Hackers associated with well known hacker-activist group “Anonymous Operations” have released a massive cache of data they say was obtained when they hacked a website belonging to the United States Department of Justice. “Today we are releasing 1.7GB of data that used to belong to the United States Bureau of Justice, until now,” Anonymous wrote in a statement on its website. The hackers claim the file contains emails as well as “the entire database dump” from the DOJ website.

“We do not stand for any government or parties, we stand for freedom of people, freedom of speech and freedom of information,” the hackers wrote. ”We are releasing data to spread information, to allow the people to be heard and to know the corruption in their government. We are releasing it to end the corruption that exists, and truly make those who are being oppressed free.”

The Justice Department confirmed the breach in a statement given to ZDNet. “The department is looking into the unauthorized access of a website server operated by the Bureau of Justice Statistics that contained data from their public website,” a DOJ spokesperson said. “The Bureau of Justice Statistics website has remained operational throughout this time. The department’s main website, justice.gov, was not affected.”

The 1.7GB file containing data Anonymous says it obtained during the DOJ breach is available for download as a torrent.

Natural gas pipeline operators in the United States have reportedly been the target of sophisticated phishing attacks since last year, and the Department of Homeland Security has been helping firms deal with incidents since March. “DHS’s Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team has been working since March 2012 with critical infrastructure owners and operators in the oil and natural gas sector to address a series of cyber intrusions targeting natural gas pipeline companies,” DHS spokesman Peter Boogaard told CNET on Tuesday. “The cyber intrusion involves sophisticated spear-phishing activities targeting personnel within the private companies. DHS is coordinating with the FBI and appropriate federal agencies, and ICS-CERT is working with affected organizations to prepare mitigation plans customized to their current network and security configurations to detect, mitigate and prevent such threats.”

The agency has been meeting with and advising companies privately and last week issued its first public warning. The DHS said that at least three confidential “amber” alerts have been issued beginning March 29th, all warning of a “gas pipeline sector cyber intrusion campaign” against multiple pipeline companies.

“ICS-CERT has recently identified an active series of cyber intrusions targeting natural gas pipeline sector companies,” an April 13th alert warned. “Multiple natural gas pipeline organizations have reported either attempts or intrusions related to this campaign. The campaign appears to have started in late December 2011 and is active today.”

The origins of the various attacks are unknown, and it is unclear if sensitive data has been compromised or if other negative consequences have resulted from the breaches. There are concerns that an employee can be tricked into opening a malicious link or download an attachment containing malware that might allow attackers to steal sensitive information, or even worse, manage to access the systems for controlling gas compressors or bulk power switching.

There are approximately 200,000 miles of interstate natural gas pipelines, which supply 25% of the nation’s energy.

The hacker group “Anonymous operations” plans to launch further attacks on Chinese government-run websites to protest what it believes to be strict and unfair laws. The loosely knit group launched various cyberattacks on China’s goverment last week and warned that further attacks were on the horizon. “First we want to alert the Chinese government that we aren’t afraid, and we are going to show the truth and fight for justice,” Anonymous hacker “f0ws3r” said to Reuters, adding that more serious attacks are coming against Chinese websites. “Yes, we are planning more attacks, a few at a time,” the hacker said. The group is looking to “take down the Great Firewall of China,” which blocks access to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and many other websites. The Anonymous China team consist of 10 to 12 hackers, most of whom are not based in China, and has “hundreds” of translators who have helped the group hack various Chinese websites, f0ws3r said. The hacker declined to give further details on the next round of attacks, although he did say the group may hit bigger targets this time around.

Read

Notorious hacker group “Anonymous” on Thursday claimed responsibility for attacks on several government Web sites in China. The group has launched various Internet attacks on the country over the past week in response to what it believes to be strict and unfair laws. “All these years, the Chinese Communist government has subjected its People to unfair laws and unhealthy processes,” the group wrote on one Chinese website. “Dear Chinese government, you are not infallible, today websites are hacked, tomorrow it will be your vile regime that will fall.” The group goes on to warn that further attacks are on the horizon. “So expect us because we do not forgive, never. What you are doing today to your Great People, tomorrow will be inflicted to you. Nothing will stop us, nor your anger nor your weapons. You do not scare us, because you cannot afraid an idea.” Anonymous also acknowledged the Chinese people directly, telling them to remain optimistic, “Don’t loose hope, the revolution begins in the heart.”

Read

A report emerged last week from a security researcher claiming Microsoft’s Xbox lacked important security features that might protect owners who sell used consoles from having personal information stolen. Ashley Podhradsky of Drexel University claimed to have purchased a used Xbox console and used readily available hacking tools to recover the prior owner’s credit card number and other personal information. “Microsoft does a great job of protecting their proprietary information, but they don’t do a great job of protecting the user’s data,” Podhradsky said at the time.

Microsoft has since responded to the researcher’s claims, stating that they are likely inaccurate.

“We are conducting a thorough investigation into the researchers’ claims. We have requested information that will allow us to investigate the console in question and have still not received the information needed to replicate the researchers’ claims,” Microsoft’s Jim Alkove, General Manager, Security, Interactive Entertainment Business, told BGR in an emailed statement.

Alkove continued, “Xbox is not designed to store credit card data locally on the console, and as such seems unlikely credit card data was recovered by the method described.”

The executive also clarified that Microsoft does take measures to protect user data, even though no credit card details are stored locally. “When Microsoft refurbishes used consoles we have processes in place to wipe the local hard drives of any other user data,” Alkove said. ”We can assure Xbox owners we take the privacy and security of their personal data very seriously.”

Podhradsky has not responded to Microsoft’s statement.

The advent of the World Wide Web has delivered instant knowledge to the masses. As the Internet grows, however, danger begins to lurk around every corner. From hackers who steal credit card numbers to cyberbullies, many experts have argued that the Internet has turned into a lawless wasteland where knowledge enters and ignorance exits. The Arizona State Legislature on Monday passed an Internet censorship bill that extends telephone harassment laws to the Internet and other means of electronic communication. The legislation aims to put an end to cyberbullying and states that virtually anything said online that the state deems “offensive” can be a punishable offense. Law enforcement officials will be able to charge Internet lawbreakers with a Class 1 misdemeanor, which is punishable by a $2,500 fine and up to six months in jail. Opponents of the legislation argue that the vague wording of the bill could lead to a crack down on public message boards such as 4Chan and Reddit, thus infringing upon basic American freedoms. The bill is currently on the Governor’s desk waiting to be signed into law or vetoed.

[Via Kotaku]

Read

Notorious hacker group Anonymous has previously stated its intentions to shutdown the Internet on Saturday, March 31st, as a form of protest. “To protest SOPA, Wallstreet, our irresponsible leaders and the beloved bankers who are starving the world for their own selfish needs out of sheer sadistic fun, on March 31, anonymous will shut the Internet down,” the group stated last month. “Remember, this is a protest, we are not trying to ‘kill’ the Internet we are only temporarily shutting it down where it hurts the most.” Operation Global Blackout 2012 looks to shut down the Internet by disabling its core DNS servers, thus making websites inaccessible. Cyber security experts claim that it is unlikely that such an attack would be effective, however, and there is really no need to fear. Read on for more.

“The Anonymous hackers can certain cause local pockets of disruption, but these disruptions are going to be localized to networks where their attack machines are located, or where their ‘reflectors’ are located”, said Robert Graham of Errata Security. “It’s unlikely they could take all of them down, at least for any period of time. On the day of their planned Global Blackout, it’s doubtful many people would notice.”

Graham does issue a cautionary note, however. “Just because I say Anonymous can’t do it doesn’t it mean it can’t be done,” the security expert said on Errata’s blog.

Read [Anonymous] Read [Errata Security]

Hacker group “Anonymous Operations” has confirmed that the custom Linux-based operating system released under its name earlier this week is not a platform it developed. “The Anon OS is fake,” the group posted on Twitter Wednesday evening. “It is wrapped in trojans.” The desktop operating system was released earlier this week by individuals claiming ties with Anonymous. It is based on popular Linux distribution Ubuntu, and it ships with a number of hacking tools pre-installed. According to Anonymous, it also ships with a variety of malware. The team behind Anonymous-OS responded to the group’s claims, denying that its platform contains any malicious software. “The #anonops on their twitter account say ‘That Anonymous-OS is wrapped in trojans,’ ” the group wrote on its Tumblr blog. “Please people… in our world, in Linux and opensource world, there is not virus. If any user believe that Anonymous-OS ‘is wrapped in trojans’ or ‘backdoored OS by any Law enforcement Company or Hacker’ please don’t download it! But don’t mislead the world that Linux is dangerous and has trojans!” Anonymous-OS has been downloaded more than 25,000 times.

Notorious hacker group “Anonymous Operations” on Wednesday released the first version of its own desktop operating system. Dubbed Anonymous-OS, the computer platform is built on top of the open-source Linux-based Ubuntu 11.10 operating system, and it also utilizes the open-source Mate desktop environment, The Hacker News reports. It is unclear exactly who is behind the operating system, which comes with a number of tools pre-installed that are apparently Anonymous-approved. Included are Anonymous HOIC, John the Ripper, SQL Poison and more. Version 0.1 of the hacker group’s Anonymous-OS is free and available immediately for download, though readers should obviously exercise caution.

UPDATE: The Anonymous-OS Tumblr blog states that the group’s operating system is “created for educational purposes, to checking the security of web pages,” and the page suggests that users should not “use any tool to destroy any web page.”

UPDATE 2: Anonymous says this OS is fake, not affiliated with their group, and packed with malware.

[Via The Hacker News]

Read

The laughs are reportedly over for five top members of the hacker group LulzSec who were arrested on Tuesday and charged as part of a conspiracy case filed in New York federal court. FoxNews.com reports that the arrests were part of a multinational sting across the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States on Tuesday morning, and LulzSec leader Hector Xavier Monsegur, who operated online under the alias “Sabu,” provided the Federal Bureau of Investigation with information leading to the arrests. According to the report, Monsegur has been working with the FBI for months. “This is devastating to the organization,” an FBI official told FoxNews.com. “We’re chopping off the head of LulzSec.” Read on for more.

LulzSec, which became part of the larger hacker collective “Anonymous Operations” last year, has launched a number of high profile cyberattacks since last summer. The group’s first widely reports attacks targeted a number of digital properties belonging to Sony, and more than 1 million accounts were compromised as a result of the group’s efforts.

The group also waged war on the U.S. government, and encouraged other hackers to ”open fire on any government or agency that crosses their path.” This brazen move may have intensified the FBI’s efforts to take down the organization, as a series of arrests were made soon after operation “AntiSec” began.

LulzSec leader Hector Monsegur reportedly pleaded guilty to a dozen hacking-related charges on August 15th last year, and his ensuing cooperation with the FBI’s investigation will likely earn him a reduced sentence. ”They caught him and he was secretly arrested and now works for the FBI,” a unnamed source said to be close to Sabu told FoxNews.com.

The five men arrested on Tuesday as a result of Monsegur’s cooperation include Ryan Ackroyd, aka “Kayla” and Jake Davis, aka “Topiary,” of London, England; Darren Martyn, aka “pwnsauce” and Donncha O’Cearrbhail, aka “palladium,” of Ireland; and Jeremy Hammond aka “Anarchaos,” of Chicago, Illinois. Further details are expected to be released later in the day.

UPDATE: FoxNews.com has published a follow-up piece that takes a closer look at Monsegur and further details his alleged cooperation with the FBI.

Interpol on Tuesday announced that 25 suspected members of the hacker group “Anonymous” have been arrested in a raid across Europe and South America. The suspected members ranged in age from 17 to 40 and are accused of planning coordinated cyber-attacks against various government institutions, such as Colombia’s defense ministry and presidential Web sites, Chile’s Endesa electricity company and national library and other targets. The arrests were the result of an ongoing investigation by local and federal police agencies, which searched 40 locations in 15 cities and seized 250 pieces of technology equipment since mid-February. “This operation shows that crime in the virtual world does have real consequences for those involved, and that the Internet cannot be seen as a safe haven for criminal activity, no matter where it originates or where it is targeted,” Acting INTERPOL Executive Director of Police Services Bernd Rossbach said. Read on for Interpol’s press release.

LYON, France ‒ An international operation supported by INTERPOL against suspected hackers believed to be linked to the so-called ‘Anonymous’ hacking group has seen the arrest of some 25 individuals across four countries in Latin America and Europe.

Operation Unmask was launched in mid-February following a series of coordinated cyber-attacks originating from Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain against the Colombian Ministry of Defence and presidential websites, as well as Chile’s Endesa electricity company and its National Library, among others.

The international operation was carried out by national law enforcement officers in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain, under the aegis of INTERPOL’s Latin American Working Group of Experts on Information Technology (IT) Crime, which facilitated the sharing of intelligence following operational meetings in the four participating countries.

Some 250 items of IT equipment and mobile phones were also seized during searches of 40 premises across 15 cities during the operation, as well as payment cards and cash, as part of a continuing investigation into the funding of illegal activities carried out by the suspected hackers who are aged 17 to 40.

“This operation shows that crime in the virtual world does have real consequences for those involved, and that the Internet cannot be seen as a safe haven for criminal activity, no matter where it originates or where it is targeted,” said Bernd Rossbach, Acting INTERPOL Executive Director of Police Services.

INTERPOL working parties on IT crime were created to facilitate the development of strategies, technologies and information on the latest IT crime methods. There are regional working parties for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the South Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa.

The main activities of the working parties rest on three pillars: facilitating operations against IT crime among INTERPOL’s 190 member countries, capacity building and addressing emerging threats.

The notorious “hactivist” group “Anonymous Operations” has the National Security Agency on edge, with the Agency’s director warning of the group’s dangerous growth. General Keith Alexander has warned that within a year or two, the group could have the ability to create a “limited power outage” through a cyberattack, reports the Wall Street Journal. General Alexander provided his assessment during a private meetings at the White House and has previously warned about the emerging ability of cyberattackers to disable or even damage computer networks. The warning highlights a growing federal concern over Anonymous’s activities, however cybersecurity experts have a different opinion on the potential threat posed by the group. Read on for more.

Some federal officials believe that Anonymous could be heading down a more disruptive path, even though it has never listed a power blackout as a goal. Recently, Anonymous announced Operation Global Blackout, an initiative to shut down the Internet (most likely through mass DDoS attacks), set for March 31st.

Grid officials have said that their systems face attacks on a regular basis, and they have spent a tremendous amount of resources to repel potential threats. “The industry is engaged and stepping up widely to respond to emerging cyber threats,” said one electric-industry official to The Journal. “There is a recognition that there are groups out there like Anonymous, and we are concerned, as are other sectors.”

Another industry official noted that power grids have a number of backup systems to restore power shortly after a catastrophic event or cyberattack, however. Officials say that Anonymous doesn’t yet have the resources to pull off such an attack, but if the group’s members around the world developed or acquired it, an attack on the power grid would become far more likely.

“It’s a real threat,” said James Lewis, a cybersecurity specialist who is currently researching the group. “You want to occupy Wall Street? How about turn Wall Street off? Even for a day.” Due to these reasons, White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the administration “has made cybersecurity a top priority, and we are working tirelessly to protect ourselves from the threats we face, whether they come from other nations, cyber criminals, or from stateless activist hacker groups.”

Read

Over the past week, notorious hacker group Anonymous has launched numerous DDoS attacks that disrupted service to a number of popular websites. The global hacker collective recently took down websites belonging to the Department of Justice, Universal Music, the Record Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America to protest SOPA, PIPA and the takedown of Megaupload. According to a new video posted on Monday, Anonymous now aims to take down Facebook. It in unclear as to why Facebook is the group’s new target; while the video mentions SOPA as part of its reason for the attack, Facebook openly opposed the controversial bill. In the past, Anonymous has listed potential targets as the United Nations, Xbox Live, U.S. Bank, Twitter and YouTube.

[Via BusinessInsider]

HTC continues to be true to the company’s word regarding bootloader unlocking tools. Through HTCDev, the Taiwanese company now offers its bootloader unlocker for the Desire HD, Wildfire, DROID Incredible, Desire Z, T-Mobile G2, Aria, ChaCha and Status. Even if a handset hasn’t received official support, the tool might still work. When the trend of locking bootladers began in 2010, HTC was one of many companies to promise unlocking tools and devices in the future, however, they are one of the few to actually have kept the promise. Unlike HTC, Motorola has continued to release devices with locked and encrypted bootloaders, placing the blame on the carriers and further frustrating a number of customers.

Read

In response to the arrests of LulzSec member Topiary and Anonymous PayPal hackers, members of the AntiSec initiative have infiltrated 50 police departments across the United States and stolen 10GB of data. According to a release put out by the group, which includes members from Anonymous and LulzSec, the data includes “private police emails, training files, snitch info and personal info on retaliation for Anonymous arrests.” It also includes social security numbers, address information, passwords, credit card numbers, training files and more. “We hope that not only will dropping this info demonstrate the inherently corrupt nature of law enforcement using their own words, as well as result in possibly humiliation, firings, and possible charges against several officers, but that it will also disrupt and sabotage their ability to communicate and terrorize communities,” a recent press release said. The data was stored on a single server and the hackers said it took less than 24 hours to infiltrate and copy the information. In a release posted on PostBin, the AntiSec movement called on other hackers to join in and “make 2011 the year of leaks and revolutions.” The group also told the government to give up and said “you are losing the cyberwar, and the attacks against the governments, militaries, and corporations of the world will continue to escalate.”

[Via Gizmodo]

Read