<nettime> Anonymous Hackers Release 90, 000 Military E-mail Accounts

[Felix Stalder <felix@openflows.com>]

[This new tendency of dumping the full raw data onto the public
networks makes WikiLeaks more editorial approach to publishing
material seem positively reasonable and measured. I wonder if this is
preferable to those who criticize WikiLeaks for having turned into
just another information broker.]

theepochtimes.com -> http://tinyurl.com/6axx57d

The âhacktivistâ organization Anonymous Operations posted some 90,000 
military e-mail addresses and passwords, to the Pirate Bay torrent website 
on July 11, in what they called âMilitary Meltdown Monday."

The organization hacked into the networks of government contracting and 
consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, where they claim to have discovered âa 
list of roughly 90,000 military e-mails and password hashes ... 4gb of 
source code,â and âmaps and keys for various other treasure chests buried 
on the islands of government agencies, federal contractors and shady 
whitehat companies.â

Anonymous further claims that Booz Allen was involved with several 
government surveillance and intelligence-gathering programs âthat may be 
deemed illegalâ and insinuate that several of Booz Allenâs executives, all 
former members of the Nation Security Agency, garnered illegal government 
favor in their private business efforts.

Anonymous preceded the release with multiple lead-up tweets from several of 
their affiliated twitter accounts. One account, âanonymouSabu,â formerly 
part of the LulzSec hacking group, claims that this is the first of âtwo of 
the biggest releases for Anonymous in the last 4 years,â and sent a warning 
to the intelligence community, stating âEveryone brace. This is literally 
explosive.â

Another account, âYourAnonNewsâ, states that âtodayâs #AntiSec release will 
without any doubt be the biggest release so far.â

âAntiSecâ or operation Anti-Security, was a collaborative effort between 
hacker groups LulzSec, Anonymous, and various others to attack and steal 
confidential information from major governments and corporations, and 
expose perceived corruption and abuse of power. LulzSec disbanded in late 
June, its members reintegrating with their original foundations in 
Anonymous.

The websites and networks of numerous companies and government 
organizations have already been attacked in the name of AntiSec. Anonymous 
believes that their efforts are simply a form of civil disobedience, 
calling their tactics âpeaceful protest." The government, meanwhile, has 
been actively trying to track down and arrest its members.

Anonymous made headlines last year when they attacked MasterCard, Visa, and 
PayPal after the companies had suspended payments directed to the 
information leaking website WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange.





--- http://felix.openflows.com ----------------------- books out now:
*|Deep Search.The Politics of Search Beyond Google.Studienverlag 2009
*|Mediale Kunst/Media Arts Zurich.13 Positions.Scheidegger&Spiess2008
*|Manuel Castells and the Theory of the Network Society. Polity, 2006 
*|Open Cultures and the Nature of Networks. Ed. Futura/Revolver, 2005 


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