Anonymous and Lulzsec members arrested by authorities

Looks like Anonymous and Lulzsec are finally catching some flak from the FBI and co; wonder how this will turn out.

I don't have anything against these groups necessarily, but the fact that they now know they aren't invulnerable is good, maybe now they will choose targets more wisely and actually go after the targets that they should.

I was just watching CNN and Kiran was talking to the tech chick and she's like "Are you a member of Anonymous?''" and the chick gives her the best WTF look.

But yeah, we'll see if they decide to clean up their act or continue to piss people off.

Speaking of; where is that Assange dude?

I think he's in court , last or maybe this week the papers mention his new strategy in the rape case.

Those hacker groups may claim to be working in the public interest or at least for some higher goal, rather than simple criminal mischief or for profit. But it doesn't matter — they're still breaking laws and inconveniencing people, and they deserve to be punished for it.

It is serendipitous that we have such relatively harmless groups teaching our major companies how weak their Internet security is, as opposed to the actual criminals and nation-sponsored hackers who have more sinister intentions. It doesn't justify or excuse it in any way, though.

"Those hacker groups may claim to be working in the public interest or at least for some higher goal" - Fighteer

Seriously? I don't know about Lulzsec, but Anonymous strikes me as a group of real-life Card Carrying Villains, saying things like "none of us are as cruel as all of us" and actively looking down on members who express remorse for trolling. o.o

But yeah, they need to learn that they're not above the law.

edited 20th Jul '11 6:46:32 AM by neoYTPism

Ugh, so much fail in those articles.

No strong opinion on the arrests themselves; if they were breaking the law then I guess they'll be punished for it. But alledging the existence of a hacker group named Anonymous just demonstrates a lack of research.

^ I recommend not taking that shit seriously. It's supposed to frighten.

edited 20th Jul '11 6:47:41 AM by BobbyG

Many anons resort to hacking. The rest of them hesitate to distance themselves from the hackers. So, it's pretty much equivalent to a hacker group in any meaningful sense. Excuses like "it's not really an organized group" only make it worse, because it dilutes individual accountability for actions. Anon goes into dangerous new territory with their ideas.

You can't claim not to be an organized group while acting like an organized group. Nobody believes you.

Regardless, whether Anonymous has an organized leadership or not, it is made up of individuals, who can be tracked down and prosecuted.

edited 20th Jul '11 6:59:47 AM by Fighteer

They're co-ordinating their efforts and sharing information about what has been hit, how to best go about it, and and encouraging each other to continue. That's "organized" in effect, even if they don't have an official order of hierarchy and rules and meetings and such.

Assuming that there is an inherent hierarchy, I wonder if the ones arrested will inform on the others; we know that there's no honor among thieves.

edited 20th Jul '11 7:12:32 AM by Kino

@Kino: They'd only know handles. They call themselves "Anonymous" for a reason.

Given that they are anonymous, only the more organised and involved ones would know handles, I'd imagine.

And yes, Anonymous is made up of indidividuals. I wasn't disputing that, merely the assertion that they belonged to some kind of serious hacker activist organisation.

Do they really have an effective code of secrecy, or are there chinks in the armor?

I'd say the latter.

@Blueharp: Not a code of secrecy, they're nowhere near organized enough for that. But they do regularly publish stuff on how to protect your privacy online. So in all effectiveness, you'd only be catching the morons, not the people actually doing stuff.

People can publish all sorts of guides, and even try to follow them themselves, but people talk to each other, and that can communicate identifiable information, and...so they may be traceable.

edited 20th Jul '11 7:45:36 AM by blueharp

To me, Anonymous as "a hacker group" is not even made up of permanent individuals: Some anon can join an action against a specific target and return to be just any /b/ user when someone else is targeted.

^ Precisely. As such, it makes sense only to address this as the actions of individuals. To portray them as a dangerous organisation is, if anything, playing into their hands.

Eh, people like labeling things. Anyway, they call themselves by that name.

They do. Because it's a running gag, and because they want people to panic.

Or, actually, because everyone who posts anonymously is Anonymous, but panicking about them is certainly lulzy.

edited 20th Jul '11 9:18:56 AM by BobbyG

Can't say I am sad to see this. I imagine there will be some kind of attempted backlash from those who are left in the groups, but then again maybe they will just stop now.

I doubt it though. Has anybody got a link to an article with a better idea of what's going on?

But not everybody who posts anonymously is also a hacker targeting sites that a particular group of their peers determines offensive. The "We are Legion" gag is silly — there is a finite amount of people conducting these attacks, they do have an organizational structure, however loose, and law enforcement can and will identify individuals committing security crimes and prosecute them, whether they identify with Anonymous, Lulzsec, or any other group.

Further, there is a limit to how disruptive they can be before they stop being identified as modern Robin Hoods and start being identified as common criminals.

edited 20th Jul '11 9:27:10 AM by Fighteer

"But not everybody who posts anonymously is also a hacker targeting sites that a particular group of their peers determines offensive." - Fighteer

There's a difference between being anonymous and being associated with Anon. Being anonymous is a means that can be used towards morally justifiable ends. Anon uses anonymity for goals that are often NOT justified.

Just about everyone that posts on 4chan considers themselves as part of "Anonymous".

Being legion has never been a claim to being infinite. A Roman legion had 6,000 soldiers.

edited 20th Jul '11 10:10:10 AM by Medinoc