Lulzsec folks arrested, media still hilariously ignorant

[Balog]

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/03/06/hacking-group-lulzsec-swept-up-by-law-enforcement/

Every time I read reporters talking about groups like Anon or lulzsec I wonder if they really don't get it, or are intentionally misrepresenting to pander to a presumably ignorant audience?

[roo_ster]

Assuming reporters are ignoramuses is usually the way to bet.  Even when they are trying to be clever and slant a story.

[HankB]

The media get stories I know about wrong so regularly, I normally watch all their reporting with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Including the weather report "current conditions" segment.

[Perd Hapley]

Are we supposed to know what a Lulzsec is? Never heard of it. I guess I'm ignorant about this stuff. [shrug]

[Viking]

The media get stories I know about wrong so regularly, I normally watch all their reporting with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Including the weather report "current conditions" segment.

Fun sport over here, decoding what the tabloids write. Double standards are common, with 20-year old rapists of a more southern extraction referred to as "youths", while a 14-year old rape victim is occasionally described as a "woman" or "young woman", instead of "teenage girl".

[AJ Dual]

Are we supposed to know what a Lulzsec is? Never heard of it. I guess I'm ignorant about this stuff. [shrug]

You should consider contacting the FBI then, you're probably one of the people who's memories they erased of their existence with that hacked Superbowl ad.

[Perd Hapley]

[Kip Dynamite] Daaaang it!

[Harold Tuttle]

Operations security (OPSEC) is a process that identifies critical information to determine if friendly actions can be observed by adversary intelligence systems, determines if information obtained by adversaries could be interpreted to be useful to them, and then executes selected measures that eliminate or reduce adversary exploitation of friendly critical information

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LulzSec

[zxcvbob]

Oh.  I thought they were related to LOLcats.

[Hawkmoon]

Fun sport over here, decoding what the tabloids write. Double standards are common, with 20-year old rapists of a more southern extraction referred to as "youths", while a 14-year old rape victim is occasionally described as a "woman" or "young woman", instead of "teenage girl".

Or "child" ...

[gunsmith]

Are we supposed to know what a Lulzsec is? Never heard of it. I guess I'm ignorant about this stuff. [shrug]

I've heard of anon but never lulzsec!

[AJ Dual]

I've heard of anon but never lulzsec!

It doesn't matter. It was just a grouping of more talented Anonymous hackers who started working together.

The .gov just doesn't get the concept, or does not want to acknowledge it. Anonymous... is anyone following the loose and ever shifting ideals, or likes/dislikes of Anonymous, and who says or does not say they're acting as Anonymous. That's it.

There's no hierarchy, there's no leadership. It's not even a traditional resistance cell structure.

It's a mob. Some are skilled, some are just script kiddies, some are just moral support, or in it for the lulz.

The .gov or other powers that be can snipe a group of the more talented hackers that rises up and starts doing enough things to make themselves traceable, but there will be another such group tomorrow, or in a week, or in a month. Either have your INFOSEC be truly airtight, in both technical and human terms, or don't piss them off. Ideally, do both.

[vaskidmark]

The media get stories I know about wrong so regularly, I normally watch all their reporting with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Including the weather report "current conditions" segment.

Listen/read what the mainstream has to say.  Reverse it and you will be ~ 97% spot-on for the truth.

stay safe.

[Perd Hapley]

It doesn't matter. It was just a grouping of more talented Anonymous hackers who started working together.

The .gov just doesn't get the concept, or does not want to acknowledge it. Anonymous... is anyone following the loose and ever shifting ideals, or likes/dislikes of Anonymous, and who says or does not say they're acting as Anonymous. That's it.

There's no hierarchy, there's no leadership. It's not even a traditional resistance cell structure.

It's a mob. Some are skilled, some are just script kiddies, some are just moral support, or in it for the lulz.

The .gov or other powers that be can snipe a group of the more talented hackers that rises up and starts doing enough things to make themselves traceable, but there will be another such group tomorrow, or in a week, or in a month. Either have your INFOSEC be truly airtight, in both technical and human terms, or don't piss them off. Ideally, do both.

I figured Balog meant something like that, but I don't see where the article contradicts that understanding. It didn't say that Anonymous is over, did it?

Yeah, so people can call themselves whatever they want, and do various legal and illegal things. But, as we have seen, sometimes they get caught. Sometimes, the cool, anonymous hacker guy is a stool pigeon for the Feds, and his cool, rebellious hacker friends don't realize it.

People break the law, and they get arrested. Maybe their friends get scared straight. Maybe they don't.

[MicroBalrog]

I really don't understand.

I thought FBI had all of its serious, SICRIT FBI DATABASES in computer networks not physically connected to the outside world at all, and the "FBI servers" being hacked are just their public websites?

[AJ Dual]

I figured Balog meant something like that, but I don't see where the article contradicts that understanding. It didn't say that Anonymous is over, did it?

Yeah, so people can call themselves whatever they want, and do various legal and illegal things. But, as we have seen, sometimes they get caught. Sometimes, the cool, anonymous hacker guy is a stool pigeon for the Feds, and his cool, rebellious hacker friends don't realize it.

People break the law, and they get arrested. Maybe their friends get scared straight. Maybe they don't.

The story treatment is more about a lie of omission, that ignores the fact the hacker groups loosely centered on the Chans is a spontaneous and organic phenomena. They just don't get the quasi-nihlisim that's part of it all. Watching those among them who get caught is about as lulz-y as the hacks they pull off.

[Perd Hapley]

The story treatment is more about a lie of omission, that ignores the fact the hacker groups loosely centered on the Chans is a spontaneous and organic phenomena.

I'm not so sure they did.

The offshoot of the loose network of hackers, Anonymous, believed to have caused billions of dollars in damage to governments, international banks and corporations, was allegedly led by a shadowy figure FoxNews.com has identified as Hector Xavier Monsegur. Working under the Internet alias “Sabu,” the unemployed, 28-year-old father of two allegedly commanded a loosely organized, international team of perhaps thousands of hackers

They just don't get the quasi-nihlisim that's part of it all. Watching those among them who get caught is about as lulz-y as the hacks they pull off.

Maybe the writer didn't say everything you would have said about it, but it doesn't seem misleading, either.

[Monkeyleg]

Thanks, Fistful. I've been reading this thread after reading the article, and have been trying to figure out where the writer screwed up. I was guessing that it was in describing the hackers as an organized group rather than a disjointed bunch of lone wolves.

[Harold Tuttle]

[AJ Dual]

http://www.googlepixel.com/images/lulzy.jpg

Says it better than I ever could with words. 

Catching them just improves the herd.