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10 Jun 2011 10:39

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Tech: PlayStation Network hackers arrested in Spain; tied to Anonymous

  • 3 arrested in Spain over Sony breach; they were tied to Anonymous source
  • » One computer, many hacks: Investigators say that the computer used in the Sony breach — located in a basement in Gijón, Spain — was responsible for hacks to two Spanish banks, an Italian energy company and numerous government Web sites, including Arab Spring hotspots Egypt and Libya. The main guy was actually arrested back in the middle of May, but his arrest wasn’t publicized until today. The other arrests took place in other parts of the country. So, is it surprising that the PlayStation Network hackers (not any of the other Sony hacks, by the way) appear to have been tied to Anonymous?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jun 2011 17:20

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Tech: Dear LulzSec: How about we blame you instead of Sony?

  • OK, LulzSec, we get your point — Sony should take its user security seriously. But that’s a lesson they’ve been learning repeatedly for a month — they didn’t need another group to teach it. Meanwhile, when you write tweets like, “I hear there’s been some funny scamming with jacked Sony accounts. That’s what you get for using the same password everywhere,” you earn no respect from anyone. End users — especially the elderly ones that made up the bulk of your Sony release — have something to lose with these hacks. You, however, act without respect or care for anyone. You know, say what you will about Anonymous, but they appear to at least have strong social/political reasons for what they do. (The comment above, from Dutch Anonymous, sums it up for us.) You’re just in it for the “Lulz,” as if nobody gets hurt while you guys have your fun. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Feb 2011 23:44

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World: Anonymous targeting Yemeni government; Yemenis won’t notice

  • 5% of Yemeni people use the internet on a regular basis source
  • » But that’s not stopping Anonymous: At least two Yemeni government sites have possibly been attacked by the nebulous, anonymous organization, including the Yemeni Ministry of Information and the site of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. And they even have a list of sites to target and stuff, which means that those five percent of Yemenis with internet access are going to have a hard time with the interwebs for the next little bit.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2011 15:02

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Politics: Despite large-scale attack, Gawker stays on the 4chan beat

  • Here’s what we like about Gawker: Despite getting their asses handed to them by a group that reportedly had indirect ties to 4chan (and made note in their attack of the site’s criticism of 4chan), they don’t back down. A feature headline on Gawker’s front page? “4chan Is Not Very Scary In Real Life.” Mend those fences, Gawker Media, mend those fences. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jan 2011 12:12

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World: Protip to Zimbabwe: Don’t screw with Anonymous or Wikileaks

  • lawsuitZimbabwe president Robert Mugabe’s wife, Grace, sued a Zimbabwean newspaper that printed Wikileaks reports that suggested she was profiting from the controversial diamond trade.
  • retaliation In the wake of the $15 million lawsuit, 4chan did its thing, attacking numerous government Web sites, and even defacing Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Finance with Anonymous slogans. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Dec 2010 23:34

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Politics: Max Headroom: Shepard Smith calls Obama “Omaba” somehow

  • “Anonymous” goes mainstream: Remember when “Anonymous” was simply a joke on the Internet that most people didn’t take seriously? It’s been a long time since those days. Now, we have “Operation Payback” (an offshoot of whatever “Anonymous” is) showing up as the number one item on “Countdown.” It’s a fascinating time we live in where something that started out as an apparent internet joke can actually raise some eyebrows. Our question: Will future attacks be scare tactics, like shutting down Mastercard and Visa? Or will they go for the jugular, like the massive hacking attack that tore through Gawker today?
  • Great Washington Theater The thing that we enjoyed the most about Friday’s ad-hoc press conference at the White House on Friday? We got to see a cheery, almost casual approach by both Obama and Bill Clinton. That said, guys like Anthony Weiner (part of the panel) aren’t having it. He backs Clinton while questioning Obama.
  • “Omaba”: A one-term president? We love when our boy Shepard Smith makes on-air mistakes. They’re always supremely entertaining – including the epic clip where he suggested Jennifer Lopez couldn’t get a blowjob block party in her old neighborhood. In this case, he called Obama “Omaba,” which is such a bizarre mistake to make.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Dec 2010 20:27

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Tech: An open letter to the dudes who hacked Gawker Media

  • Gawker is a site that’s easy to hate, we know this. We’re sure that plenty of people were taking lots of joy in Nick Denton’s misery today. But the thing that bothers us about that stance is that, as harsh as Gawker and Denton come across sometimes, they prove they’re worth their weight in salt every time they get a scoop. When it comes to the Web, nobody tops them, honestly.
  • why they’re uniqueThey’re not afraid of taking on the tawdry story because it’s tawdry. They’re not afraid of paying a source because it requires paying a source. They’re not against digging into rumors just because they’re rumors. And they know just when to play each of those hands.
  • Why they matterAs much as we’d like to hate Gawker and its sister sites for being the most arrogant content network on the entire internet, every time we want to hate them, they do something really freaking cool. They make reading the news online worthwhile, ’cause they get it.
  • They hate you? So what? Gawker talks crap about 4chan or Anonymous or whomever? So what. They talk crap about everybody. And they deserve to get away with it. Because unlike the gossip sources of yore (think National Enquirer), they actually have substance. source
  • » Oh yeah: One thing we cannot and will not get behind is making a million and a half commenters pawns in this silly game. Gawker may deserve it (to some degree), but the readers aren’t worth getting crapped on. We feel bad for them more than anyone else in this endeavor.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

08 Dec 2010 20:08

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Biz, World: Anonymous leaks Mastercard numbers; Mastercard sez they’re fake

Yo, Anonymous, this Mastercard thing was funny until you pretend to start publishing people’s credit card numbers. To quote Walter Sobchak, “OVER THE LINE!” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Dec 2010 10:22

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Biz, World: PayPal explains why they dropped Wikileaks so quickly

  • We have an acceptable use policy and their job is make sure that our customers are protected, making sure that we comply with regulations around the world and making sure that we protect our brand.
  • PayPal’s VP of Platform Osama Bedier • Explaining why his company chose to block Wikileaks. Simply put, they read the State Department’s letter to Wikileaks saying what they were doing was illegal, they decided to block the site on those grounds. Bedier also noted that he isn’t fazed by threats of an Anonymous DDoS attack: “One of the signs that you’re a successful payments company is that hackers start to target you,” he saild. “This case isn’t anything different.” This topic was unpopular with the European conference he was talking to, BTW. It’s also important to note that a letter from the State Department is not a legal decision. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Dec 2010 10:10

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World: Anonymous takes out MasterCard to avenge Julian Assange

  • action Wikileaks has lost a number of business ties in just a few days – including Amazon, PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard. Anonymous is upset. Don’t upset anonymous.
  • reaction Not long after MasterCard shut Wikileaks out of its payment mechanism, Anonymous did pulled out the DDoS card. Anonymous shut down MasterCard. Wow. source
  • » Yeah, but… : Not to downplay what our friends at Anonymous did, but nobody really goes to MasterCard’s Web site. If they really wanted to hurt them (not suggesting this – definitely not) they’d attack their payment-processing mechanism.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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