marketing company that the Howard government used when they were introducing the GST in protest for ... umm... the mistreatment of wikileaks founder Julian Assange by the current government.

Seriously, this is supposed to be an elite group of hackers.... Is this the best they can do?

Re:Way to go guys! What an achievement!!

[mwvdlee]

IMHO, Anonymous has always been about hacking first, thinking up a justification second.

Re:Way to go guys! What an achievement!!

[LordLucless]

Anonymous is releasing some "historic" data files with "limited personal customer information" that came from a web server of an outsourced company hosting the website for Australia's third or fourth largest ISP ... in protest against the Australian Government's data retention policies?

While I'll be the first to say that Anonymous' actions are frequently useless and counter-productive, this particular one isn't. It's a perfect example of (one of the reasons) why these data retention laws suck. The people required to retain them will not secure them properly, as Anonymous just demonstrated. Reassurances that only authorized people will be able to access them are lies.

...or these guys are just releasing what they've got - which isn't much...

Probably. But that's the point. They're releasing data that the ISPs should have protected, and didn't.

Seriously, this is supposed to be an elite group of hackers.... Is this the best they can do?

Haha, seriously? Anonymous are a group of trolls who hang out on an image board. They're might be some hackers among them, but that's not what Anonymous is known for.

Re:Torrent where?

[commlinx]

I noticed in TFA there's a twitter link to #OpAustralia that mentions it's being released next Saturday. I'm not sure which definition of "next" they're using.

If only they knew how to even use a hammer

[Viol8]

I'll get modded down for this by all the basement dwelling keyboard warriors on here but frankly I don't give a sh1t . Anonymous are a load of self righteous juvenile morons. They see an issue they have a gripe about, they jump on the bandwagon, make a mess and a lot of noise and chuck stuff off like a bunch of chimps in a bad mood, then jump off again thinking they've done some profound social service and made a grand gesture for freedom - when in actual fact all they've done is cause the bandwagon to crash into a tree.

So, releasing private customer data into the public domain because you object to a company keeping private customer data in case it falls into the wrong hands. Riiiight. If there was any logic in doing that it obviously got completely lost in the noise from all the raging teenage hormones behind the "decision" (I use that term lightly) to do it. What a complete bunch of fecking @rsewipes.

Re:If only they knew how to even use a hammer

[equex]

The best thing about anon is that they created so much noise lately that i've seen 'civilians' knowing about them. (and in most cases sympathize with them). they might come off as juvenile, but if it can improve the general knowledge about issues, it's a good thing. i for one usually don't shed a tear for the people targeted by anon.

Re:If only they knew how to even use a hammer

[Viol8]

"i for one usually don't shed a tear for the people targeted by anon."

Except in this case the victims are the innocent people who's data has been released. The ISP has been embarrassed but in a few weeks everyone will have forgotten and moved onto something else. The customers could suffer severe privacy breaches because of this which could last years.

Re:If only they knew how to even use a hammer

[jamesh]

I kind of agree, but what's the alternative? And I don't mean some idealistic alternative that you think should happen, I mean in an alternate universe where anonymous didn't exist, what would have happened instead? Would we have been better or worse off?

As I see it, the alternative's are:
. Our universe. A bunch of self righteous idiots break in and steal data from AAPT to prove how easy it is.
. Alternate universe possibility 1 - nothing happens. AAPT is insecure but nobody wiggles the door handle.
. Alternate universe possibility 2 - someone with a brain and malicious intent steals data from AAPT and nobody finds out until much, much later.

I'm not sure which is worse.

Re:If only they knew how to even use a hammer

[Urza9814]

People tend to consider threats like this entirely theoretical and something that will never ever actually happen -- until it does. I think there's definitely some value is showing just how easy these things are.

Re:If only they knew how to even use a hammer

[Bobakitoo]

It was only a matter of time before leak or misuse happen. Sure 'anonymous' also committed a crime here, but the real criminal responsibility lies with the ISP and the Australian government for hoarding data they had no business to collect.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I thought this was explicit enough in the original message.

Re:If only they knew how to even use a hammer

[PopeRatzo]

Anonymous are a load of self righteous juvenile morons.

That's why I love them. If a bunch of "juvenile morons" can take on governments and corporations, that means any of us can.

And "self-righteous" can be a good start. A lot of people aren't righteous at all.

They see an issue they have a gripe about, they jump on the bandwagon, make a mess and a lot of noise and chuck stuff off like a bunch of chimps in a bad mood

That's why they're effective. Most people are way too scared of protecting their jobs, their bank accounts, their comfortable consumerist way of life to even consider challenging the corporate tyranny. And brother, that corporate tyranny has a hamster wheel with your name on it and a slim box for you when you get tired. Given the failure of every other social institution, throwing one's toys out of the playpen is about the most appropriate response I can think of.

If there was ever a time in our history where a group of juvenile bomb-throwers was necessary, this is that time. We are rushing headlong into a very ugly future. A monkey-wrench is exactly the tool for this job.

Re:If only they knew how to even use a hammer

[Baloroth]

So if I shoot and kill you, I didn't commit a crime because you would have died eventually anyways? Anon went in, stole the private data of innocent people who were completely uninvolved in what anon was protesting, and released it to the public, likely resulting in grave harm to those individuals, all so that Anon could make a point. Yes, maybe it would have happened eventually anyway, but that doesn't matter in the slightest. Anon did something that directly results in harm towards others. Simply put: the ends do not justify the means. You cannot harm innocent people simply because your intended result is good.

Re:If only they knew how to even use a hammer

[PlusFiveTroll]

-The problem is how are we any better off for their actions?

One possible means.. Citizen outrage... "Hey hackers can get our data that the government makes the ISPs keep for poor reasons, LETS STOP THE GOVERNMENT FROM MANDATING DATA COLLECTION."

See the capitalized part. Yes some number of people were hurt by the hackers actions, but in this scenario many many more people were protected in the future. Now the proverbial ball is in the hands of the citizens of Australia 'to do the right thing', and make laws that protect them from not only hackers but dangerous governments too.

Making horrible insecure systems that concentrate data that would not normally be concentrated in one place is a terrible idea. Every single user of such systems is screwed the moment a system like that goes in effect. Your analogy is wrong, it goes like this.

"The government mandates that a gun is pointed at your head so they can pull the trigger if you act out of line. Anonymous pulls the triggers at random to show why this is a stupid fucking idea."

Re:few hours

[Kalriath]

It's really funny, because their ad is apparently claiming that I can take a massive pay cut in order to earn as little as Kelly Richards, who is some magic quantum lady who is in every city at once - and yet hasn't used this quantum power to rob a fucking bank yet.