back to article 14 arrested in crackdown targeting Anonymous

More than a dozen people were arrested in early morning raids Tuesday in what was described as a major legal offensive against the Anonymous hacker collective, it was widely reported. The arrests of at least 14 individuals coincided with raids in New York, California, New Jersey, and Florida, the reports said, citing unnamed …

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  1. NoneSuch Silver badge
    Black Helicopters

    Japanese Proverb

    The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.

  2. Version 1.0 Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Should have stuck to hacking phones ...

    ... and their defense, "What would Rupert say?"

    "Officer, I was misinformed, I trusted my 4-year-old brother when he said I should volunteer my unused computer CPU cycles to his class project - I had no idea that there was a hacker bot running on my computer.

    Can I go now?"

  3. nyelvmark
    Black Helicopters

    I suppose even anonymous are vulnerable to social engineering techniques

    ...like, "what was his name again?" - "AaaaaRGH!" - "Oh, you should be more careful - did you hurt yourself? Now, what was that name again?" - "XenuAAAaaargh!" - "No, try again. We've got all day, you know."

    "We've spoken to your college - they say you're suspended until we finish with you. That means no graduation this year, or maybe ever. Your girlfriend has already told us that she thought you were weird all along. Your parents, I hear, are planning another kid. Now, I'm gonna pretend that you told me a name already, but I didn't hear it right. D'you wanna play?" - "NoAAAaaargh!"

    I hope they really don't know each other's names, but I suspect, human nature being what it is, that too many of them do, to make for the perfect anonymous system.

    Good luck, guys.

    1. Peter Murphy
      Devil

      Do the crime, do the time. I get that.

      But don't fucking do torture. One, it's not necessary - most of these middle class young adults know that they're over their head, so any competent FBI agent could get plea-bargains out of them without lifting a finger. Secondly, using physical violence is still likely to get the charges thrown out of court in most first world jurisdictions. And thirdly, do you really want the reincarnation of Saddam's Mukhabarat operating in the US of A?

      I despise this sort of physical violence. I knew people who were beaten up by the Queensland Police during the Joh Bjelke-Petersen era, just for protesting against the government. Batons in public; phone books in private. Not because the protestors did much, but in the coppers' minds they were just fucking dirty hippies. Were they wrong to be protesting? Said government turned out to be corrupt, with the Police Commissioner ex-Sir Terry Lewis in particular being jailed for 10 1/2 years. They weren't wrong at all.

      BTW - what's causing all this AaaaaRGHs" in your little dream scenario? Slaps? Street Directories? Hammers? Pliers? Electric Shocks? Or did you think it would be cool to dabble in some masturbatory onomatopoeia without imagining the nasty things people can do to other people? That would be bloody typical.

  4. Scorchio!!
    Thumb Up

    Subject NK

    These are the first of many. Lay in popcorn, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Badger beer, Poachers ales, Jamesons, Bushmills or whatever hits the spot. There will be trails of tears across the world as people try to convince juries that they honestly didn't know what was happening. That includes the core members.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Up

      @ Save me a seat .......

      just for the lulz ya knows.

  5. dssf

    Some possibly apt Korean proverbs/sayings

    Remember, even monkeys fall out of trees.

    A turtle can only get on it by sticking its neck out.

    If a pedestrian sees a horse he will want to ride it.

    http://www.inspirationfalls.com/funny-korean-wisdom/

  6. chris swain

    Sad but predictable

    They really need better tools if they want to be anonymous. I gather that the low orbit ion cannon is quite traceable. I'm surprised they're not using some form of darknet via servers in a country where subpoenas can't reach.

  7. Dennis Wilson

    Puzzled

    I must be stupid otherwise i would get the point of forcing thousands of people to change password details.

  8. Ian McNee
    Holmes

    Let's hope they catch evil mastermind Louise Boat too!

    Lucky we have talented public school/oxbridge-educated investigative journalists of the calibre of Anna Botting on the case: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG7IURgryjA&feature=player_embedded - where would we be without Faux News??

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What I'm wondering

    ...is are the various 'authorities' actually getting active anonymous members or are they just hoovering up people who used the LOIC when it's convenient.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Pour encourager les autres - side effect

      (Pardon the bad rendition of the french)

      There are I presume two sorts involved in these actions: the dedicated and those who do it for a bit of a laugh.

      Whether the ones picked up by the authorities are in the first group or the second, it will blunt the enthusiasm of those who might participate in the future.

  10. James Woods

    title

    Welcome to the united states of america.

    The country is broke. The borders are open. ICE is enforcing piracy laws. The FBI/ATF are running guns to Mexico.

    The same FBI is raiding the homes of college students for going after corporate america.

    Isn't it great to be an american? Hang that flag high.

    This is what our grandparents fought and died for. This is what your tax dollars go for. Protecting corporate america.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Is this the alternate, realistic ending to V for Vendetta?

    You know, the one where 100,000 people turn up wearing Guy Fawkes / Anonymous masks, and the troops just gun them down?

  12. Greg J Preece

    Ten agents? Really?

    Are the FBI such a crack force that it takes ten armed agents to arrest one teenage kid?

    1. Lockwood

      Movies?

      You must have seen the opening shot of Hackers, then the later raid on the subway station?

      Of course you need guns to counter keyboards.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    lulz

    > "citing unnamed people in law enforcement"

    anonymous has infiltrated the police now too??

  14. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Our client is keen to help the authorities

    For fear of becoming another Gary Mckinnon and being sent on a US holiday?

    No, probably blabbing away because he "thought it was a laugh to hack", does no harm, just like bank robbery and tax fraud are "victimless crimes"

    March, Protest and even piss off the "corporate" people, but once you break the law you turn from Activist to Criminal, no defence can change that, as NOtW editors are finding out

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Price of Freedom

    The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, but conflicts often take a few casualties.

    That doesn't automatically mean that the battle should be abandoned or that the cause is wrong.

  16. Joe Drunk
    Childcatcher

    Won't someone think of the children in their late 20's+ ?

    First let me start once again by saying, "Lulz @ script kiddies".

    In your quest to be l337 (fame and recognition from random anonymous strangers, for those not in the know AKA those who have active social lives and see Lulzsecs/Anon's activities as pointless) you failed to realize the consequences of your actions. I can sympathise somewhat with the under 18 crowd because you don't know any better and some of those up to 25 years old cuz you're still shedding the stupidity of youth.. But 30 + years old? 46?!?!?

    Let's take a walk down memory lane. The BBS era, I was 16. There were several underground l337 boards, I was on a few. Some were active carder boards wherein if you agreed to receive kit at your house you would get to keep 1 or 2 items (new PC etc.). Tempting as it was there were always rumours on the message boards (never covered by mainstream media) about the FBI waiting and subsequently seizing all the loot, whatever other computers & electronics were in the house and arrest of recepient.

    No thanks, I didn't need that in my life, so there went my chance to be super l337. Point is even then with all the illegal activity on the primitive version of the internet I was still aware of the consequences and chose to be a l@m3r. Thankfully I was off to university at 19 and was too busy studying/partying/working to care about being l337 anymore.

    With all the mainstream coverage of people getting caught why do people persist? Even if YOU don't get caught one of your 'associates' who is will spill the beans and cooperate with the authorities to avoid stiff sentence. The next time you see 'toxic' in a chatroom it may be someone else looking over toxic's shoulders as you both chat.

    The worst part for the members of Lulzsec/Anon have is they have no life and getting caught means having all their PC and electronics seized, meaning no more internet meaning the end of their life!

  17. William Higinbotham
    Holmes

    Kevin Mitnick was the last martyr

    Sorry - No more sympathy

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