New trend in ransomware: Anonymity
Imagine if you were attacked and you didn’t know the identity of the assailant. Not knowing who they were, what their motivations are, or their attack track record would leave you feeling helpless.
There is a disturbing new trend in ransomware attacks: anonymity. In the "halcyon" days of early attacks, the group attacking the victim would always say who they were. Now though, we are seeing a spike in attacks where the offending group is concealing their identity, and finding out who they are is a complicated process. If you’re lucky enough to have a wealth of dark web and other data to examine, threat actors are human, which means they usually make a mistake that reveals them.
Ukraine detains a 'hacker' who allegedly was helping the Russians communicate
In the days since Russia invaded Ukraine, to nobody’s surprise, there’s been almost non-stop news. A surprising amount of it has centered around tech. Anonymous made an appearance early-on, even before a single sanction had been instituted.
We are keeping track of all the tech news from the conflict, or trying our best, with updates at least once a day from multiple sources. You can follow it all here.
Ukraine conflict: Anonymous (and the internet) vs. Russia [Continuously updated]
A few days ago, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine. Likely most of you have seen at least some of the endless coverage that currently blankets the airwaves. But TV is only giving you part of the story; you can learn a lot more by nosing around online. For the past several days I have kept a running update of what hacktivist collective Anonymous has been up to. The group has been busy and they have made the Russian government even busier, hacking their various state-run 'news' services, such as RT (Russia Today). You can look back at the original post and the multiple updates that were added to it on a daily basis.
Now it’s time to start again and unlike the original story, this time we are letting you know there will be updates that you’ll want to check back in on. We will post them as they happen, which could be once or more in a day. We will begin with what is happening today, March 2.
In the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Anonymous is working quicker than government red-tape [Updated]
While the US and other NATO nations continue to plan and implement sanctions and possible other means of making Vladimir Putin and his Oligarchs feel some pain over what they are currently doing, Hacktivist group Anonymous has already made its choices and has quickly started implementing its own set of consequences upon those responsible for alleged war crimes.
As of Saturday morning, the group had taken down websites of the Kremlin, the Russian Department of Defense and Russian DUMA (the lower house of the federal assembly). The sites were taken down rather quickly once Anonymous targeted them but periodically popped back to life, only to have that life snuffed backed out again by renewed efforts.
Could the 'Face of Anonymous' go to jail?
We’ve seen the now infamous Guy Fawkes masks around for a long time. More so a few years ago, than in current times. The main group they belong to, 'Anonymous', has a reputation as hackers but members aren’t the people shutting down gas lines or airlines -- they prefer to think of themselves as ethical. Hacktivists if you will. You may disagree, authorities certainly do, and many members have been arrested.
A decade ago member Christopher Doyon was nabbed in San Francisco. He allegedly jumped bail and headed south of the border, where he has remained ever since. Producer Gary Lang traveled there and featured him in the Canadian documentary 'The Face of Anonymous' in 2020.
Anonymous tweets the REAL numbers of the Coronavirus, or so they claim
As you'll be more than aware, there’s a virus rampant in China and it has spread to other countries, including cases in the US. But there’s been a lot of FUD surrounding it and we honestly don’t know what the real numbers for cases and deaths are.
If Anonymous is to be believed then we may know a bit more. The group claims its numbers are backed up and verified.
Online anonymity is a lie: Research challenges privacy protection frameworks
Online privacy and anonymity seem farther away from our reach than ever. It is almost as if every new advancement and progress in technology further removes another brick from an already flimsy wall of privacy on the web.
Although legislations such as GDPR were designed to protect user privacy and anonymity, these guarantees hold little weight against powerful technologies like machine learning which -- researchers have found -- can piece together anonymized information to form your complete identity.
Anonymous threatens Donald Trump with leaks about ties to mafia and child trafficking
Donald Trump has not yet taken up office, but he has already managed to whip up tidal waves of opposition not only in the US, but around the world. Among the president-elect's opponents is Anonymous, the hacktivist collective.
The group took to Twitter -- Trump's favorite medium -- to issue a pre-inauguration warning: "This isn't the 80's any longer, information doesn't vanish, it is all out there. You are going to regret the next 4 years". The tirade came as Trump lashed out at reports about criticism from outgoing CIA Chief, John Brennan; Anonymous responded by threatening the billionaire with damaging leaks.
Anonymous launches a new operation -- to stop seagull genocide!
Anonymous has launched many different operations over the years, and declared war on a diverse number of foes, including The Church of Scientology, Islamic State, the Ku Klux Klan, and Donald Trump.
While the hacktivist collective will occasionally say crazy things -- it’s called for a new American revolution, and for mankind to conquer space -- it does often fight for good causes. Its latest operation is strictly for the birds. No, seriously.
Anonymous declares war on the 'corrupt' US government -- and calls for revolution
Anonymous has declared war on various organizations and individuals in the past, ranging from Islamic State, and Ku Klux Klan, to Donald Trump.
Today, in a video it describes as a "call to arms", the hacktivist collective declares war on -- wait for it -- the "corrupt" US government, which it says has "been working to end the Constitution because it has been bought by corporations" and will "endanger the American people".
Anonymous' new weekly news show will make you angry
Four weeks ago, I reported on how hacktivist collective Anonymous was planning its own weekly news show. The aim of Teh Weekly News is, Anonymous says, to "balance establishment media by providing unregulated investigative news that has not been molded to corporate or government interests".
The first episode of the new show is available to watch below, and does a good job of covering all of the stories that likely anger you when they appear, often only fleetingly, in the mainstream news.
Anonymous takes on the news world with its own weekly show
While the majority of mainstream news gathering organizations attempt at least a degree of impartiality, bias is always to be found in some reporting. Is Fox News truly "Fair and Balanced"? We all know the answer to that.
Starting October 1, hacktivist collective Anonymous will be running its own weekly news show with the aim to "balance establishment media by providing unregulated investigative news that has not been molded to corporate or government interests".
Malicious computers are spying on Dark Web users on Tor
For people concerned with their privacy the Dark Web and Tor seem like natural bedfellows. Not for the first time, concerns are currently raised that Tor may not be anywhere near as anonymous as users might like to think, with researchers saying they have discovered dozens of computers engaged in surveillance of the Dark Web.
Computer scientists from Northeastern University used honeypot addresses to identify over 110 malicious machines storing identifying information about users accessing .onion addresses via Tor. At the moment it is not clear whether data gathered by the computers has been used to identify individuals, but the possibility exists.
Anonymous goes to war against police brutality in the US
The hacktivist collective Anonymous has launched a new operation which is designed to fight back against police brutality in the United States.
Inspired by recent events, which have seen innocent civilians murdered by police officers, and police officers murdered in retaliation, #OpBlackFlare is Anonymous’s intriguing -- and peaceful -- response to the situation.
Anonymous takes the FBI to task for corruption
Hacktivist collective Anonymous targets all sorts of people and organizations. Past and on-going operations have focused on Islamic State, white supremacists, the Church of Scientology, Ku Klux Klan, and Donald Trump.
Whatever your view on Anonymous, the group certainly likes to pick fights with high profile foes. The latest organization to have the Anonymous spotlight shone on its affairs is the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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