Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

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Re: Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

Postby Gnomad » Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:45 am

Gnomad wrote:
On the other hand there are few things cooler than stealing money from intel operatives or spooks and donating it to charity. The first thing a serious government does to some org like Wikileaks is steal their money, so it is just fitting.


From what I read on Slashdot comments, it seems that if any of the charities actually cashed the donations, they will be hit with chargeback fees for every transaction put through, and that would mean a 25-35$ charge per transaction ... so not too cool, at all.
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Re: Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

Postby §ê¢rꆧ » Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:46 am

»»»»»» Via Cryptome
27 December 2011

Anonymous Mused

A sends:

The recent attack on Stratfor [1][2][3] brings to light some questions that can not be ignored. As we all well know, Anonymous has taken credit [4] for this attack. With events such as this it is very possible that there are goings-on behind the scenes that need to be taken into account.

Lets start with Anonymous' [5], and it's sub-organization #antisec [6], as a whole. Anonymous fancies itself as some sort of hacktivist organization fighting for the greater good of all mankind. In reality it is nothing more than a name that different groups can hide behind in order to leak/drop information and attach itself to the Anonymous "brand" or rather, it's PR infrastructure. For example, there are various Twitter accounts [7][8] and IRC servers [9] that serve as the main conduit for news and information related to recent Anonymous activity. Not only is Anonymous very good at PR, they piggy-back off of preexisting movements in order to gain attention and new members. For example, the "antisec" or "pr0j3kt m4yh3m" movement was not started by Anonymous, rather multiple groups started some years ago created this movement [10][11]. Anonymous has adopted it as their own after the movement slowed down due to various reasons (group members growing older and getting a job, getting arrested [12], drug overdoses, etc).

In earlier times, these groups would leak/hack/drop this information under their own name and release it in various "e-zines" [13][14][15] that were then passed around to other "underground" groups and hackers. Most of these groups found over the years that this system accomplished nothing but painting a target on themselves and their group. Victims of these groups would have a name behind who was responsible and would, if the right skills were had, be able to retaliate in a somewhat effective manner.

This is now why you see a sudden ramp up of hacks/leaks under the name of Anonymous. These groups realized that by using the Anonymous name they could effectively use other Anonymous members as a "human" shield and have some plausible deniability. Eventually, these groups realized that by leaking their hacks/information to the Anonymous "group" #antisec, they could easily hide and use the PR boost as an advantage. In essence, someone will hack a website (Sony, PBS, HBGarry, Police Websites) and then give the information and access to Anonymous groups to do what they please. These groups will then analyze this information and leak it in order to maximize damage. There are also times when Anonymous "leaders" will ask others to "donate" 0-day exploits [16] to them so they can use them how they please [17].

It does not take a brilliant mind to think of ways this system can be exploited. Some of Anonymous' targets have been government agencies [18] and corporations [19]. Organizations that have enemies and competitors that are extremely determined. If any of those enemies were to attack their competitor they would not have any good way of leaking that information without outing themselves as the culprit. This is where Anonymous comes in. Using Anonymous, anyone can hack/leak/and delete corporate or government secrets and make it look like it was the "hacktivists" that did it. Thus, diverting blame from themselves and onto, largely, unsuspecting groups of people who flock to the Anonymous "ideals." These people, or scapegoats rather, are the ones that read about these Anonymous "hacks" and decide to join in by connecting to their IRC servers and launching DDoS attacks on Anonymous targets [20][21]. They are the ones who are eventually caught, leaving the real (and more skilled/intelligent) culprits in the dark behind the Anonymous shadow.

Now lets talk a little about the recent events surrounding Stratfor [22]. As you have read in the news, hackers managed to download roughly 200GB worth of company emails, various IT support tickets, and the complete (90K strong) customer database including credit card information . Not only did the hackers acquire this information, once they were done downloading it all they deleted the backups [23], effectively putting Stratfor out of business for the time being. Many people [24] are left wondering why Anonymous has targeted such a company. Stratfor worked by providing news analysis to subscribers via email and their website and used mainly OSINT [25] to accomplish this. Their subscribers are made up of a multitude of organizations and people including: Police, Schools, Intelligence Services, Journalists, and international affairs aficionados. So this attack raises some eyebrows when it comes from the Anonymous name since the Anonymous name was at first established by those seeking to provide transparency and fight for first amendment rights in other countries.

It may be that a group of Anonymous has just picked the "low hanging fruit," but it seems that if someone really wanted to stick it to a private intelligence firm that worked with/for the government they would have gone after more shady intelligence companies such as GK Sierra [26], Aegis [27], GPW [28], or Hakluyt [29].

This then leaves the imagination to wander. Was the Stratfor hack the work of a competitor? Foreign Intelligence Service? Or was it really just a group that has been working under the Anonymous name in the past? I guess the question will take someone more "in the know" than me to answer.

[1] http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/1226/ ... a-breach.-
What-did-hackers-get

[2] http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/25/us/stratfor-hacking/

[3] http://www.zone-h.org/mirror/id/16416728

[4] http://pastebin.com/q5kXd7Fd

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_%28group%29

[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_AntiSec

[7] http://twitter.com/anonymouSabu

[8] http://twitter.com/#!/AnonymousIRC

[9] http://anonops.com

[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisec_Movement

[11] http://lucifer.phiral.net/pHc/old/

[12] http://www.soldierx.com/hdb/Unix-Terror ... zmagic-yu0

[13] http://gonullyourself.org/ezines/el8/

[14] http://gonullyourself.org/ezines/h0no/

[15] http://gonullyourself.org/ezines/ZF0/

[16] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-day_attack

[17] http://twitter.com/#!/anonymouSabu/stat ... 6902379520

[18] http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/gl ... ous-syria-
defense-website-hack

[19] http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/0 ... ks-hbgary/

[20] http://thehackernews.com/2011/10/anonym ... -site.html

[21] http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20022264-261.html

[22] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratfor

[23] http://pastebin.com/UvKz3T1r

[24] http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/commen ... _december_
2011_claimed_to/

[25] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_intelligence

[26] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GK_Sierra

[27] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegis_Defence_Services

[28] http://www.gpwltd.com

[29] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakluyt_%26_Company
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Re: Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

Postby Gnomad » Thu Dec 29, 2011 10:08 am

Exactly my sentiments....
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Re: Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

Postby elfismiles » Fri Jan 06, 2012 2:13 pm

I was a subscriber to Stratfor's free email newsletter, so I've been curious what, if anything I might see in the way of fallout from this supposed Anonymous hacking of them.

Well today I got my answer via spam email:


Rate Stratfor's Incident Response
From: "george.friedman@stratfor.com" <george.friedman@stratfor.com> Add to Contacts
To: ----------


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the video announcement, please see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0
Read full press release: http://bolt.thexfil.es/84e9h!t
Rate Stratfor's incident response: http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/9055 ... rtform.jpg

Hello loyal Stratfor clients,

We are still working to get our website secure and back up and running again as soon as possible.

To show our appreciation for your continued support, we will be making available all of our premium content *as a free service* from now on.

We would like to hear from our loyal client base as to our handling of the recent intrusion by those deranged, sexually deviant criminal hacker terrorist masterminds. Please fill out the following form and return it to me

My mobile: 512-658-3152
My home phone: 512-894-0125


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Re: Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

Postby Ben D » Fri Jan 06, 2012 8:54 pm

Yes so did I elfismiles, and it must be about 5 years since I unsubscribed... :?:
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Re: Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

Postby eyeno » Fri Jan 06, 2012 9:29 pm

nevermind. post deleted
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Re: Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

Postby Hugh Manatee Wins » Sat Jan 07, 2012 3:18 am

I've long suspected Anonymous to be a false-flag op badjacketing the Left internet as 'a danger to national security' and thus useful for precipitating
cyber-censorship.

Spooks control perception of their perceived opposition as s.o.p.
CIA runs mainstream media since WWII:
news rooms, movies/TV, publishing
...
Disney is CIA for kidz!
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Re: Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

Postby Ben D » Sun Jan 08, 2012 7:44 pm

Hi elfismiles, I wondered if that 'in ya face' email we received would make the news and I would gather it is behind this Guardian item...Hackers expose defence and intelligence officials in US and UK
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Re: Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

Postby elfismiles » Mon Jan 09, 2012 10:35 am

Good catch Ben D. Thanks for the headsup on that one.

Ben D wrote:Hi elfismiles, I wondered if that 'in ya face' email we received would make the news and I would gather it is behind this Guardian item...Hackers expose defence and intelligence officials in US and UK
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Re: Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

Postby Ben D » Thu Jan 12, 2012 6:42 am

Stratfor Web Site

Stratfor back online after cyberhack

By CASSANDRA VINOGRAD | Associated Press – 12 hrs ago

LONDON (AP) — Global intelligence analysis firm Stratfor has relaunched its website after hackers brought down its servers and stole thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to its customers.

Chief Executive George Friedman acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that the company had not encrypted customer information and said this decision had embarrassed the company.

Loose-knit hacking collective Anonymous, which claimed responsibility for the attack over the Christmas holidays, had said it was able to get the details in part because Stratfor didn't bother encrypting them.

"It was a truly unforgivable failure and I feel awful about it," Friedman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "Sometimes in rapid growth, you make a mistake. That's not an excuse, that's not a justification ... It's an explanation."

Stratfor had previously declined to say if the information was left unencrypted. Members of Anonymous have said it was targeting companies "that play fast and loose with their customers' private and sensitive information."

The company said Wednesday that it was moving its entire e-commerce process to a third-party system, which will eliminate the need to store credit information. It said it has contracted with CSID, a top-ranked provider of identity protection, to provide its services to all customers at Stratfor's expense, and that it has hired Internet security firm Sec Theory to rebuild its website, email system and internal infrastructure.
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Re: Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

Postby elfismiles » Tue Feb 07, 2012 12:08 pm

“Anonymous” denies Stratfor hack (Inside Job?)
http://deadlinelive.info/2011/12/27/ano ... nside-job/

Deep Green Resistance Responds to Stratfor Intelligence Leaked by Anonymous that Reveals Spying on Occupy Movement and DGR
http://deepgreenresistance.org/stratfor ... iltration/
http://deepgreenresistance.org/pressreleasestratfor

US spies focus on Wounded Knee 1973 photo and American Indian organizations
Anonymous hacked e-mails reveal global security spies’ paranoia over Indian movements, and De Occupy movement
By Brenda Norrell / Censored News
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/01/u ... -1973.html
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Re: Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

Postby MinM » Sun Feb 26, 2012 9:37 pm

WikiLeaks has been tweeting that it was about to release some “extraordinary news”. Shortly thereafter, the WikiLeaks Twitter account posted that it just released, “The Global Intelligence Files. Over 5 million emails”.

Update: Since the first press release tweet, WikiLeaks also tweeted: “WikiLeaks GIFiles: Yes Men press release.”

Along with that, was a link to a press release:


LONDON—Today, Monday 27 February, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files – more than five million emails from the Texas-headquartered “global intelligence” company Stratfor. The emails date from between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal’s Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defense Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor’s web of informers, pay-off structure, payment-laundering techniques and psychological methods, for example:

“[Y]ou have to take control of him. Control means financial, sexual or psychological control… This is intended to start our conversation on your next phase” – CEO George Friedman to Stratfor analyst Reva Bhalla on 6 December 2011, on how to exploit an Israeli intelligence informant providing information on the medical condition of the President of Venezuala, Hugo Chavez...

http://www.webpronews.com/wikileaks-pub ... ls-2012-02

http://www.rigorousintuition.ca/board2/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=33717
Ben D wrote:
Stephen Morgan wrote:
Ben D wrote:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sharmine-narwani/stratfor-challenges-narra_b_1158710.html
Stratfor Challenges Narratives on Syria

Posted: 12/19/11 03:47 PM ET

Since the first public protests broke out in Syria last March, the narratives about the Syrian crisis have stayed fairly true to the theme of all the Arab Revolts. An authoritarian ruler out to crush peaceful opposition to his regime opens fire on civilians and the number of protestors skyrockets as the body count mounts...

But we are now entering the tenth month of this particular violent revolt - even Libya with its full-fledged civil war didn't take so long. So what gives?

According to the Texas-based geopolitical risk analysis group Stratfor which released an eyebrow-raising piece on Syrian opposition propaganda efforts last week, "most of the opposition's more serious claims have turned out to be grossly exaggerated or simply untrue, thereby revealing more about the opposition's weaknesses than the level of instability inside the Syrian regime."

This is important for two reasons. Firstly, it may be the first time a mainstream US-based intelligence-gathering firm openly questions the existing narrative on Syria. Secondly, Stratfor's findings begs the question: what are we basing our policy initiatives on if our underlying assumptions are inaccurate?


http://ghostofvanzetti.net/blog/?p=695
Antisec / Anonymous Demolishes Million Dollar Whitehat Security firm @ http://www.stratfor.com
Posted on December 24, 2011

Just when you think they couldn’t surprise and delight, Anonymous & Antisec deliver… On the eve of Christmas LulzXmas News broke today of a massive hack by Antisec forces of whitehat security firm stratfor. As of this post, the stratfor.com site is unavailable but those interested can view a mirror of the deface. Anonymous hackers posted this youtube video at the top of the defaced page:

Could this be payback for 'challenging the narrative on Syria'? I'm not suggesting that Anonymous is a CIA spook org., but it could be used by them such as they have in the past been known to use the mafia to carry out paybacks.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=33717

Just by it's very nature it would seem to be fairly susceptible to being co-opted, and/or usurped... :-|

viewtopic.php?p=384299#p384299

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=33759
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Re: Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

Postby wintler2 » Mon Feb 27, 2012 4:38 am

Anonymous & Wikileaks, by again posting humungous runs on the board, have again shown all their critics up as at best, timewasters.
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Re: Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

Postby compared2what? » Mon Feb 27, 2012 5:32 am

wintler2 wrote:Anonymous & Wikileaks, by again posting humungous runs on the board, have again shown all their critics up as at best, timewasters.


Hell, yes.

Iran reaching out to US on post-Assad set-up? - ME1 and ME1386

Date 2011-12-13 16:02:19
From bhalla@stratfor.com
To watchofficer@stratfor.com
Others MessageId: <653755105.345244.1323788539939.JavaMail.root@core.stratfor.com>
InReplyTo: 1151190935.345228.1323788479080.JavaMai ... ratfor.com
Text
Reva's note - this is extremely interesting, especially the bolded part
below. DOes Iran really think it can convince the US to collaborate with
them on regime change in SYria in such a way that will end up in Iran's
favor? the whole point of the US focusing in on Syria is to contain Iran
in the first place. This sounds like the Iranians are getting to be in an
increasingly desperate position. Always be wary of source bias, but why
would a HZ source want to spread info on the weakness of the Syrian regime
and the lack of options for Iran? I do believe the part about Iran
preferring a palace coup over the Turkish strategy of building up an
opposition via FSA.

SOURCE: ME1 and ME1386
ATTRIBUTION: STRATFOR source
SOURCE DESCRIPTION: ME1 and member of Hamas politburo
PUBLICATION: Yes - worth a tactical analysis
SOURCE RELIABILITY: B-C
ITEM CREDIBILITY: B-C
SPECIAL HANDLING: Alpha
SOURCE HANDLER: Reva

Marhaba Reva,
I strongly believe that Asad's regime will fall in 2012. The conventional
wisdom that Asad will survive, because both Iran and Israel view him with
favor, is a thing of the past. The situation in Syria has reached the
point of no return. It is true than nine months of demonstrations have not
brought down the regime but, by the same token, regime brutality and heavy
handedness have not quelled the uprising. If anything, the level of
hostilities and army defections is on the rise.

The breaking point will come when the military establishment realizes that
Asad must go. There are signs that the military establishment is beginning
to disintegrate. I talked to [ME1386] and he told me that Alawite officers
and enlisted men are beginning to join the ranks of the FSA. This
represents a major development. Alawite officers are divided since many of
them are unhappy about the use of excessive force against Sunni
protesters. Alawite officers are aware that Asad is trying to find an
asylum for himself and his family should his regime become unslavageable.
This is upsetting many Alawites who are coming to realize that Asad will
abandon them. If so, they reason that it would be suicidal to continue to
win the wrath of the Sunnis. Walid al-Muallim offered to resign but Asad
turned down his request. This is a clear indicator that many of Asad's men
are realizing that they are putting a vain fight against the burgeoning
uprising.

The Iranians are weighing in the situation in Syria very carefully. One
must read beyond the public statements of the Iranians, especially
ayatollah Khamenei. Both Khamenei and Ahmadinejad have concluded that
Asad's regime cannot be rescued. It is perfectly understood that the
regime in Damascus will fall along lines similar to the Libyan model.
There will have to be a coup in Damascus, be it a military or political
one.

One must not dismiss the pragmatism of Khamenei. Iran appears to be
willing to use its influence in Syria to stage a coup, provided that it is
able to ensure that the new leadership will continue to pursue excellent
relations with Tehran. The Iranians have approached the Americans on this.
In the past, Iran collaborated with the U.S. on the ouster of Saddam
Hussein and Iran won big in Iraq. The Iranians would not mind working
again on ousting Asad if they can secure good results in Syria. Syria's
contiguity to Iraq allows Iran to play a direct role in the affairs of
Damascus.

The Iranians feel they need to act on Syria soon because the Turks have
their own plans for Syria and are not coordinating with the Iranians. He
says the Turks are moving slowly but systematically. Iran does not want to
allow Turkey to take over Syria. Whereas the Turks are coordinating with
the Brotherhood and the FSA, the Iranians prefer a palace coup in damascus
in order to maintain their ties with Asad's successors. What is delaying
action in Syria is the fact that the U.S. has not yet decided on the shape
of the post-Asad political system. Nevertheless, he insists that Asad's
regime will fall, although the future of Syria after the regime change
remains nebulous.


Early indications are that there's going to be a lot of stuff from high-level sources in Turkey.

LINK to the above & a few others, via Al-Akhbar.
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Re: Anonymous Goes after Austin, TX based STRATFOR

Postby Ben D » Mon Feb 27, 2012 6:08 am

My opinion straight off on that is disinfo,...B/S.

I don't intend to explain why I know except to say that the loop through which this stuff has supposedly passed through includes Stratfor, Antisac, Anonymous, and Wikileaks, all of which are penetrated by spooks and you treat it as honest to God truth. :roll:

In fact, all the stuff supposedly originating from Stratfor coming through Wikileaks will be suspect, so take it all with a grain of salt.

Runs on the board indeed, what a joke...where's your rigorous intuition? The only time wasted will be that by those simple folk who take it seriously at face value.
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