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Anonymous Begins Teaching Hacktivism on IRC (softpedia.com)
Softpedia reports that "At the end of April, members of the Anonymous hacker collective announced the launch of the OnionIRC, an internet relay chat network where the group says it aims to teach people about hacking and hacktivism." [Chat logs are available through the @OnionIRC Twitter account.] Classes cover topics like open-source intelligence and how to use nmap and bash, but "The teachers and the main people behind this campaign have been focused more on promoting the principles of hacktivism than anything else...classes on the idea of Anonymous itself, hacktivism in general, and civil disobedience."
An anonymous Slashdot reader writes:
The group's actual hacking activity has died down in the past years, with less "hacks" and more DDoS attacks, which most of the times are carried out by attention-seeking members. Because of this, the group's older members created the OnionIRC as a way to recruit and train new members.
Meanwhile, Softpedia reports that an Anonymous group is now targeting the mayor of Denver for dismantling homeless shelters, by bringing new attention to unconfirmed rumors that he once visited a prostitute.
Meanwhile, Softpedia reports that an Anonymous group is now targeting the mayor of Denver for dismantling homeless shelters, by bringing new attention to unconfirmed rumors that he once visited a prostitute.
And they're usually very experienced coders/hackers you name it - there are very few newbies or script kiddies on IRC mainly because they've never heard of it. I suspect anonymous' lectures will last about 5 minutes before they're laughed off the channel.
There was a story half a day ago, about people being afraid of doing things online, including "posting things on social media"
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/05/14/1755210/privacy-fears-deterring-almost-half-of-american-households-from-online-shopping
Now we have this story... Maybe people don't want to get hacked for posting political opinions.
IRC is obviously a "hacking tool" so best shut it down, hunt down all users, and throw'em in jail for good measure. "Computer hacking" is criminal, it's the law!
Is it illegal to visit prostitutes in that jurisdiction?
The problem with Anonymous is that as often as it picks a good cause, it picks childish bullshit.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
In Colorado, it is a crime to buy or sell sex.
But they usually only arrest the women.
Men get a pass.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
Anonymous is not a unified group. It doesn't really pick a cause, instead using a form of the same algorithm used by bees to select a nest site: Any bee can suggest a site. If they say it's good, other bees go to check it out. They assess the site and return to the meeting, and if they liked it they show their seconding with an appropriate level of enthusiasm. This in turn encourages more bees to look, until by a rough consensus every bee is dancing about the same place - then they all move off together. Unified action without a leader.
(Yes, this is what honey bees do, encoding location vectors in body movements and site evaluation in duration of display. Bees are cool.)
To be fair, I don't think most organises of disruptive protests offline think about that in great detail. The standard chain of reasoning seems to be rather simpler:
1. A problem exists.
2. The government is unable/unwilling to help.
3. So lets break stuff and make lots of noise until we force someone to take action.
Plenty of protesters accept that they may go to jail for their cause, but few actually seek that end.
Remember Jeremy Hammond from LulzSec?
He was doing this kind of shit years ago. Partly with HackThisSite.com.
But he was also teaching people how to break into systems and sites in IRC.
Unfortunately, the raging dumbass was doing this with systems that belonged to his employer, MacSpecialist (now defunct).
Worse, the the systems contained live customer data INCLUDING CC info.
At the time he wasn't exactly popular in the local hacker scene in Chicago (he's and his crew had been making unmitigated asses of themselves).
So, mysteriously, a copy of the IRC logs of him doing this made it to his employer the next morning.
Did you know? The first thing an employer will usually do when given evidence that they can corroborate that you're using their systems without authorization?
FIRE YOUR STUPID ASS!
Hopefully the n00bs teaching other Anonytards will be a bit more circumspect.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
I mean, due to it's nature simply saying you are part of Anonymous means you are part of Anonymous. It's not exactly an organization, it's more of a movement.
This looks like the perfect setup for a police sting operation.
I will teach you how to perform an harmless hack, then catch you for it
I think you should be cleaned up! Your shallow values and preppy clothes make my eyes bleed.
The problem with Anonymous is that it is anonymous. Anyone claims the name and dilutes the brand and makes it look worse.
This is why non-groups like anonymous and hashtags like GamerGate are a bad idea. At best they lack any kind of consistency, and more often than not they get commandeered by a few individuals for their own purposes. Be it the people writing the DDOS apps that they control, or the people creating sockpuppet accounts to steer GamerGate harassment.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Anonymous is proof that anything designed and managed by committee is doomed to chaos. They gained notoriety with some pretty basic hacks several years ago, as well as from DDOSing a couple big websites, based on some strong principles. Since then, they've just been an embarrassment. This move to political "hacktivism" could better be described as armchair extremism without focus. Some sects are against trump, some are for, etc. Regardless, activism isn't about picking political leaders, it's about core principles and ideals. And the Guy Fawkes mask has always been corny. Nothing screams basement dweller more than hiding your identity behind a character from your favorite movie. These guys are just embarrassing.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
hard to respect those who use technology to silence the voices of others
Warren Sapp was fired from the NFL Network because he was arrested with a prostitute. So they don;'t get a pass unless their politicians and/or white.
Honestly, I don't give a shit if they "go away" or not.
However, like Hammond, if they fuck up royally enough, they'll "go away" for a while regardless.
To Federal Prison.
Then, I'll just point and laugh.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!