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Thousands of Whistle Blowers Vulnerable After Anonymous Hacks SAPS

Posted by Unknown on from the hacktivism-gone-wrong dept.

First time accepted submitter fezzzz writes "Anonymous performed a data dump of hundreds of whistle blowers' private details in an attempt to show their unhappiness with the SAPS (South African Police Service) for the Marikana shooting. In so doing, the identities of nearly 16,000 South Africans who lodged a complaint with police on their website, provided tip-offs, or reported crimes are now publicly available." Reader krunster also submitted a slightly more in depth article on the breach.

29 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Out of character... by Draque · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How on earth does this fit with Anonymous' general philosophy of helping the little guy against the oppressive regime? Nine times out of ten they take that philosophy to an insane extreme, but this seems just the opposite.

    1. Re:Out of character... by TapeCutter · · Score: 5, Insightful

      fit with Anonymous' general philosophy

      A bunch of teenagers wanking off to a Natalie Portman movie have time to form a "general philosophy"?

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    2. Re:Out of character... by TWX · · Score: 2

      I think that this is more of a "government snitches get stitches" kind of thing, where one assumes that all functions of that organization are bad.

      In my view, the problem is that since the police are the only official authority to take such crime-related complaints to in the first place, this leak punishes those that are simply trying to get justice served, who have no other authority to take their complaints or other information to.

      On another note, isn't the point of "Anonymous", written into the name and everything, that there is no real structure, that there are no real decision makers beyond everyone individually choosing what they're going to work on, and if they're going to participate with an idea that someone else has? Wouldn't it make more sense to compare "Anonymous" the entity as a medium through which individuals can collaborate for their own projects?

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    3. Re:Out of character... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      How on earth does this fit with Anonymous' general philosophy of helping the little guy against the oppressive regime?

      Whoever said anything about helping the little guy? Anonymous is against the established legal system and for anybody who is against it, including terrorists (some of Anonymous's most high-profile actions recently have been lead by Hamas members, and core Anonymous members are not complaining). Dumping the names of people who cooperate with police to encourage criminal retaliation against them would be completely within Anonymous's character.

      Mostly they're about exercising power to harm someone else because it makes them feel good, and making up a justification later.

    4. Re:Out of character... by erroneus · · Score: 2

      I generally agree, but since they aren't exactly an organized group, philosophical differences will come about from time to time.

      That said, it's kind of hard to imagine doing something against their site without harming innocents while at the same time doing anything which draws attention to problems there. The SA police response was initially denial followed by "no comment." So they still aren't doing anything as far as anyone can tell. And according to the two articles, they are also quite negligent in some areas while active in others which speaks of agendas, laziness and/or political biases among other problems. This is "a shaming."

      I have been casually following the problems of South Africa and I am less than impressed. Somehow I had rather hoped that they had learned that the answer to racist law and policy is to do away with racist law and policy, not to "reverse it" by creating more racist law and policy which punishes the "race" of a person rather than individuals responsible. So it goes to show that both the US and South Africa (as well as many others) have some growing up to do.

      And seriously, while I wouldn't do it, I can understand why a group interested in justice and equality would expose the sensitive details of people in the databases. If/when harm comes to them as a result of the leak, it would bring more global attention to the actual problems. And it's not like there's not already a whole lot of danger and unfairness in South Africa -- the "net condition" will not really change. But pubic awareness and especially global public awareness will have been raised, which makes it a "net improvement."

    5. Re:Out of character... by jythie · · Score: 2

      It sounds like they are trying to hurt the particular police force an its abuses of other 'little guys', but also to highlight that people should not be using SAPS's 'whistleblower' system in the first place because it tracks personal data. They really should have anonomized it before posting, but the people in the database were already probably at risk from internal misuse an corruption.

    6. Re:Out of character... by buchner.johannes · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Anonymous is as much a organisation as people waiting at a bus stop are. And guess what, criminals also take the bus.

      --
      NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
    7. Re:Out of character... by i+kan+reed · · Score: 3, Funny

      Obviously you don't have enough hot grits.

    8. Re:Out of character... by macbeth66 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually, they aren't even an organization. Who is the head? Who decides what will and won't be done?

      It seems to me that 'Anonymous' will eventually become synonymous with the term 'hacker' as the popular press uses it.

    9. Re:Out of character... by LifesABeach · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Did the group called Anonymous do this? I question this act.

    10. Re:Out of character... by Eskarel · · Score: 2

      Anonymous' general philosophy isn't "help the little guy" it's "fuck the consequences".

      Once they get in their head that someone has done something wrong, for instance in this case the South African Police, they'll attack them and who cares if anyone else is harmed.

      I get that you can't really expect much more from a group of what are essentially script kiddies with no one telling them what not to do, but can we stop pretending that they're some bastion of justice and freedom and whatnot, they're the nerd rage of the mob, undirected,unfiltered, and they'll be the justification for a whole mess of laws the rest of us will have to live with.

  2. Seems counter-intuitive by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe someone else has a beef with some whistle blowers and wanted to expose some names.

    Now you always have Anonymous to blame...

    --
    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
    1. Re:Seems counter-intuitive by second_coming · · Score: 2

      I will be very surprised if there aren't deaths directly as a result of this.

    2. Re:Seems counter-intuitive by x_IamSpartacus_x · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Posting from Mozambique:

      You don't know how right you are. This is REMARKABLY stupid and dangerous. The countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are developing and with development comes all the growing pains, not least of which is very very corrupt police. Police in South Africa and elsewhere on this continent can be very vindictive and outright murderous when upset about people disrespecting their authority. A few months ago a teenager from Mozambique was dragged to death behind a South African police car because the police who "randomly" stopped him felt disrespected. If the people on these lists know about this hack and their names being made public there is a very real and justified fear they now permanently live in. If they don't know about this hack (a bit more likely in a developing country with a not-so-exposed-to-the-internet underclass) they may be blissfully unaware of the danger they are in but that does not change the its depth.

      Whoever released this info has very real blood on their hands. I don't give a damn about the title "Anonymous", the script kiddies who released this info are accessories to the horrible vindictive violence that will assuredly come, and the potential of the loss of life for many of the names released.

      The stupidity of this move cannot be overstated. Be ashamed of yourselves "Anonymous". Be ashamed for your lack of disciplining your own.

  3. Wait what?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Hackers ... This, they said was “for the 34 miners killed during clashes with police in Marikana on August 16 2012”.

    So to protest the miners being killed by police, the hackers hack in, steal the information of other folks who had problems with police and then release it thus exposing those same people to reprisals?

    What a bunch of fuck tards!

    My comment about SAPS is no better. In short, they come across as brutish, stupid thugs. They are not police, just a gang with fancy uniforms.

    1. Re:Wait what?!? by GodInHell · · Score: 2

      Has anonymous adopted the snitches get stitches policy of suppression?

  4. You know what they say by LordLimecat · · Score: 2

    Live by mob vigilante justice, die by mob vigilante justice.

    One of the reasons that you generally dont want vigilantes running around is that its really hard to hold them accountable... especially when their very name is "anonymity". Of course, the "real" (?) anonymous could just deny involvement, and everyone can go back to cheering them on the next time they hack the current Big Bad.

  5. Re:Idiots by Ultra64 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Proof that Anonymous are idiots."
                                                                                                    - Anonymous Coward

  6. are you kidding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    they're in it for the lulz you dumbass

    1. Re:are you kidding by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 2

      That must be it because they aren't in it for justice. Neither is wikileaks. This is why I hate both of them. They take it upon themselves to be guardians of justice but have no concern for their own wrongdoings. For example, wikileaks original claim to fame was the collateral murder video, which they put off as US soldiers simply committing murder. When it was investigated though, there was no wrongdoing - you can clearly see those guys carrying weapons (a Kalashnikov of some variation and an RPG are easily made out by anybody who has ever handled either - meanwhile wikileaks still claims that they are cameras, and I can't think of a commonly used camera that has a shape even remotely similar, neither as long, narrow, and pointed as the RPG, nor with something akin to a buttstock and pistol grip with a narrow front end.)

      Groups like anonymous and wikileaks don't really seem to give a shit which innocents they expose or whether anything they put out is a flat out fabrication - they just want a name for themselves. Julian Assange was called out by people within wikileaks on exactly this. I think they like having zero accountability.

      Who watches the watchmen?

      --
      Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
    2. Re:are you kidding by Eskarel · · Score: 2

      You can't really compare wikileaks and anonymous though.

      I have my issues with the way wikileaks behaves, and I think Julian Assange is a egotistical coward with psychopathic tendencies, but at least the goal of wikileaks, freedom of information, is something that is noble. Anonymous is just the mob.

  7. worst, summary, ever. by nimbius · · Score: 5, Informative

    the entire summary and the first half of the article is basically an agenda for discrediting anonymous and whitewashing the local cops.
    the leak was in response to the complaints from citizens sent to the police department, assigned a case number, and basically ignored by the police. what were the complaints about? the shooting death of 34 platinum mine workers by the police. you dont need to worry about exposing whistleblowers because the police killed 34 mine workers during a protest pretty much describes the suspects. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10016471/South-Africa-the-Massacre-That-Changed-a-Nation-BBC-Two-review.html

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:worst, summary, ever. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      RTFA the complaints of ANONYMOUS are about that. The whistle-blowers are trying to put a STOP to various instances of police brutality. So anonymous is protesting police brutality by posting the personal information of the VERY PEOPLE BLOWING THE WHISTLE ON IT.

  8. Anonymous didn't make it vulnerable... by SoTerrified · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...It was always vulnerable. People seem upset that 'Anonymous' has revealed the list of whistleblowers. What you have to realize is that the police had that information so poorly secured, anyone with any computer knowledge could easily access it. So the police were leaving a list of whistleblowers out there dangling in the wind for anyone who had any ability to look. All Anonymous has done is reveal what the police were doing... Poorly securing important information. Hopefully that message won't be lost as people try to pin the blame for poor security on the people who revealed it was poor. Don't blame the messenger. Blame the people who have sensitive information and don't put in the effort to secure it.

  9. Not this moronic justification again by Viol8 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just because someone leaves something vulnerable does NOT give anyone the right to exploit that vulnerability under some phoney guise of showing them how vulnerable it was in the first place. Thats the logic of the self justifying fool.

  10. Whistle Blowers? by sesshomaru · · Score: 3, Informative

    Look, police informants are not whistle blowers. You may think they deserve to be protected, but the term whistle blower has a specific meaning that does not equate to police informant.

    --
    "MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
  11. Was it really Anon? by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 2

    From the second article, emphasis mine:

    "The hackers (@DomainerAnon) â" believed to be associated with hacktivist group Anonymous..."

    Has a confirmed Anon source stated that it was an Anon op? A splinter group like LulzSec? An agent provocateur?

    This reeks of a frame. It's out of character.

    --
    Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
  12. something is worst, ever alright. by Main+Gauche · · Score: 3, Informative

    According to the second article above provided by krunster, the hackers posted this message with the data dump:

    "South African Police Service Web site hacked saps.gov.za database and e-mails leaked. The reason for this action is to serve as a reminder to the government regarding the murders of 34 protesting miners outside the Marikana platinum mine by police. To date no officers have been brought to justice... This situation will NOT be tolerated. #OpMarikanaMiners @domaineranon.”

    So in response to the alleged 34 murders, the hackers expose 16000 names of innocent people to "punish" the cops? This would be like punishing Hitler by gassing American Jews.

    If even one of those 16K people is killed as a result of this, the hackers become accessories to murder, in my book.

  13. Re:Idiots by mrbester · · Score: 2

    That's a real life example of the Epimenides paradox at work.

    --
    "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"