anonymous | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Wed, 05 Oct 2016 11:15:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png anonymous | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 4chan is going broke, may need drastic changes https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/online/jon-martindale/4chan-is-going-broke-may-need-drastic-changes/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/online/jon-martindale/4chan-is-going-broke-may-need-drastic-changes/#respond Wed, 05 Oct 2016 11:15:55 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=307878 Message board 4chan is in serious financial trouble and unless some drastic changes can turn the ship around, much of the site may need to close. The current owner told users on Sunday that the site may need to implement pop-up adverts, a cap on upload sizes and potentially even close down a number of popular …

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Message board 4chan is in serious financial trouble and unless some drastic changes can turn the ship around, much of the site may need to close. The current owner told users on Sunday that the site may need to implement pop-up adverts, a cap on upload sizes and potentially even close down a number of popular boards.

Purchased from original owner Christopher Poole in 2015 by Hiroyuki Nishimura, the founder of precursor site, 2Chan, 4Chan has been in somewhat of a flux since. It was Nishimura who posted to the community that the site was in real trouble, titling the piece “Winter is Coming, ” a reference to the popular Game of Thrones meme of the same name.

In the post he apologised to the community and said he had hoped to keep the site as it was, but that financially that just wasn't going to be possible. He cited the costs of the site's infrastructure, as well as network fees as the main cause for concern over 4chan's future.

4chan

Moving forward, Nishimuru said that he thought more adverts were likely, as well as shuttering some of the site's user boards. There was also the suggestion of new, paid for features for certain members.

The response from 4chan users has been mixed. While some showed support for Nishimura, many kicked into self preservation mode and began to suggest their least favourite boards for closure. The sheer number of pornography based boards was brought up, with many suggesting that their focus on images and video made them a good candidate for closure to help save on costs.

As the Guardian points out though, when the suggestion of closing /b, the site's most visited board and certainly one of its most inflammatory, this caused even more concern, since it suggested those users may flood into other boards.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The other part to this story is that a certain price-hiking, pharmaceuticals head wants to invest in the site, but he's not someone we'll be mentioning in the future. He thrives on the attention. 

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Anonymous affiliate group shuts down KKK website https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/anonymous-affiliate-group-shuts-down-kkk-website/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/anonymous-affiliate-group-shuts-down-kkk-website/#comments Mon, 25 Apr 2016 11:54:35 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=290551 In a continuation of its age old practices of denying web presences to those it deems unworthy of them, an affiliate group of the hacktivist movement, Anonymous, has taken down a website run by the Ku Klux Klan. The White Knights of the KKK site has yet to reappear, after being hit with a sustained …

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In a continuation of its age old practices of denying web presences to those it deems unworthy of them, an affiliate group of the hacktivist movement, Anonymous, has taken down a website run by the Ku Klux Klan. The White Knights of the KKK site has yet to reappear, after being hit with a sustained denial of service (DDoS) attack.

The Anonymous collective has always had a slight ideological issue with the fact that it is a big proponent of individual freedoms and free speech, and yet uses tactics like DDoS attacks, which make websites inaccessible, as their weapon of choice in silencing those it disagrees with.

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Addressing this with the security blog HackRead, a spokesperson for the Anonymous splinter group said that:

“We targeted the KKK [because] we believe in free speech but their form of beliefs is monolithic and evil. We stand for constitutional rights but they want anyone who is not Caucasian removed from earth so we targeted the KKK official website to show love for our boots on the ground and to send a message that all forms of corruption will be fought. We are not fascist but we certainly do not agree with the KKK movement. They are the Fascists and they are the Racists.”

This isn't the first time that Anonymous or its offshoots have targeted groups it considers amoral. It hit out at the main KKK website back in 2015 after it was claimed a member harassed a woman on Twitter, while in 2014, it leaked information from a KKK member's list to the public.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: While DDOS attacks might seem like they infringe on others freedom of speech, one comparison that I quite like is that it's the equivalent of a digital ‘sit-in.' How do you see DDOS attacks?

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Obama’s email shows up on Anonymous hit list https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/obamas-email-shows-up-on-anonymous-hit-list/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/obamas-email-shows-up-on-anonymous-hit-list/#comments Thu, 26 Nov 2015 11:22:18 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=276335 The hacktivist movement known as Anonymous has drawn a lot of positive attention to itself as of late, for its announcement and subsequent following up, of an attack on the internet presence of Daesh, the group often referred to as ISIS or ISIL. However it looks like in its efforts to curb the online activities …

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The hacktivist movement known as Anonymous has drawn a lot of positive attention to itself as of late, for its announcement and subsequent following up, of an attack on the internet presence of Daesh, the group often referred to as ISIS or ISIL. However it looks like in its efforts to curb the online activities of the terrorist group, Anonymous may have siphoned up a few emails and accounts that could be considered collateral damage.

Within days of its initial announcement to go after Daesh in the wake of the attacks on Paris on 13th November, Anonymous claimed to have downed more than 5,500 Twitter accounts that were promoting Daesh activity. Since then a further 15,000 are said to have been taken offline or targeted with Rickroll links.

Some of those accounts though seem pretty unlikely to be linked with Daesh in any realistic way. President Obama's non-POTUS account was on the list, as was the New York Time's account and even a Twitter help page.

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As the BBC points out, the very nature of Anonymous suggests that the unverified list could just contain a few extra accounts for posterity, or was edited later for humorous purposes, but it does suggest that Anonymous hasn't been quite as successful as it claims.

Still, many anons are keen to point out that while downing Twitter accounts is a major part in the war against Daesh, it is only one of many battles. OpISIS is still the main attack against the group they said, reminding everyone that OpParis is just the latest push. They also urge anyone who noticed any of the accounts back online, to report them to Twitter and other anons for further downing.

Not everyone agrees with this tactic however, with some suggesting that being able to track the Daesh accounts is more useful than taking them down. Anonymous argues that frustrating Daesh's ability to use online resources is a good method of showing solidarity against its propaganda.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Do you think Anonymous should be downing accounts, or should it be reporting them to the authorities for monitoring?

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Anonymous knocks out thousands of ISIS Twitter accounts https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/anonymous-knocks-out-thousands-of-isis-twitter-accounts/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/anonymous-knocks-out-thousands-of-isis-twitter-accounts/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2015 09:12:57 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=275474 In the wake of the Paris attacks last week, Hacktivist movement Anonymous recently announced its intention to go after so-called Islamist State militants and recruiters on Twitter. So far it seems to be having some real success, with claims of more than 5,500 pro-ISIS Twitter accounts taken down, and a larger number still reported to …

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In the wake of the Paris attacks last week, Hacktivist movement Anonymous recently announced its intention to go after so-called Islamist State militants and recruiters on Twitter. So far it seems to be having some real success, with claims of more than 5,500 pro-ISIS Twitter accounts taken down, and a larger number still reported to authorities and placed on vigilante ‘watch' lists.

Although Anonymous has in the past been linked with less serious actions, its loosely affiliated ‘members' have recently gone after targets like the Ku Klux Klan, revealing potential members and supporters of the white supremacist organisation. The assault on ISIS' social media presence however is much more aggressive. It's not all about hacking accounts and deleting them, or reporting them to authorities though. Some of it involves digital surveillance.

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In a chat with BBC, one of those said to be helping to organise the attack on ISIS said that the idea was to acquire as much intelligence on the terrorist group as it can, in order to help facilitate the identification of all those involved in the Paris attacks. Disabling their propaganda was just one aspect of what Anonymous is doing, they said.

Of course with such an emotionally charged topic, and calls for blood from many quarters, Anonymous has to be careful not to go on a witch hunt. To avoid this, the spokesperson says, they have a vetting procedure for accounts. If one is identified as being potentially run by someone connected to ISIS, it goes on a list for further investigation. Only if it turns out to be an ISIS run account, is it subjected to true scrutiny and potentially shut down.

Although the argument has been made that intelligence agencies may prefer ISIS accounts to remain public for monitoring, Anonymous counters that propaganda is a terrorist tool that ISIS often wields online. Eliminating its ability to do so helps prevent others from joining and the fearmongering of the organisation itself to spread.

https://twitter.com/opparisofficial/status/666857505553694720

As well as the consistent attacks on ISIS, the @OPParisOfficial account driving the campaign has repeatedly Tweeted messages of solidarity. It points out that the one thing ISIS fears the most, is unity. Because it cannot combat that.

This also isn't the first time that Anonymous has gone after ISIS. It downed many social networking accounts related to the pro-intolerance network earlier this year.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: How do you guys feel about vigilante action like this? Does it make you feel represented, or do you feel like it's likely to do too much collateral damage?

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Tinder rejects claims that only 58 per cent of users are single https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/apps-software/jon-martindale/tinder-rejects-claims-that-only-58-per-cent-of-users-are-single/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/apps-software/jon-martindale/tinder-rejects-claims-that-only-58-per-cent-of-users-are-single/#comments Fri, 08 May 2015 10:19:35 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=248563 Tinder, the application and service that is designed to help people hook up for relatively anonymous… hang outs, has hit back at research that suggested over 40 per cent of its users were either married or already in relationships, by pointing to the small size of the sample used and suggestions that since its users …

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Tinder, the application and service that is designed to help people hook up for relatively anonymous… hang outs, has hit back at research that suggested over 40 per cent of its users were either married or already in relationships, by pointing to the small size of the sample used and suggestions that since its users are young, they couldn't all be married.

Recently research from GlobalWebIndex suggested that as many as 42 per cent of Tinder's day to day users had partners of some kind, however Tinder rejects this. It cites the fact that the number of people quizzed was “tiny,” with just 681 people asked about their relationship status. On top of that, it pointed out that with most of its users aged under 25 years old, an age group where more than 90 per cent are unmarried, there was no way the data could be accurate.

“The single largest age group on Tinder, making up more than half of our entire user base, is 18-24. More than 93% of UK residents in that age range have never been married, according to the UK’s office of National Statistics,” it said in a statement (via Guardian). “Without revealing any data about our users, simple logic should reveal that it’s essentially impossible for any of these claims to be accurate. Their methodology seems severely and fundamentally flawed.”

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GWI's research disagrees with those estimates however, and puts the per centage of Tinder's user based aged 16 to 24 at around 38 per cent, with a larger 45 per cent aged between 25 and 34.

Considering the results from both parties here are contradictory, it's difficult to guess which is most likely to be correct, though presumably it's somewhere in the middle. Even if GWI's research is partly true however, it suggests that a lot of people using Tinder are indeed already engaged in some form of relationship, despite what they might claim.

Discuss on out Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Have any of you guys found much success with Tinder? Friends of mine have had rather mixed results. 

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Twitter forces Tor users to give up phone number https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/twitter-forces-tor-users-to-give-up-phone-number/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/twitter-forces-tor-users-to-give-up-phone-number/#comments Tue, 03 Mar 2015 11:25:27 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=238387 To help crack down on nuisance and menacing individuals on Twitter, the social network has enacted a new policy whereby US visitors attempting to set up new accounts via the Tor anonymising browser software will be required to activate a phone number before being able to access it. Setting one up with a typical browser …

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To help crack down on nuisance and menacing individuals on Twitter, the social network has enacted a new policy whereby US visitors attempting to set up new accounts via the Tor anonymising browser software will be required to activate a phone number before being able to access it. Setting one up with a typical browser like Chrome or Firefox should be unaffected, but those looking to hide their IPs will need to prove their identity in some manner before being given a chance to tweet anything.

This isn't something that appears to be affecting worldwide users of the site, as this writer didn't receive any such prompt when setting up a bogus Twitter account using the Tor browser. However, many users have spotted it and TechCrunch too is reporting on its implementation.

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“Ogres are like Tor software Donkey.”

While this move will presumably make it that bit harder for trolls that sign up to multiple accounts, it presumably won't do much good when it comes to those using VPNs or proxies to access the site. Similarly so, Tor isn't just a tool used by the nefarious, but by people around the world seeking anonymous protection from government censorship and political groups that may wish to do them harm.

The question is, if Twitter forces users to identify themselves in some manner regardless of how they sign up, how would it react if government or authority groups demand information on those users? Part of the reason the Arab Spring was successful is because people were able to organise on Twitter and other sites without as much fear of being censored or identified by their governments and militaries.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KtiGuru Says: As troublesome as trolls are, there has to be a better way of solving this problem than removing some of the anonymity that Tor offers. Unless Twitter is happy to stand up to authorities including the US government, this is unlikely to be a move that privacy advocates are happy with. 

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Anonymous to target Westminster paedophiles next https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/anonymous-to-target-westminster-paedophiles-next/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/anonymous-to-target-westminster-paedophiles-next/#comments Mon, 16 Feb 2015 12:36:50 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=235844 The hacktivist movement, Anonymous, recently drew headlines once again for its actions against the Islamic State terrorist organisation, but now it's looking to take on targets a little closer to home. Last week it launched #OperationDeathEaters, which will see the group attempt to gather information on and expose those within the political and business system in …

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The hacktivist movement, Anonymous, recently drew headlines once again for its actions against the Islamic State terrorist organisation, but now it's looking to take on targets a little closer to home. Last week it launched #OperationDeathEaters, which will see the group attempt to gather information on and expose those within the political and business system in the UK and around the world, who have taken part in or helped hide, child sexual abuse throughout the past few decades.

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The UK has been embroiled in sexual abuse scandals for the past few years, with many former national treasures being found to have taken part in it throughout much of the 20th century. Throughout these enquiries however, some links have been found with high ranking politicians and business leaders, leading to an official investigation. Anonymous wants to help and has plans to help expose even more people involved in what it describes as a “pedosadist industry.” It also wants to take the enquiry international, incorporating victim information from around the world.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kenFyPlESY']

It also calls out British politicians like David Cameron, who it quotes as having suggested child sex abuse victim claimants were merely “conspiracy theorists.”

The operation specific Twitter account has been highlighting instances of light sentencing for child sex abusers, as well as spreading information on specialist military courts used for rape and abuse claims.

While those aiding the official investigation have praised the sentiment of anonymous, some have suggested that the operation could interfere with their own efforts.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: What do you guys think of Anons' actions here? Does it help bring more light on to a touchy subject, or could it potentially scare off those that may otherwise be caught out by the official investigation?

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Anonymous takes down hundreds of ISIS social media accounts https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/anonymous-takes-down-hundreds-of-isis-social-media-accounts/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/anonymous-takes-down-hundreds-of-isis-social-media-accounts/#comments Tue, 10 Feb 2015 09:07:55 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=234873 The hacktivist movement Anonymous has made good on its promises to target those associated with the violent extremist organisation, ISIS, by taking over and knocking out hundreds of websites and social media accounts that help promote the organisation and encourage recruitment from new members. Apparently though, this is just the start, with the Anons stating in …

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The hacktivist movement Anonymous has made good on its promises to target those associated with the violent extremist organisation, ISIS, by taking over and knocking out hundreds of websites and social media accounts that help promote the organisation and encourage recruitment from new members. Apparently though, this is just the start, with the Anons stating in a video that #OpISIS would continue. It also championed the notion of solidarity in the face of the middle-east terrorist organisation's brutality.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPE_sRhZp6M']

“We are Muslims, Christians, Jews. We are hackers, crackers, hacktivists, phishers, agents, spies, or just the guy next door. We are students, clerks, unemployed, rich, poor. We are young or old, gay or straight. [..] We come from all races, countries, religions and ethnicity. United as one, divided by zero,” the video states.

It goes on to paint ISIS members as non-muslims, stating categorically that Anonymous will “treat them like a virus,” and will exterminate their online presence. “There will be no safe place for you online,” it said.

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To prove its claims, Anonymous yesterday posted a link to a Pastebin entry which contained links to hundreds of Twitter and Facebook accounts, purportedly run by ISIS members and recruiters. Those have now been taken down or suspended in their entirety. It also listed information for others and the authorities to investigate, such as IP addresses of suspected supporters and traced VPN connections of those accessing the taken-down social media accounts.

The response from most internet users has been positive, though some have questioned about the usefulness of attacking social media when the group is so violent in the real world. However, unlike many terror groups, ISIS has shown a particular proclivity for using Western resources like the internet and Facebook/Twitter to spread its messages of intolerance and encourage others to take up arms with it. So far it claims to have recruited over 50,000 foreigners to its cause, many of them ‘fighters.'

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: What do you guys think of Anonymous going after ISIS like this?

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Patriot hacker The Jester to retire persona https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/patriot-hacker-the-jester-to-retire-persona/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/patriot-hacker-the-jester-to-retire-persona/#respond Tue, 23 Dec 2014 10:07:26 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=227880 Even though the '80s and '90s taught us to fear the power of hackers with their cereal box whistles and surprisingly visual interfaces, the '00s and beyond have really brought them to the fore. Not only have we heard about the covert underground of state sponsored hacking on a much larger scale, but the idea …

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Even though the '80s and '90s taught us to fear the power of hackers with their cereal box whistles and surprisingly visual interfaces, the '00s and beyond have really brought them to the fore. Not only have we heard about the covert underground of state sponsored hacking on a much larger scale, but the idea of hacktivism was popularised. Groups of people and individuals that use their technological superpowers to dissent in internet based versions of protest from throughout the ages. While not always the most popular, The Jester was one such hacktivist, but no more, as that personality has now been retired, giving its creator enough freedom to continue his protests from behind the scenes.

While hacktivism movements like Anonymous and Lulzsec have drawn a few more headlines than the Jester, the unnamed individual certainly took a more controverial stance on recent issues of security, freedoms and privacy. They targeted the whistleblowing site Wikileaks, stating that they believed the site was “attempting to endanger the lives of [US] troops.”

Taking even more of a Devil's Advocate outlook however, was their verbal attacks against Edward Snowden, who leaked NSA documents to newspapers to expose the PRISM surveillance scheme. The Jester claimed that Snowden was a defector that got caught and used the document leak as a way to protect himself. Jester also suggested that if he was a true patriot, as some would claim, he would have stayed in the United Stated and leaked documents from there, rather than fleeing to China and eventually to Russia.

They even suggested that Snowden had been courted by Wikileaks in order to disparage and embarrass the US on the world stage.

harley2
‘See you later Mr J'

As an ex-soldier, Jester was fiercely patriotic, regularly targeting enemies of the US like the Taliban, the Westboro Baptist Church and several jihadist websites. They also fell out with Anonymous and Lulzsec several times, even exposing the leader of the latter, Sabu, before he was officially revealed.

However all of that is behind The Jester now. In an address on Jester's Court, they said that this was always planned. After five years, 10,000 tweets and a plethora of hacks, The Jester will hang up their fool's hat for good. Not to discontinue hacking, but to take a lower profile. As The Jester described it, “the ‘J’ persona’ has become too ‘unwieldy’ and cumbersome for ‘him’ to be effective in carrying out the original objectives in his current incarnation.”

Jester went on to thank all of their supporters and denied rumours that they had health issues or were being forced to step down due to law enforcement closing in. In the future they have plans to take part in, “more ‘jesterin’ – less noise, next evo projects that build on the best of ‘J’ and leave the rest, and maybe even at least try to make an attempt at a book.”

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: While you may not always agree with his political and social stance, The Jester was a well versed, articulate individual that stood up for things they believe in. You have to respect that.

Image source:Khaamar

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Kickstarter suspends anonymous router project https://www.kitguru.net/professional/networking/matthew-wilson/kickstarter-suspends-anonymous-router-project/ https://www.kitguru.net/professional/networking/matthew-wilson/kickstarter-suspends-anonymous-router-project/#comments Mon, 20 Oct 2014 16:15:12 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=217467 August Germar recently launched a project on Kickstarter, Anonabox. The aim was to raise $7500 to build and create a tiny custom router that would send all browsing traffic across the Tor network, ensuring anonymity and traffic encryption. The project made $585,000 in its first five days but it looks like Kickstarter has shut the project …

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August Germar recently launched a project on Kickstarter, Anonabox. The aim was to raise $7500 to build and create a tiny custom router that would send all browsing traffic across the Tor network, ensuring anonymity and traffic encryption. The project made $585,000 in its first five days but it looks like Kickstarter has shut the project down for now, due to concerns over who was making the hardware.

Once the project launched, some people noticed that the “custom-built” hardware was already available elsewhere, pictures of the prototype Anonabox seemed to be very similar to a router already available from a Chinese electronics company. Others questioned the project's pledge to be open source as the project creator didn't share much of the code running on the router. Additionally, some security shortcomings were discovered, which could give attackers a way to compromise the device.

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The worries eventually caused Kickstarter to suspend the project and ensure that the money made so far did not get passed on. In an email to Wired, Kickstarter said that the questions raised about where the hardware came from, ultimately led to the suspension:

August Germar was in charge of the Anonabox project, telling Ars Technica that the similar looking devices seen on Chinese websites were “just generic knock-offs”. Despite the Kickstarter suspension, Germar still plans to develop the router and sell it directly to customers instead.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It's not quite clear whether or not the Anonabox project has been shut down for good, the page is still viewable and Kickstarter itself seems to be stating that the project is suspended, giving off the impression that if some issues can be resolved, the project may go ahead as planned. 

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Facebook to allow the use of pseudonyms https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/facebook-to-allow-the-use-of-pseudonyms/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/facebook-to-allow-the-use-of-pseudonyms/#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2014 08:34:20 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=215467 For the first time in a long time, it looks like Facebook, the king of social media, is a little worried about the competition. Ello, the social network that is advertiser free and lets users register under false or made up names if they choose, is gaining traction and Facebook is clearly a little wary …

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For the first time in a long time, it looks like Facebook, the king of social media, is a little worried about the competition. Ello, the social network that is advertiser free and lets users register under false or made up names if they choose, is gaining traction and Facebook is clearly a little wary of it, so it too is going to allow users to begin using a fake name online through a certain application, if they want.

While Facebook has yet to make the announcement itself, the NYTimes claims that the social network will soon be releasing stand-alone mobile application that will let users interact without using their real names, though it's not clear how this will relate to a user's main account. Presumably not at all, as the idea behind the app is to allow people to discuss topics they might not be entirely comfortable talking about with their main profile.

anonymous
Considering most big forums allow pseudonyms, is this such a bad thing?

If Facebook does indeed introduce this app, it would be a real about face for it, since for years it's championed a reduction in personal privacy and an open plan network, that makes it easier for people to find one another. Conversely however, it also leads to people having information made public that they would otherwise have kept hidden. Similarly, Facebook sells users' data to advertisers.

Ello on the other hand, is promising to have no advertisers and therefore no one to sell too. It plans to make its money through limited, premium features. However at the moment the entire site is a premium, since it's invite only, much like the early days of Google + and indeed, Facebook.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: What do you guys thing of this move? Is it a good one for Facebook, or is it sacrificing one of its big features in order to seem like the cool, young upstart it clearly no longer is?

Image Source: Danny Sullivan

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Anonymous Slovenia claims to have hacked the FBI https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/anonymous-slovenia-claims-to-have-hacked-the-fbi/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/anonymous-slovenia-claims-to-have-hacked-the-fbi/#respond Wed, 05 Feb 2014 09:44:51 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=176074 Despite having anonymity as their namesake and practice, there are localised version of the hacking movement Anonymous all over the world, and one of them – in this case the Slovenian branch – is claiming to have hacked the FBI, revealing details about its director and login information for many other employees there. Of course …

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Despite having anonymity as their namesake and practice, there are localised version of the hacking movement Anonymous all over the world, and one of them – in this case the Slovenian branch – is claiming to have hacked the FBI, revealing details about its director and login information for many other employees there.

Of course such a claim wouldn't be very believable without evidence, so the hacktivists have posted up a lot of details on pastebin, including a large collection of FBI passwords and emails and personal details about current director James Brien Comey Jr – though they do add the caveat that not all information was gathered by themselves.

While the list is impressive, there are some strange things going on with the passwords. Many FBI agents seem to need a lesson in basic password security, while others seem to have a strong attachment to someone called “nancy”.

anony

Something else that's worth noting is that the pastebin link was posted along with the message: “//Laughing at your security ^^” and the closing one of the post was: “Yᴏᴜʀ k€ЏßØα®d ᴄᴀɴ ᴅᴏ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ.” Curiously, no mention of the usual Anonymous mantra, “expect us.”

A few hours after the FBI data dump, Anonymous Slovenia also posted a lot of information on members of the EU Affairs Department, though it seemed less enthusiastic about doing so: “It is unfortunate this has to be done, but as requested by our brothers, we announce this data dump. This includes emails and other goods from the European Affairs Ministry.”

Kitguru Says: There wasn't much reasoning given for either of these attacks, but perhaps we'll learn more in the wake of the hack's news coverage.

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Whatsapp website briefly defaced by protestors https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/whatsapp-website-briefly-defaced-by-protestors/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/whatsapp-website-briefly-defaced-by-protestors/#comments Tue, 08 Oct 2013 11:25:25 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=156826 A group of protesters demanding peace for Palestine took it upon themselves to paint their message across the Whatsapp website this morning. Taking responsibility, is KDMS, a team of pro-Palestinians claiming to be a part of the Anonymous group. The Whatsapp page title was changed to ‘You got pwned', the reasoning behind which seems to be …

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A group of protesters demanding peace for Palestine took it upon themselves to paint their message across the Whatsapp website this morning. Taking responsibility, is KDMS, a team of pro-Palestinians claiming to be a part of the Anonymous group.

The Whatsapp page title was changed to ‘You got pwned', the reasoning behind which seems to be all about Palestine losing land to Israel. The page goes on to say Palestinian land has been stolen by “Zionist”  and that they deserve their land back and their people released from Israeli jails.

WhatsApp-hacked-site_610x1479

The groups tag line seems to be ‘There is no full security'.

The actual Whatsapp messaging service wasn't affected during the attack but the main website is currently down. The domain IP for the Whatsapp site was also changed, allowing the hackers to redirect people to any page they wanted.

Millions of people use Whatsapp as their primary messaging service every day, so it's good to know that the actual service was not affected. However, maybe this could be seen as a wake up call for Whatsapp to step up its security.

KitGuru Says: While the Whatsapp site is down for now, presumably it won't take too long to bring it back up and return it to normal. The question is though, whether security will be tightened enough to prevent a repeat attack?

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Anonymous leaks NSA data in wake of spying scandal https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/anonymous-leaks-nsa-data-in-wake-of-spying-scandal/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/anonymous-leaks-nsa-data-in-wake-of-spying-scandal/#respond Fri, 07 Jun 2013 18:23:48 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=137833 In-case you don't read other news sources (and why would you, we do a fantastic job here of covering, literally, everything, ever) America's National Security Agency (NSA) just got caught spying on a huge number of its citizens using services like Facebook, Google, Yahoo and a mass of others – to the point where it …

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In-case you don't read other news sources (and why would you, we do a fantastic job here of covering, literally, everything, ever) America's National Security Agency (NSA) just got caught spying on a huge number of its citizens using services like Facebook, Google, Yahoo and a mass of others – to the point where it seems like everything anyone has ever done online may have passed through an NSA server at some point. Anonymous isn't the kind of movement to take this lying down however and has released a bunch of documents about the spying project, codenamed PRISM.

“Anonymous has obtained some documents that “they” do not want you to see, and much to “their” chagrin, we have found them, and are giving them to you,” reads the accompanying statement. It goes on to describe how the NSA is spying on 35 different countries and their citizens and that this is often done in cooperation with private businesses.

The poster then signs off with the usual Anonymous mantra. “We are Anonymous, we do not forgive, we do not forget, and by now, you should expect us.”

anonymous
I'd “expect” the anons to have found their head by now. What are they, doing a Walken impression?

The documents themselves – of which there are 13 (thanks Gizmodo) contain details on PRISM itself and on GIG (Global Information Grid). Good luck trying to read them, they're deadly boring.

However, the claims of what's actually in these documents have already been tested. One commenter is suggesting that instead of being to do with government spying, this is a whitepaper on the US military building an information sharing network between branches of the army.

KitGuru Says: I'll have another go at reading these things now. If I don't nod off I'll report back on anything interesting I find. 

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Turkish citizens take to VPN to prevent government crackdown https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/turkish-citizens-take-to-vpn-to-prevent-government-crackdown/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/turkish-citizens-take-to-vpn-to-prevent-government-crackdown/#comments Tue, 04 Jun 2013 14:04:40 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=137232 It seemed clear from yesterday's rants by Turkish PM  Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that he's not a big fan of the internet and specifically social networks. In the past, countries undergoing heavy civilian protests have attempted to crack down on internet usage because it helps protesters organise and get the word out on any government atrocities – …

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It seemed clear from yesterday's rants by Turkish PM  Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that he's not a big fan of the internet and specifically social networks. In the past, countries undergoing heavy civilian protests have attempted to crack down on internet usage because it helps protesters organise and get the word out on any government atrocities – something our readers have been discussing on Facebook. In an effort to circumvent any planned IP blocks or internet blackouts, Turkish citizens have begun taking out subscriptions to VPN services in droves, ensuring that their internet access remain as unimpeded and anonymous as possible.

One company called AnchorFree said in a discussion with Wired, that it had received as much as a 1,000 per cent increase in sales of its Hotspot Shield VPN software during the peak of the protests. Mobile VPN services have also increased exponentially. Not all these sales came from Turkey and not all of them were to prevent government intervention in internet access, but the coincidence is too obvious to not be equatable.

Anyone wishing to get hold of a VPN service, there are plenty of affordable ones out there. However, twitter accounts representing the hacktivist movement, Anonymous, have been tweeting out free access to some services, so it's worth keeping an eye on them too.

YourAnonNews
AnonymousIRC

Representatives of the group also took down Turkish government websites over the weekend and are regularly tweeting up to date pictures and information on the escalating events in the country.

turkey
A Turkish protest image posted by Anonymous in the past ten minutes

The recent furor in Turkey began with people protesting the creation of a new shopping centre in Istanbul (where there are many already), which would have seen a park demolished. However, the aggressive tactics of the police, who used water cannons and tear gas (some reports suggest tear gas was added to the water as well) on peaceful protestors, has turned most demonstrations into anti-government, instead of anti-mall protests. There have also been videos of police brutality circling around online.

KitGuru Says: If any of our readers are in Turkey at the moment, citizens or otherwise: be safe. Also, know that you can get in touch with us if you have any information on the ongoing demonstrations there.

Our contact page
Our Facebook
My email

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Bitcoin value wobbles as currency hits $1 billion net worth https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/bitcoin-value-wobbles-as-currency-hits-1-billion-net-worth/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/bitcoin-value-wobbles-as-currency-hits-1-billion-net-worth/#respond Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:37:50 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=130141 We've talked a couple of times recently about how Bitcoin value has exploded over the past few months and that growth has continued till today, where it reach a new high of $91, over four times that of its value at the end of 2012. This has seen the entire currency hit a value of …

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We've talked a couple of times recently about how Bitcoin value has exploded over the past few months and that growth has continued till today, where it reach a new high of $91, over four times that of its value at the end of 2012. This has seen the entire currency hit a value of over a billion dollars, but it's caused a little fluctuation that has some worried it's a bubble waiting to pop.

The meteoric rise of Bitcoin really has been just that. If you looked back a couple of years ago when the value crashed from a then-high-point of $30, down to a tenth of that in just a day, you'd assume its days were numbered and that the anonymous digital currency was set to languish in a few geeky corners of the internet. It certainly found its home in some, becoming famous for its usage on drug marketplace, the Silk Road, but it's found increasing usage elsewhere in the past six months, with many citing that as a reason for the currency's growth.

Bitcoin Value
This could be a chart showing anger levels vs time, during the average MOBA game. Source: Blockchain.info

Reddit and WordPress both accept it as donations now and there's been much talk of the fact that where banks have failed in countries like Cyprus, locking people out from their hard earned funds, that with Bitcoin that might be less likely to happen.

However, despite today being the day where Bitcoin turns $1 billion, this legitimacy could be its down fall. As Techcrunch points out, it seems likely that governments will start to take notice the more Bitcoin grows and with its de-restricted natured, authorities may take a disliking of it. Of course you could draw the comparison that cash is exactly the same: a decentralised, potentially anonymous currency option, but I doubt they'd take much notice of you.

KitGuru Says: Have any of you guys invested in Bitcoin in the last few months? I wouldn't encourage it due to the volatile nature of the currency, but if you did, you're probably sitting on at least twice what you invested right now.

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US Federal Reserve hacked, mildly https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/us-federal-reserve-hacked-mildly/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/us-federal-reserve-hacked-mildly/#respond Wed, 06 Feb 2013 21:00:00 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=124350 The United States Federal Reserve has announced that one of its internal websites was hacked, though it has assured the public that no critical functions of the bank were affected and that the flaw in the system that allowed the hacker to gain access has now been shored up. “The Federal Reserve system is aware …

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The United States Federal Reserve has announced that one of its internal websites was hacked, though it has assured the public that no critical functions of the bank were affected and that the flaw in the system that allowed the hacker to gain access has now been shored up.

“The Federal Reserve system is aware that information was obtained by exploiting a temporary vulnerability in a website vendor product,” a Federal spokesperson said. “Exposure was fixed shortly after discovery and is no longer an issue. This incident did not affect critical operations of the Federal Reserve system.”

Federal Reserve
And where were you Madam when hackers were breaking in? Were you in on it too?

Of course this admission comes just two days after twitter account OpLastResort, linked with hacktivist movement Anonymous, announced that it had managed to obtain the login credentials of some 4,000 US banking executives.

While it's unknown whether these two events are linked, Reuters is hinting that they could be, since the website that was hacked purportedly was designed to allow banks to contact one another in the event of a natural disaster impacting traditional lines of communication. The Federal Reserve declined to comment on the matter.

OpLastResort is a recently set up offshoot of Anonymous that aims to “help” reform US government and prosecution practices, following on from the death of activist Aaron Swartz.

KitGuru Says: It seems unlikely that the Federal Reserve would want to shake confidence in its solidarity by admitted a catastrophic failure of its security, but perhaps that's what took place. If OpLastResort did indeed get in deep enough to grab executive login details, the next few weeks could be very interesting indeed.

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Anonymous targets Israel with protests, hacks https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/anonymous-targets-israel-with-protests-hacks/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/anonymous-targets-israel-with-protests-hacks/#comments Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:28:12 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=115827 While Israel might have the support of Western governments with regards to its Palestinian conflict, it doesn't garner quite the same feelings from the online world. Apparently over the weekend, the Israeli government was hit by over 44 million hacking attempts, some of which came from the faceless hacktivist movement, Anonymous. Announcing its successful takeovers …

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While Israel might have the support of Western governments with regards to its Palestinian conflict, it doesn't garner quite the same feelings from the online world. Apparently over the weekend, the Israeli government was hit by over 44 million hacking attempts, some of which came from the faceless hacktivist movement, Anonymous.

Announcing its successful takeovers of Israeli websites, the collective began posting URLs in a list, which quickly totalled in the hundreds. While some are back to their original forms now, many of the sites were defaced with Anonymous imagery, or supportive messages for Hamas and Palestine.

Despite the reclamation of many of the sites hacked late last week, OpIsrael is still ongoing, with tweets pouring in every few minutes with the announcement of a new hack. Apparently the Bank of Jerusalem has had one of its databased deleted and several thousand Israeli Office mobile phone and email accounts have been hacked.

OpIsrael
Many of the defaced sites look like this

Anonpaste had an explanation of Anonymous' actions, stating (via The Telegraph): “The reasons for Anonymous intervention through #OpIsrael should be abundantly clear: What is happening in Palestine is oppression. They have no navy, no army, or air force. There is no war in Gaza. There is only the continuous application of military force by Israel in an attempt to push every last person out of the Palestinian state, despite international laws that make these efforts illegal.”

Israel has declared itself at war on two fronts, one with Palestine and the other with hackers. However it's not worried apparently, having invested a lot in online security over the past few years.

Despite these upgrades to Israel defence however, it didn't stop the President's website going down a few minutes ago. For another big list of currently defaced and taken down sites, there's a growing list here.

KitGuru Says: The Israel Palestine conflict is one charged with emotion and religion. Clearly Anonymous has declared its allegiance. Where do you guys stand?

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q760tsz1Z7M&feature=share']


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Theresa May website hacker is arrested https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/theresa-may-website-hacker-is-arrested/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/theresa-may-website-hacker-is-arrested/#respond Wed, 07 Nov 2012 11:34:18 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=114751 A 41 year old man has been arrested for hacking the website of current British home secretary, Theresa May, as well as orchestrating a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack. He was arrested as part of a joint operation between Scotland Yard and local police officers on Tuesday and was questioned before being released on …

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A 41 year old man has been arrested for hacking the website of current British home secretary, Theresa May, as well as orchestrating a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack.

He was arrested as part of a joint operation between Scotland Yard and local police officers on Tuesday and was questioned before being released on bail. However his electronics and computer equipment have been kept in custody so specialists can go over them with a fine toothed, digital comb – in an attempt to drum up evidence.

“Assisting and encouraging cyber crime is a serious matter and I would advise all persons to consider their actions and any possible future consequences prior to posting any material online,” said Detective Inspector Jason Tunn of the Met’s Police Central e-Crime Unit (via Telegraph).

Theresa May
Theresa May blocked McKinnon's extradition after his autism became a big factor

The attacks, which also hit the Home Office website, were orchestrated back in June, with several members of hacktivist movement Anonymous claiming that it was in response to Mrs May's unwillingness to block the extradition of Gary McKinnon –  a hacker himself – and Richard O'Dwyer, the man behind streaming link site TV Shack.

Since then McKinnon's deportation has been blocked by Mrs May, but O'Dwyer's fate is still unknown at this time.  His family have a GoFundMe page in an attempt to drum up some legal funds to fight his extradition, if you want to help them out.

KitGuru Says: DDOS attacks might seem very aggressive, but surely they aren't much more than a digital sit in or online human chain? They prevent access to something, they don't destroy anything.

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V for Vendetta writer releases song backing Anonymous, Occupy https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/v-for-vendetta-writer-song-backing-anonymous-occupy/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/v-for-vendetta-writer-song-backing-anonymous-occupy/#respond Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:29:17 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=114574 While the man behind the original V for Vendetta graphic novel – Alan Moore – is hardly known to be a fan of its movie adaptation, anarchy is clearly in his blood. He's demonstrated that today by debuting a musical track of his own creation, with strong themes throughout. Clearly inspired by the George Orwell essay …

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While the man behind the original V for Vendetta graphic novel – Alan Moore – is hardly known to be a fan of its movie adaptation, anarchy is clearly in his blood. He's demonstrated that today by debuting a musical track of his own creation, with strong themes throughout.

Clearly inspired by the George Orwell essay of (almost) the same name, “The Decline of English Murder” looks at British habits and the hypocrisy of politicians, authorities and the general society as a whole. It describes those in power as being two faced in their efforts to fix problems, saying “your average psychopath, at least kills with a hammer or brick, not with greed or incompetence. And after two or three years, may even express remorse.”

V for Vendetta
The original comic and 00's movie inspired the mask that became the face of Anonymous and many Occupy members

On the subject of the British people, he swings at their cowardice and unwillingness to help change. The scenario described talks of a woman washing her hands below a missing person's picture and in another, a man pretending not to see people pushing in a line ahead of him.

This melancholy few minutes seems to generally be an attack on a culture of inaction. Mr Moore has previously praised the efforts of the Occupy movements around the world, saying to critics that it was like a, “tidal wave, [it] cannot be said to have succeeded or failed. All that it can be said to have done is changed things.”

The song is available to listen on the NME soundcloud and discussed here.

KitGuru Says: Mr Moore makes some good points, though they don't seem as original as they must have done when V for Vendetta was originally serialised. Maybe I'm not smart enough for this one guys, but this song took some real concentration to pull meaning from it. If it's supposed to be a rallying cry of sorts, wouldn't something more intellectually accessible be of more benefit?

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Anonymous settles Zynga in its sights https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/anonymous-settles-zynga-in-its-sights/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/anonymous-settles-zynga-in-its-sights/#respond Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:59:13 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=113725 Anonymous has targeted Facebook game maker Zynga, in its latest hacktivist action, announcing its intention to release reams of internal information about a possible layoff of nearly 1,000 more employees. The collective also plans to let loose the developer's entire game catalogue for free, unless it goes back on its firing plans. The entitled Operation …

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Anonymous has targeted Facebook game maker Zynga, in its latest hacktivist action, announcing its intention to release reams of internal information about a possible layoff of nearly 1,000 more employees. The collective also plans to let loose the developer's entire game catalogue for free, unless it goes back on its firing plans.

The entitled Operation MaZynga, or #OP MaZynga, has already begun, with the unveiling of a Zynga memo that purports to be planning for the firing of an additional 800 people from the company. This follows on from last week's lay off of 5 per cent of its work force, totalling 120. The document reads:

“Following the preliminary announced of this week the final strategy for the next two quarters has been successfully set to delivery by November 23 an additional cut of 800 jobs with further raising of new capital from the market to support businesses.”

Where are those jobs going? India apparently.

“Work is focused and on-going to completely outsource our development teams in our offices in Bangalore , India to hedge our position in the long term.”

Anonymous' official response to these findings on AnonNews, was thus: “With a billion dollars cash sitting in a bank we do believe that such actions are an insult to the population and the behaviour of corporations like Zynga must change.”

“Anonymous could not allow this to happen so it's starting to release confidential documents we have leaked on this plan.”

Anonymous
This is the first big Anonymous operation in quite a while

It added the caveat however, that if Zynga were to announce its immediate cessation of its plans to fire so many, that the company's games would not be released to the public.

KitGuru Says: Zynga has slowly changed from the darling of the social world, into the big bad guy of video game development. Do you guys think it will give in to Anonymous' demands?

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Anonymous distances itself from Wikileaks “One Man Julian Assange show” https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/anonymous-distances-itself-from-wikileaks-one-man-julian-assange-show/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/anonymous-distances-itself-from-wikileaks-one-man-julian-assange-show/#respond Fri, 12 Oct 2012 19:00:14 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=111699 Hacktivist movement, Anonymous, has announced an end to its long-standing cooperation with Wikileaks, due to changes in the site's direction and the fact that it had become more like the: “One Man Julian Assange Show.” Posted over at the frequent hacker spoils dumping ground, Pastebin, the statement explained that after lengthy concerns with where Wikileaks was heading, …

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Hacktivist movement, Anonymous, has announced an end to its long-standing cooperation with Wikileaks, due to changes in the site's direction and the fact that it had become more like the: “One Man Julian Assange Show.”

Posted over at the frequent hacker spoils dumping ground, Pastebin, the statement explained that after lengthy concerns with where Wikileaks was heading, those behind the AnonymousIRC Twitter account felt that the last straw came two days ago when Wikileaks altered its content to display a donation page whenever someone attempted to access areas of the site like GIFiles or any of the Syria emails. The only way to view that content was to make a donation, something that Anonymous felt was coercion and didn't promote the reasons it had initially supported Wikileaks: the dissemination of information.

Wikileaks donations
Visitors can also get around the blockage by tweeting or sharing the video/campaign

The statement continued by saying that: “In the recent months the focus has moved away from actual leaks and the fight for freedom of information further and further while it concentrated more and more on Julian Assange.” The person behind the statement was keen to point out that while Anonymous still believes Mr Assange shouldn't be extradited to the US, ultimately those proceedings shouldn't impact Wikileaks itself.

Further explaining its position, AnonymousIRC said:” As far as money is concerned, we understand that Wikileaks lives from donations. And it is fine to ask for them as long as this is done in a non-ostentatious manner. This is clearly not the case anymore.”

In conclusion, it was stated: “We cannot support anymore what Wikileaks has become – the One Man Julian Assange show. But we also want to make clear that we still support the original idea behind Wikileaks: Freedom of information and transparent governments.”

Not everyone agrees with AnonymousIRC however. Another posting on Pastebin, signed by “Anonymous,” explains that donation drives like this are par for the course with Wikileaks and that the site is still far more than just an income source and news site for Assange.

KitGuru Says: These polarising thoughts aren't uncommon in Anonymous. With no real leader, the other members of the movement are well within their collective rights to continue supporting Wikileaks f they so choose. AnonymousIRC is no figure head, just a Twitter front for a movement that is made up of a loose, but rather expansive member base where the only real stipulations for joining are to believe in freedom and that sharing is caring. Simply because they have the same ideals, doesn't mean they'll all, always agree.

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Anonymous hits Pussy Riot court website https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/anonymous-hits-pussy-riot-court-website/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/anonymous-hits-pussy-riot-court-website/#respond Wed, 22 Aug 2012 18:00:03 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=105412 Internet hacktivist movement Anonymous, has shown how it feels about the recent conviction of Russian anti-government protesters, the band Pussy Riot, by defacing the website of the court that sentenced them. To show their dissaproval at the outcome of the trial, the Anons posted a video of the latest single from the group, whilst leaving …

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Internet hacktivist movement Anonymous, has shown how it feels about the recent conviction of Russian anti-government protesters, the band Pussy Riot, by defacing the website of the court that sentenced them.

To show their dissaproval at the outcome of the trial, the Anons posted a video of the latest single from the group, whilst leaving messages of support and condemnation – though the latter was for President Putin and his government. Some of the messages included “Putin's thieving gang is robbing out country!” and “Free Pussy Riot!,” alongside “Judges – I'd have executed them all.”

However it was not to last, as three hours later officials regained control of the site and removed the messages and videos. A press officer told RBTH that “specialists” were looking into how the hack had occurred.

Hacked
Hacked, defaced: The Russian Court Website

One of the lawyers working for Pussy Riot later claimed that while he couldn't support any illegal action, he had admiration for Anonymous, calling them “daredevils.” He even went as far to say that if any of the Russian chapter was arrested, he would happily defend them.

In typical Anonymous fashion however, this isn't the only attack on the cards. A Twitter account purporting to be run by Russian Anons has announced its intention to attack the website of Rosneft, an oil firm owned by the Russian government. While this doesn't have anything to do with Pussy Riot, it is further protest against Russian authority.

KitGuru Says: While Anonymous appears to have calmed somewhat in recent months, it's clearly still organised enough to get things done. How long do we think the Rosneft site will be down/defaced for? Place your bets now.

Image source: Getty/AFP

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ACTA defeated in Europe https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/acta-defeated-in-europe/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/acta-defeated-in-europe/#respond Wed, 04 Jul 2012 16:30:03 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=98442 Members of European Parliament have sunk the ACTA ship, voting to reject the treaty and make it un-enforceable by member nations. While there is still the potential for countries outside the EU to enact it, it would take a large majority to successfully pass it and with the consensus on the continent, that seems unlikely. …

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Members of European Parliament have sunk the ACTA ship, voting to reject the treaty and make it un-enforceable by member nations. While there is still the potential for countries outside the EU to enact it, it would take a large majority to successfully pass it and with the consensus on the continent, that seems unlikely.

While this positive result for internet freedom was expected due to the sheer scale of the public and political outcry, there was still a chance that it could have ended up as law. In the end though, 478 MEPs rejected it, while a total of 146 abstained from voting; only 39 voted for the bill. While the internet is never short of people willing to pat themselves on the back, those involved with the campaign to halt ACTA should feel free to do so. This was an act that had been in the works for half a decade before it was rushed in on the tail end of SOPA and PIPA controversy.

Despite the masses of backing initially behind it, the public's unified reaction and informative campaign brought ACTA and its lobbyists to their knees.

Stop ACTA
Good Job Internet

Ultimately, those interested in preserving freedom of expression on the internet have prevailed. Pirate Party UK leader Loz Kaye said that: “This must signal a start for a new way of doing politics. No more should international agreements be negotiated behind closed doors and simply rubber stamped by parliaments. Policy must become something that happens with the people, not to the people.”

KitGuru says: Perhaps as CISPA becomes a reality politicians will give thought to this idea?

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Symantec warn users, “Anonymous have our source code” https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/stephen-dougherty/symantec-warn-users-anonymous-have-our-source-code/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/stephen-dougherty/symantec-warn-users-anonymous-have-our-source-code/#respond Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:10:24 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=75891 Those dastardly folks of Anonymous undoubtedly have more history surrounding their hacking antics than we will probably ever know. It has only just come to light for Symantec that hackers related to the team stole source code from the 2006 versions of Symantec's Norton products, including Antivirus Corporate Edition, Internet Security and SystemWorks. What's more …

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Those dastardly folks of Anonymous undoubtedly have more history surrounding their hacking antics than we will probably ever know. It has only just come to light for Symantec that hackers related to the team stole source code from the 2006 versions of Symantec's Norton products, including Antivirus Corporate Edition, Internet Security and SystemWorks.

What's more alarming is that the theft was said to have occured in 2006. It wasn't until the hackers mentioned having it this month in which they also expressed intent to release it publicly that Symantec went into red alert mode. As a result the company has quickly sent out a strong alert for all users of PCAnywhere in particular (including versions 12.0, 12.1 and 12.5), stating that there is a problem that might lead to remote code execution.

Symantec was informed of remote code execution and local file tampering elevation of privilege issues impacting Symantec pcAnywhere. The remote code execution is the result of not properly validating/filtering external data input during login and authentication with Symantec pcAnywhere host services on 5631/TCP.”

Under normal installation and configuration in a network environment, access to this port should only be available to authorized network users. Successful exploitation would require either gaining unauthorized network access or enticing an authorized network user to run malicious code against a targeted system. Results could be a crash of the application or possibly successful arbitrary code execution in the context of the application on the targeted system.

Needless to say, if you are using PCAnywhere you should jump on this hotfix ASAP.

More info specific to Anonymous' involvement can be read over at this page on Symantec's website.

Kitguru says: And I'm sure this is only child's play compared to what these guys still have on the cards.

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Federal sites come back online after Anonymous attack https://www.kitguru.net/channel/dragan/federal-sites-come-back-online-after-anonymous-attack/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/dragan/federal-sites-come-back-online-after-anonymous-attack/#respond Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:04:55 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=74894 Many of the websites which were shut down by well known hacking group Anonymous were back up and running today. Megaupload.com leaders were arrested, with the site subsequently shut down and Anonymous acted in retaliation taking down the FBI websites and the U.S. Department Of Justice. A law enforcement officer told CNN the FBI were …

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Many of the websites which were shut down by well known hacking group Anonymous were back up and running today. Megaupload.com leaders were arrested, with the site subsequently shut down and Anonymous acted in retaliation taking down the FBI websites and the U.S. Department Of Justice.

A law enforcement officer told CNN the FBI were investigating the incident.

Anonymous targeted 10 websites and other sites still remain down, such as those for BMI and Universal Music. Universal Music had the message “The Site is under maintenance. Please expect it to be back shortly.” posted on their front page.

Anonymous warned that the attack would take place yesterday posting “We Anonymous are launching our largest attack ever on government and music industry sites. Lulz. The FBI didn't think they would get away with this did they? They should have expected us.” It appears the promises were held and many sites were taken down in the attack.

They said yesterday on a Twitter feed associated with the group “One thing is certain: EXPECT US! #Megaupload” and an hour later they followed up with “Tango down! http://universalmusic.com & http://www.justice.gov// #Megaupload”

The RIAA made a statement regarding the attacks, claiming that the takedown of Megaupload.com was important “The fact that a couple of sites might have been taken down is really ancillary to the significant news today that the Justice Department brought down one of the world's most notorious file-sharing hubs.”

Authorities claim that Megaupload generated $175 million in illegal profits through advertising and the sale of premium membership accounts.

Four of the site leaders were arrested in Auckland, and three others have yet to be found. The file sharing site was shutdown after 20 search warranties were executed in eight countries, seizing 18 domain names and $50 million of assets, including servers in various countries.

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Anonymous donation of $500k set to be clawed back https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jules/anonymous-donation-of-500k-set-to-be-clawed-back/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jules/anonymous-donation-of-500k-set-to-be-clawed-back/#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:17:32 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=71903 Hacking group Anonymous looks to have pulled on a Christmas coup against the life styles of the rich and famous, by hacking into card details being poorly secured by a company called Stratfor. KitGuru dons a trench coat and picks up bits of paper. Stratfor stands for strategic forecasting and the company specialises in looking …

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Hacking group Anonymous looks to have pulled on a Christmas coup against the life styles of the rich and famous, by hacking into card details being poorly secured by a company called Stratfor. KitGuru dons a trench coat and picks up bits of paper.

Stratfor stands for strategic forecasting and the company specialises in looking into its corporate crystal balls, before giving them a gentle rub and predicting watching the accurate predictions gush forth.

Ironic then, that they did not see the pants down card date nicking incident coming.

It looks as though the details for up to 50,000 credit Cards have been ‘borrowed', of which 10,000 were live and ready to help the poor and needy at Christmas.

Despite the fact that Stratfor is loaded as a company, with plenty of big paying customers in the Fortune 500 list, they are intent to reclaim each and every one of these $10 donations, rather than let the poor and needy have a slightly better life.

Makes you wonder why they were targeted.

At the time of writing, Stratfor scientists had a copy of Dreamweaver open on a Celeron laptop and were re-writing their web site. You know. For added security.

KitGuru says: While crime is a bad thing, the way that Anonymous has targeted paedophiles for exposure while making small donations from rich people to charities, means that they are playing a very smart game with public opinion.

Comment below or in the KitGuru forums.

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Anonymous group take down child porn sites https://www.kitguru.net/channel/dragan/anonymous-group-take-down-child-porn-sites/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/dragan/anonymous-group-take-down-child-porn-sites/#comments Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:29:32 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=64334 Well known hacking group Anonymous will be popular this week as they claim to have taken down 40 child pornography websites while publishing the names of 1,500 people involved. This happened around a week ago but has just surfaced at the weekend. They posted statements on pastebin saying that they got the information by “browsing …

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Well known hacking group Anonymous will be popular this week as they claim to have taken down 40 child pornography websites while publishing the names of 1,500 people involved. This happened around a week ago but has just surfaced at the weekend.

They posted statements on pastebin saying that they got the information by “browsing the Hidden Wiki we noticed a section called Hard Candy which was dedicated to links to child pornography. We then removed all links on the website, within 5 minutes the links were edited back in by an admin. For this reason, we will continue to make the Hidden Wiki unavailable.”

They said they targeted ‘Freedom Hosting' as the host of the largest collection of child pornography on the internet. Anonymous warned them that if they didn't take it down, they would be targeted. The company refused to remove the content.

At 11.30 pm CST “We infiltrated the shared hosting server of Freedom Hosting and shutdown services to all clients due to their lack of action to remove child pornography from their server.”

The hosting group then reinstated backups and got the sites running again. Anonymous retargeted the servers and took them all down again.

Anonymous say “The owners and operators at Freedom Hosting are openly supporting child pornography and enabling pedophiles to view innocent children, fueling their issues and putting children at risk of abduction, molestation, rape, and death.

For this, Freedom Hosting has been declared #OpDarknet Enemy Number One.

By taking down Freedom Hosting, we are eliminating 40+ child pornography websites, among these is Lolita City, one of the largest child pornography websites to date containing more than 100GB of child pornography.

We will continue to not only crash Freedom Hosting's server, but any other server we find to contain, promote, or support child pornography.”

Kitguru says: This will be one of their more popular moves in recent months, thats for sure. We don't think many people will have sympathy for these websites and the people who run them.

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Anonymous under close surveillance from Feds https://www.kitguru.net/channel/harrison/anonymous-under-close-surveillance-from-feds/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/harrison/anonymous-under-close-surveillance-from-feds/#respond Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:47:07 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=59611 Anonymous have been a topic of conversation almost every week this year, thanks to their high profile attacks on businesses and government organisations. Federal investigators are saying that this small group of pranksters has turned into a serious national security threat. The FBI have placed Anonymous high on their radar, with 75 raids and 16 …

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Anonymous have been a topic of conversation almost every week this year, thanks to their high profile attacks on businesses and government organisations. Federal investigators are saying that this small group of pranksters has turned into a serious national security threat.

The FBI have placed Anonymous high on their radar, with 75 raids and 16 people arrested this year in association with the hacking group. The group are rather disorganised however, with some claimed threats later being distanced by the core group.

A Homeland Security bulletin said “Anonymous insist they have no centralized operational leadership, which has been a significant hurdle for government and law enforcement entities attempting to curb their actions. With that being said, we assess with high confidence that Anonymous and associated groups will continue to exploit vulnerable publicly available Web servers, websites, computer networks, and other digital information mediums for the foreseeable future.”

Readers who follow the group regularly on Twitter and other networking channels will know that they claim they have no ‘single' leader, even if a few members handle the majority of the organising. They posted online “Anonymous is not a group, it does not have leaders, people can do ANYTHING under the flag of their country.”

A DHS bulletin issued in recent weeks says that the hackers have been urging their followers who work in the financial industry to sabotage their employers computer systems.

Josh Shaul, the chief technology officer of Application Security Inc, based in New York said “Anonymous is incredibly active. It's rare to have a hacking group willing to work outside of the shadows. These guys are quite brazen.”

A report by the Associated Press said “FBI investigators in court filings said that the raids and arrests were made from a list of 1,000 computer users that Paypal cyber-security workers identified as the most active attackers. The fourteen appearing in San Jose federal court have pleaded not guilty and were released on bail after promising not to access Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites.

Most of the defendants were younger than 30. Security experts and the Department of Homeland Security say most of Anonymous followers are so-called “script kiddies,” young people who carry out the attacks and who are “less skilled hackers” than the vocal group members who call for the protests and attacks.”

Kitguru says: Will the Feds be able to arrest the people running the group?

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Who hacked the BART police website? https://www.kitguru.net/channel/slyvia/hackers-publish-bart-police-information-online/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/slyvia/hackers-publish-bart-police-information-online/#comments Thu, 18 Aug 2011 08:23:41 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=56429 Hackers have launched an attack against the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) website. This is an attack after BART shut down cellphone and wifi services during a protest over a police shooting. According to a report on CNET, a database which belonged to the BART Police Officers Association was posted online yesterday, with …

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Hackers have launched an attack against the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) website. This is an attack after BART shut down cellphone and wifi services during a protest over a police shooting.

According to a report on CNET, a database which belonged to the BART Police Officers Association was posted online yesterday, with full names, home addresses, passwords and email addresses.

No one has yet acknowledged the attack, and the twitter account which is associated with high profile hacking group Anonymous said that no one has claimed responsibility for the hack.

Security company Sophos have said “A database belonging to the BART Police Officers Association appears to have been hacked, and the names, postal and email addresses of officers posted online.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Just over 100 officers are listed in the document, in what is clearly a serious security breach.

The reason why BART is the focus for so much attention by hackers? Last week, in a highly controversial move, several BART stations in San Francisco halted their cellphone service for a few hours. It was believed that people protesting about the fatal shooting of a homeless man by BART police, might be co-ordinating their protest via mobile phone.

Of course, what's happened now is that over 100 innocent police officers have had their safety put at risk by hackers revealing their private information.”

Anonymous added “If the media paid more attention to peaceful protests and general social unrest, hackers would be far less inclined to do things such as leaking data just to get the attention of the press.”

Kitguru says: Police officers lives put at risk? We would think so.

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