‘Anonymous’ hacks security firm that probed its membership

[Kablooie]

Source: Raw Story

The online group of hacktivists known as "Anonymous" infiltrated the network and websites of an Internet security company after learning the company planned to sell information about the group to the FBI.

The website of Washington DC-based HBGary Federal was hijacked Sunday along with the Twitter account of CEO Aaron Barr. The company's website was defaced with a message that read, "This domain seized by Anonymous under section #14 of the rules of the Internet."

"Your recent claims of 'infiltrating' Anonymous amuse us, and so do your attempts at using Anonymous as a means to garner press attention for yourself," the messaged continued. "How's this for attention?"

---

"Anonymous does not have leaders," the statement added. "We are not a group, we are not an organization. We are just an idea. What we have done today will appear harsh. It is harsh. We will respond to those who seek to threaten us. We understand that our participants have been concerned about recent FBI raids and companies such as HBGary Federal lurking and logging our chats, so we’ve given all of Anonymous a message: we will fight back."

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/anonymous-hacks-security-firm-probed-membership/

[supernova]

1. 1PM and HBGary is still down

[xchrom]

2. i like a little schadenfruede in my coffee. nt

[sudopod]

3. In Soviet Russia

Anonymous probes YOU

[formercia]

5. No need to look for party on Saturday Night

Party find you.

Yakob Smirnoff.

[texastoast]

7. What do you mean?

They are trolling my computer? They seem more interested in bigger fish (thank goodness for heroes like them--I like their "morals").

[Psephos]

24. No, that's a play on an old running joke at the tech discussion blog "Slashdot"

If you haven't heard of it before, count yourself fortunate. :)

[formercia]

4. Internet Security Firm

The Irony is palpable. :rofl:

[yodermon]

6. hmm, Anonymous is squealing pretty loudly here. n/t

[The Doctor.]

19. How do you mean?

Sounds like their slapping a groping hand... hard.

[yodermon]

21. I'm not trying to make a really profound point or anything..

They clearly felt the need to retaliate and "send a message" via their hacking prowess.
Then they go on and on about how they shall "engulf the sword of malice" etc etc..

..the lady doth protest too much methinks, seeing as they are actually being rounded up.

here is their victory speech:

[The Doctor.]

22. Ever try draining a lake with a spork?

Oh, you'll sure get some water out.

[htuttle]

26. 'xactly.

[gratuitous]

8. A little lesson for the next HBGary who tries this

These folks are sophisticated internet users, who understand the ins and outs of this stuff. If you're going to go poking around to expose them, you'd better cover your tracks well, leak your findings as anonymously as the adversary you're pursuing, and resist the temptation to announce anything prematurely. Because as sure as God made little green apples, these are the type of folks who will exact their revenge in ways you may not even anticipate.

Aaron Barr and HBGary got exactly what was coming to them.

[rbixby]

13. I think they're forgetting

that 'Anonymous' probably has members within the internet security industry, and probably within that very firm.

[pam4water]

9. I hope they wipe there HBGary's harddrivers and put them back in the stone age!

[dkofos]

10. Get a clue Morans. These ARE the hackers. You are bush league.

[TygrBright]

11. And there's more....

At the center of the storm is a leaderless and anarchic Internet group called Anonymous, which more recently has been coordinating attacks against Egyptian government Web sites. Late last month, authorities in the U.K. and the U.S. moved against at least 45 suspected Anonymous activists. Then, on Saturday, the Financial Times ran a story quoting Aaron Barr, the head of security services firm HBGary Federal, saying he had uncovered the identities of Anonymous’ leaders using social networking sites. Barr said he planned to release his findings at a security conference in San Francisco next week.

Anonymous responded by hacking into HBGary’s networks and posting archives of company executive emails on file-trading networks. The group also hacked the firm’s Web site and replaced it with a message saying it was releasing Barr’s findings on its own because the group was confident Barr’s conclusions were wrong.

“We’ve seen your internal documents, all of them, and do you know what we did? We laughed. Most of the information you’ve ‘extracted’ is publicly available via our IRC networks,” the statement reads. “The personal details of Anonymous ‘members’ you think you’ve acquired are, quite simply, nonsense. So why can’t you sell this information to the FBI like you intended? Because we’re going to give it to them for free.”

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2011/02/hbgary-federal-hacked-by-anonymous/

You gotta hand it to them, the lads and lassies have a certain style.

amusedly,
Bright

[TygrBright]

12. Childish, but entertaining....

slyly,
Bright

[The Doctor.]

20. These companies have no idea what they're up against.

They'll be swatting at Ghosts for the next decade.

[TygrBright]

14. But wait... there's MORE!

HBGary Federal's domain names hbgary.com and hbgaryfederal.com, which have since been released, and its Web site, which has since been taken offline, were all hacked in the attack, Anonymous replaced the site with a page describing its motives behind the attack. In its message, the group claims that documents uncovered by HBGary purporting to reveal the names of the "higher-ups" at Anonymous had incorrect information.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-20030849-83.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+com%2FjYvI+%28CNET+News.com%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Ouch. Just ouch. The kiddies play ROUGH.

amazedly,
Bright

[TygrBright]

15. The more I learn about these guys, the happier this makes me.

HBGary Federal was spun-off of HBGary Inc. in late 2009. The new firm, made up of former Northrup Grumman employees and military veterans, provides classified services to the Department of Defense, the intelligence community and other U.S. government agencies.

The firm has reportedly been helping federal investigators identify and infiltrate members of "Anonymous." In a report in the Financial Times on Sunday, HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr said the company had identified members of the "Anonymous" group and planned to release details next week at the RSA Conference 2011 in San Francisco.

The "Anonymous" group piqued the interest of federal investigators when it began targeting firms in the United States, including Bank of America and PayPal, for denying funds to WikiLeaks. The group used distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks to cripple company websites by flooding them with useless network traffic. In recent weeks, authorities in the U.S. and U.K. arrested 45 people and seized their computers in connection with the attacks.

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid14_gci1527151,00.html

approvingly,
Bright

[TygrBright]

16. It just keeps getting better. Kos posted a link to the doc...

...the one HBGary was going to "release" with great fanfare...

http://hizost.com/d/zjb

Kos posting: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2011/2/6/20216/40699

Read the doc. There is not one page that doesn't involve major, gut-busting lulz.

"controls bots"! "Prob west cost. Just woke up at 9:55EST"! "Doesn't like FB"! "Goes way back"!! Oh, the criminality...

breathlessly,
Bright

[dipsydoodle]

17. Anonymous hackers attack US security firm HBGary

Source: BBC News

Online activist group Anonymous has targeted an American security firm that claimed to know the identities of its leaders.

The secretive organisation is being investigated in several countries over strikes on Visa, PayPal and others.

Over the weekend Aaron Barr, head of HBGary Federal, said he had discovered the names of its most senior figures.

The group retaliated overnight by breaking into the company's website and hijacking his Twitter account.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12380987

[formercia]

18. Internet Security Firm?

Would you have these idiots secure your network?

:rofl:

[chrisa]

23. lol This is funny.

Clearly they aren't so secure after all.

[mdmc]

25. ..

[Rex]

27. So what are they going to do when they find out Anonymous is

actually a java script gone super intelligent like and has total hive mind control over the tubes!! Offer it a cookie?