We Are Legion

May 9, 2011 8:22 PM

AnonOps reportedly in chaos after AnonOps servers compromised in "coup d'etat".

Hackers associated with 808chan(ns) insurgen.cc(ns) have reportedly compromised two AnonOps servers and leaked IRC nicks,IP addresses and PM logs of alleged AnonOps “Members”.

Links marked NS are not safe for work, and may contain malware. They are certainly educational.

posted by Ad hominem (68 comments total)

Lol.
posted by delmoi at 8:38 PM on May 9, 2011 [3 favorites]

Sheesh, not another Eve Online post!
posted by orthogonality at 8:39 PM on May 9, 2011 [37 favorites]

The Ars link has weird (mis?)information in it. Zalgo looks like it was their IRC hub server, not just a bot. If the hub was compromized, then yes, anybody on it gets to "see everything."

IRC is deprecated and everything is in the clear. It was silly to be having so much stuff on it in the first place, seeing as all this started after the 90s.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 8:42 PM on May 9, 2011

LULZ!!!
posted by Bwithh at 8:44 PM on May 9, 2011

But among those who backed AnonOps, one thing was clear: Ryan needs to get got. Anons quickly embarked on a mission to find Ryan "dox," and quickly unearthed what they said was his full name, his home address (in Wickford, Essex, UK), his phone number, his Skype handle, and his age (17).

Hahah
posted by delmoi at 8:45 PM on May 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

good night, sweet prince
posted by philip-random at 8:46 PM on May 9, 2011 [2 favorites]

Really this is just some super inane script kiddy drama.
posted by mek at 8:48 PM on May 9, 2011 [13 favorites]

Really this is just some super inane script kiddy drama.


Correct. And it always was.
posted by unSane at 8:50 PM on May 9, 2011 [5 favorites]

IRC is deprecated

In favor of what? Jabber? Jabber does indeed have chatrooms, but it doesn't have the decentralized structure of irc. Very central-point-of-failure. You DDoS the jabber server and the whole chatroom is down. With IRC, a chatroom can be populated by people on many servers.

Also, if you have clients that support it, you can use OTR for encryption.
posted by Galaxor Nebulon at 8:51 PM on May 9, 2011

On the other hand, take a step back and think about this.

It's 2011. IRC takeovers and channel wars are now international news and being written about in Forbes.
posted by delmoi at 8:52 PM on May 9, 2011 [100 favorites]

Just goes to show the authorities really never needed to worry about Anonymous becoming some high-tech terrorist group. Give internet geeks enough time together and they'll eventually be too busy fighting each other to fight the power.
posted by happyroach at 8:54 PM on May 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

Network of petty juvenile people, based around perpetuating petty, juvenile pranks and grudges, gets taken down by petty juvenile internal bullshit. Color me surprised.
posted by Punkey at 8:56 PM on May 9, 2011 [2 favorites]

On the other hand, take a step back and think about this.

It's 2011. IRC takeovers and channel wars are now international news and being written about in Forbes.

but largely because of the hacker attacks on Sony etc?
posted by Bwithh at 8:56 PM on May 9, 2011

Yeah, I'm going with script kiddy drama. Just for fun, though, let's pose a hypothetical question: how easy would be it be to differentiate genuine Anon in-fighting from FBI covert shit-stirring?
posted by dephlogisticated at 8:59 PM on May 9, 2011 [6 favorites]

Apparently, a statement was issued. Apparently, some anonymous people don't like other anonymous people pretending to be in charge. Meh.
posted by Avelwood at 9:00 PM on May 9, 2011

but largely because of the hacker attacks on Sony etc?

Yeah, but if you had written this as a story in 1999 people would have thought you were being ridiculous (partially based on the idea people would still be using IRC in 2011...)
posted by delmoi at 9:01 PM on May 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

Ah shit, I was just about to say the CIA did it. OK, I would have been lying about that, but hey.
posted by anigbrowl at 9:02 PM on May 9, 2011

In favor of what?
Collaborative software that is secure.

Also, if you have clients that support it, you can use OTR for encryption.
OTR is only for client-to-client chats. Channels and the inner workings of the IRC network aren't able to use that.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 9:05 PM on May 9, 2011

808chan seems to be having possible issues right now too.
posted by Samizdata at 9:09 PM on May 9, 2011

Meh. Tempest in a /b/ pot.
posted by dersins at 9:10 PM on May 9, 2011 [10 favorites]

I'd probably want to use something like waste but IRC certainly has a low barrier to entry, which is perfect for recruiting 12 year olds to run LOIC.
posted by Ad hominem at 9:11 PM on May 9, 2011 [3 favorites]

It's like a 21st century Lord Of The Flies
posted by Flashman at 9:35 PM on May 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

Spoilers, Flashman! They haven't read it yet.
posted by maryr at 9:37 PM on May 9, 2011 [9 favorites]

AnonOops!
posted by Bromius at 9:45 PM on May 9, 2011 [2 favorites]

I was going to post about this yesterday but it didn't seem entertaining enough for MeFi. Like Flashman says, tl;dr: Lord of the Flies

AnonOps is a bunch of 13-17 year olds and some loosely connected misfits. Very few of them have permission to use their parents' credit cards so the AnonOps domain was assigned to a guy named Ryan; you may make fun of him but 17 seems to be on the old side for Anonymous hacktivists. Over the past few days Ryan got mad over some petty thing and disrupted things on the servers. Last night he finally decided it was time to take back his domain (although he is, as above, an older guy who doesn't care so much about fighting for Internet justice and is mainly just dicking around). As a result AnonOps split into two warring factions, as well as a third group that moved to I2P. However, as of this evening the anti-Ryan faction seems to have prevailed.

The only hacking involved was some of the anti-Ryan team that hacked his domain, not the other way around.
posted by shii at 9:54 PM on May 9, 2011 [11 favorites]

Zalgo looks like it was their IRC hub server

So, uh, does this mean we can use the zalgo script? I mean, just in this thread?

^{just this once?}
posted by Ghidorah at 9:55 PM on May 9, 2011

MetaFilter: It's like a 21st century Lord Of The Flies
posted by TrialByMedia at 10:00 PM on May 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

I predict a b-grade "Social Network" style movie in the works, starring someone who looks suspiciously like Julian Assange...the truth must be told.
posted by thebestusernameever at 10:08 PM on May 9, 2011

D-grade. Jake Busey as Moot.
posted by cmfletcher at 10:15 PM on May 9, 2011

pose a hypothetical question: how easy would be it be to differentiate genuine Anon in-fighting from FBI covert shit-stirring?

at this point, "not."
posted by rhizome at 10:17 PM on May 9, 2011

4Chan in Anarchist Internet Drama SHOCKAH!
posted by klangklangston at 10:17 PM on May 9, 2011

Speak English you goofballs!!!!
posted by Senor Cardgage at 10:20 PM on May 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

Thanks shii!
posted by Senor Cardgage at 10:21 PM on May 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

Not to be totally insane conspiracy rumor mongering (yes actually to be exactly that) one of the producers of Punk'd was shot execution style last night.

At the same time AnonOps was compromised. Coincidence? (Yes.) No!

Also, something something Bin Laden!
posted by klangklangston at 10:21 PM on May 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

Do you mean this guy? Word is, it was a Block Captain beef.
posted by Flashman at 11:11 PM on May 9, 2011 [3 favorites]

Apparantly he was the MTV music coordinator. I'm shocked to discover they play enough music on MTV that it needs coordinating. What will they do now he's gone? Tracks will be all over the place, crashing into each other.

(Yes, I know he's dead, but he worked for MTV. Goofy, callous, not especially funny dumbass jokes - it's what he would have wanted.)
posted by Grangousier at 12:00 AM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

Yeah, it's just a bunch of children and weirdos. Wikileaks doesn't really matter either, by the way. Anyway, check out this flash artgame about cats doing theater in Canada. hahaha
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 12:07 AM on May 10, 2011 [5 favorites]

Not to be totally insane conspiracy rumor mongering (yes actually to be exactly that) one of the producers of Punk'd was shot execution style last night.

At the same time AnonOps was compromised. Coincidence? (Yes.) No!

Also, something something Bin Laden!

And it all started with me getting my Canadian census form in the mail last week ... the day after Stephen Harper finally got his minority gov't. This shit is all connected.
posted by philip-random at 12:30 AM on May 10, 2011

The truth is somewhere. It got misplaced.
posted by TwelveTwo at 12:50 AM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

Yeah, it's just a bunch of children and weirdos

That is just the way it goes, couple months back they were viewed as avenging angels, fighting the corrupt corporations who were trying to shut down Assange. More recently they were the tricksters who took down HBGary, making a bunch on blowhards look like fools, then they were leaking BOA documents, ready to blow the lid off the corporate scam of the century. There is just no there there anymore for many people, no one as photogenic as Assange, no coherent message, nothing to root for since so much about them is so objectionable. Obviously this is by design, or circumstance, but they were not the freedom fighters people were hoping for.
posted by Ad hominem at 1:07 AM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

I also think there is evidence that there are some, maybe not many, adults involved. In Jan 2011 5 people were arrested in the UK for allegedly taking part in operation payback, 3 of them were over 18 (I'm sure that the face that they were over 18 is why they were arrested, nobody wants the publicity of arresting a 13 year old for computer crimes) and one was 26, old enough to know better. My theory is that there are people who pay the bills, set the agenda quietly, recruit the rank and file to participate in DDos and that if Anonymous once was a true leaderless anarchic collective, it probably no longer is.
posted by Ad hominem at 2:13 AM on May 10, 2011

BWAHAHAHAH! TREMBLE BEFORE ME, PUNY /B/TARDS!
You will be crushed, and driven before me. I will hear the lamentation of your women, on the off chance you have any.
<SHIFT>
<SHIFT>
<SHIFT>
<SHIFT>
<SHIFT>

—Ryan
posted by ryanrs at 2:20 AM on May 10, 2011

women porn collection

ftfy

also, *bows before ryanrs, just to be safe*
posted by marienbad at 2:23 AM on May 10, 2011

NONE ARE SAFE.

$ bittorrent 'Lamentation_1_4_[HQ]+[HDTV]+[XviD].torrent'
posted by ryanrs at 2:34 AM on May 10, 2011

Anonymous is an anarchic leaderless collective but not for a lack of trying. The body of Anonymous is marked by a mutinous unruly nature. Their internal history is littered with various attempts to centralize or standardize Anonymous. But time and time again, the would-be shadow leaders, web moderators, and consensus governments are overthrown by anonymous groups organized by different sets of shadow leaders, web moderators, and consensus governments. Meanwhile, the organized masses eventually stop following orders, lose interest, and just get distracted. This recent self-attack is just another example of the same old same old, and to think otherwise confuses Anonymous for a more traditional and effective organization. In the end, Anonymous is and always has been and always will be self-defeating and incompetent. It is relevant to remember that Anonymous burbled out of a group that regarded Deadpool as their patron superhero. And just like Deadpool, the occasional lucidity and efficacy shown by Anonymous must be regarded as an exception.

Anonymous is continually being overthrown by Anonymous.
posted by TwelveTwo at 3:01 AM on May 10, 2011 [8 favorites]

I don't get why people sell these guys short. That they're young doesn't mean they're not capable; that they're currently distracted doesn't mean they can't get their shit together around a coherent mission if necessary; and that they're embroiled in petty politics means they're the same as every Fortune 500 company in the world.

Underestimate smart, idealistic kids at your peril.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 3:02 AM on May 10, 2011 [11 favorites]

For an example of Anonymous childishness, look at this. Read especially the "justification" at the bottom...
posted by shii at 3:08 AM on May 10, 2011

Which is not to say that Anonymous isn't powerful. But they are organizationally incapable of long term planning, and positive constructive projects. Hackers won't be bringing us the revolution, but Systems Administrators just well might.
posted by TwelveTwo at 3:16 AM on May 10, 2011

Hackers won't be bringing us the revolution, but Systems Administrators just well might.

Unfortunately, my experience is that SysAdmins work as the polar opposite as Hackers. Sort of the "information wants to be handcuffed, blindfolded and stuffed into an old refrigerator buried in the backyard" crowd.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:52 AM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

I never really got Eve Online.

This is all about a game, right?
posted by clvrmnky at 5:23 AM on May 10, 2011

When Coyote is your spirit animal, you just have to expect shit like this.
posted by localroger at 5:24 AM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

I will hear the lamentation of your women, on the off chance you have any.
<shift>
<shift>
<shift>
<shift>
<shift>

You have enabled StickyKeys.
posted by Riki tiki at 5:36 AM on May 10, 2011 [18 favorites]

TwelveTwo said, Anonymous is continually being overthrown by Anonymous.

Pure speculation, but perhaps this is an (unintentional) feature rather than a bug? Could this be the beginning of a new category of organization? Yes, we've all seen these kinds of claims before how X will change everything, or at least a large subset of it, but X never spooked something as big as BoA. And for all the apparent eating-of-itself, the damn thing seems to stay alive and even grow....

Disclaimer: I know nothing about emergent systems. Or really, anything about this at all.
posted by digitalprimate at 5:41 AM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

They are just have a bit of fun while waiting for someone to attack.
posted by Bovine Love at 5:51 AM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Somebody oughta backtrace this stuff. I wonder if the consequences will ever be the same.
posted by entropone at 6:15 AM on May 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

People refer to Anonymous as a group, when I think it is more accurate to say that Anonymous refers to a hobby like Skateboarding or Base Jumping or LARPing.

At any one time, there may be some continuity among the membership of active Base Jumpers in the world, and they may organize some group activities, but it's really just a name for whoever happens to be into jumping off of cliffs at the moment.
posted by straight at 6:16 AM on May 10, 2011 [11 favorites]

For an example of Anonymous childishness, look at this. Read especially the "justification" at the bottom...

You know that site is a wiki, and anybody--even you, can post anything to it, right?
posted by Threeway Handshake at 6:50 AM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

PRetty much guaranteed someone will backtrace this stuff - organized or not, Anonymous, however they work, have done some serious financial damage (or are perceived as such) and people associated with it likely will be prosecuted, where evidence permits.

We all like to cheer for Anonymous when they do something like make a fool out of the CoS - but a reality check is in order: unauthorized access to computer systems is illegal just about everywhere, as is deliberate denial of service - and that carries weight.
posted by TravellingDen at 7:07 AM on May 10, 2011

We all like to cheer for Anonymous when they do something like make a fool out of the CoS - but a reality check is in order: unauthorized access to computer systems is illegal just about everywhere, as is deliberate denial of service - and that carries weight.

Arrests are occasionally made. Someone upthread mentioned the 5 kids that got vanned in England. That said, I seriously doubt that anons had anything to do with the PSN outage.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 7:22 AM on May 10, 2011

Summary headline:

Anarchists seek new government
posted by storybored at 7:54 AM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

I think that these petty dramas are actually what make anonymous what it is, and I tend to get warm and fuzzies when I read about them. It sort of makes sense to view it from the perspective of a continuous revolution--an antagonistic system of government with frequent regime changes (regimes changing so fast and so fluidly that it makes more sense to call Anonymous leaderless) and precious little but merit and luck to make one powerful. These dramas with the doxxing, hacking, and DDoS attacks should perhaps be thought of as play fights--teaching the members of Anonymous the skills of being Anonymous in a setting where the stakes are low and the outcome unimportant. Anonymous will constantly suffer infighting, this is true, but its worth noting that this is something inherent to anonymous, something that if "fixed" would destroy some very fundamental principles behind the idea. Coherent orginization would breed apathy and disillusionment--there are tons of disagreements between members of Anonymous, but with the frequent regime turnover rate you know that if your cause is just and your arguments powerful your voice will most definitely be heard. Apathy and disillusionment are very dangerous things to an organization that is entirely volunteer based. The price anonymous pays for the idealogical purity of whoever their opinion makers may be at the moment and for the zeal of their followers is that organization, coherence, and attention span must all suffer greatly. When they have a great cause and a sense of unity prevails they can do great things. When they do not have a great cause, expect that energy to turn inwards and petty dramas prevail. The nonexistence of lasting cohesion is not in fact a weakness preventing them from doing great things, but the underlying principle that keeps them going.
posted by Bobicus at 8:12 AM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Splinter hacker groups that favor differing bot-attack strategies usurping the decentralized command structure? This whole situation reads like cheesy '90s Cyberpunk fan-fic,

Living in the future is weird.
posted by quin at 8:26 AM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Which is not to say that Anonymous isn't powerful. But they are organizationally incapable of long term planning, and positive constructive projects. Hackers won't be bringing us the revolution,

Anonymous reminds me of something Timothy Leary said way back when (in the 80s/early 90s when he was getting into Info-Technology in his typically overbearing way, but nevertheless making a kind of sense); that he wasn't that worried about the computerization of the world leading to some kind of 1984 totalitarian Big Brother doom scenario, because the geeks/nerds etc who were designing and building and maintaining the systems were precisely the kind of politically skeptical, small "l" libertarian types who would be first in line to sabotage Big Brother should the shit ever hit the fan.

So yeah, I'm quite happy to hear that Anonymous won't be bringing us any revolutions anytime soon; just as long as they remain out there (in there?) on the fringes, capable of spiking the punch and otherwise sewing necessary seeds of subversion and insurrection when required.

Takes all kinds to keep the free world rockin'.
posted by philip-random at 8:58 AM on May 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

Operating as Anonymous is now the new it thing to do while still under 18. Ah well, it's either that or drugs.
(because heavens knows drugs and 2600 meetings never crossed paths!)
posted by Theta States at 9:10 AM on May 10, 2011

Splinter hacker groups that favor differing bot-attack strategies usurping the decentralized command structure? This whole situation reads like cheesy '90s Cyberpunk fan-fic,

Living in the future is weird.

The Panther Modern leader, who introduced himself as Lupus Yonderboy, wore a polycarbon suit with a recording feature that allowed him to replay backgrounds at will. Perched on the edge of Case's worktable like some kind of state of the art gargoyle, he regarded Case and Armitage with hooded eyes. He smiled. His hair was pink. A rainbow forest of microsofts bristled behind his left ear; the ear was pointed, tufted with more pink hair. His pupils had been modified to catch the light like a cat's. Case watched the suit crawl with color and texture.

"You let it get out of control," Armitage said. He stood in the center of the loft like a statue, wrapped in the dark glossy folds of an expensive-looking trenchcoat.

"Chaos, Mr. Who," Lupus Yonderboy said. "That is our mode and modus. That is our central kick. Your woman knows.”
posted by Sebmojo at 2:00 PM on May 10, 2011 [4 favorites]

But they are organizationally incapable of long term planning, and positive constructive projects

Are either necessary? There's something to be said for chaos, loosely directed in the short-term. Pick (or stumble across) the right target, and you could do a lot of damage (and a lot of good, depending on your particular point of view) very quickly.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 8:50 PM on May 10, 2011

Is, even.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 8:51 PM on May 10, 2011

Chaos and loosely directed short term activity are not only not rare, they are the norm. Our government operates on mere fashion, our corporations care three months ahead, and our citizenry can't remember what happened a month ago. Anonymous is fascinating because they are us. The promise of Anonymous is that you can have change without having to change.
posted by TwelveTwo at 12:22 AM on May 11, 2011 [1 favorite]