This week, Sony implicated online hacker group Anonymous in the attacks against its networks, stating that a file bearing the mob's motto, "We are legion," was found buried in the PlayStation Network before it went down. Anon, for its part, has confidently retorted that it won't be found responsible.
"If a legitimate and honest investigation into credit card theft is conducted, Anonymous will not be found liable," it stated. "While we are a distributed and decentralized group. Our ‘leadership’ does not condone credit card theft.
"We are concerned with the erosion of privacy and fair use, the spread of corporate feudalism, the abuse of power and the justifications of executives and leaders who believe themselves immune personally and financially for the actions the undertake in the name of corporations and public office."
What happened with the PSN does go against Anonymous' usual MO, especially with the group declaring it would leave PSN alone. The timing, however, would make Anonymous a clear suspect, with its pre-stated war against Sony already publicized. That just makes me think that whoever did hack the PlayStation Network is using Anonymous as a cover. What do you reckon? Is Anon to blame, or is it a wolf in Anon's clothing?
Anonymous denies involvement in Playstation Network credit card theft scandal [VentureBeat]
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
8:20 AM on 05.05.2011 | 
hyuk hyuk
...that Anon have given out access or information which has allowed this information theft to occur.
Be it intentional or not.
Sure, maybe they're not 100% intentionally liable, but I don't doubt their little stunt had some kind of impact on how or why the ID theft happened.
Then maybe we should blame Sony, too. If they didn't strip out OtherOS, there wouldn't be so much hacking on the PS3. And if Sony actually maintained more control over their network, like Microsoft does with Xbox Live, you wouldn't have half the hackers on PSN.
No but seriously, even if they didn't do it as a collective they themselves said that someone inside anon could have done it but was acting alone and wasn't representing them in any way.
I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just a cat.
what constitues anon or not anon
I mean they are a group of hackers that are not really connected, so its highly probable some one can still do it in the name of anon but not be doing what anon wants.
The government wants more power to take people's freedoms.
Obviously both groups are working together to hack their own systems and blame a terrorist group who isn't responsible Al-quaeda...errrr, I mean Anonymous
Sure you might have these so called leaders claiming that it wasnt them,but its not like they somehow know every single person who claims to be a part of anonymous,theyr simply the ones who can speak a bit louder than everyone else who goes by the handle of anonymous.
Everything about the hacking seems to be more a case of,LOOK WHAT WE CAN DO!WER IN YOUR SERVERS STEALIN UR DATAZ!But for the most part,none of this information that has been taken has been made public (at least not to my knowledge anyway) which leads me to belive it was a case of showing off that they COULD do this.
This seems way too damn convenient.
This is not the case. It's rather, many individuals being provided tools to DDOS and very, very few have any kind of "hacking" ability.
If you want to call them a mob (that's really silly) you can go ahead and do that, it's a lot more accurate than to say that they're ORGANIZED INERNETS TERRIRTZ!
I don't know. Let's arrest them all and have a trial to find out for sure.
You can't stop hacking. It's going to happen, whether you like it or not, as Sony is quickly learning. The only thing you can do is protect yourself from that kind of thing. And sometimes that includes banning modded consoles and the hackers that use them from your network.
If you would, please enlighten me as to how Sony is helping the industry by prosecuting and pissing off the hacker community.
It would literally require me to remove my own brain before I would just take "them" at their word and believe that "they" had nothing to do with it. The idea of even trusting someone who I don't even know their name because they're anonymous, is ridiculous. Not to mention, they already called us all collateral damage. This whole thing is just ridiculous.
I'm not surprised blogs are holding back when it comes to the initial PSN attack Anon took credit for...they don't want to get hacked too.
I feel bad for people who got PS3 for Linux or otherOS...that sucks and maybe something should be done about it...but the overwhelming majority got PS3 to play PS3 games, and it isn't right for millions of decent gamers to be screwed over so a small handfull of people can get revenge for a feature being removed.
I'm not opposed to hackers going after hate groups like Westboro Baptist Church. Nor am I defending the way Sony handled Geohotz. But what Anon done over Sony/Geohotz sets a dangerous precedent for lowering the bar of their aim. Before long they'll be the Judge Judy of the online world, expect more like Judge Dreadd - judge, jury and executioner for every petty squabble that pops up - destroying websites and businesses and inconveniencing millions of consumers of audiences for every little difference of opinion.
When attacking political groups or hate groups, there's not much financial/identity theft possible. But once you start attacking businesses that millions of consumers interact with online...all some opportunistic thief has to do is join Anonymous and let them blow open all the safes.
Sony should die. remember how Sony first sold GhostBusters license to Terminal Reality and then before the game release they sued developer to secure partial exclusive rights for the game and timed exclusivity in europe(yeah they didn't bought those rights they sued the developer just to make it cheaper)? they did it again with Lego Pirates of Caribbean in Spain(and god knows in how many other countries). Sony just banned all other versions of Lego Pirates of Caribbean simply because they are official distributor of Disney movies in Spain(but no games).
1. This is some anonymous (hyuk hyuk) third party trying to pin the blame on Anonymous, or
2. This is someone or a group who identifies as Anonymous who finds themselves suddenly out of favor with the legion.
Which is more likely? Hm. The former is somewhat of a frightening prospect because then sensitive info is in the hands of a real criminal who has the foresight to not only carry out a sophisticated attack but also cover their tracks. Ingenious, really: Anonymous by their very nature cannot defend themselves from accusation. Although it may not line up with the group's MO, individuals representing the group behave differently. (Not everyone agreed with the methods used in their HB Gary op, for example.)
Thus, I hope it is the latter, even though it would be troubling for those who are in Anonymous. It sends the message that the mob (sorry, legion) may turn on you at any moment and without hesitation or remorse.
It also troubles me that it seems to put Anonymous in a position to claim credit if things go well but without responsibility, as they can just cut ties and deny, deny, deny if something threatens the group.
It would be very convenient for Sony if all of this was perpetrated by Anon, at the very least so Sony can point the finger. When millions of users are deprived of a service they've come to depend on, anger arises in it's wake and those users desperately want a person or group to target with that anger. The more time passes without a target, the more willing they are to believe whatever they hear, regardless of plausibility.
I'm certainly not going to go so far as to say Anon is innocent, but Sony doesn't exactly have the best track record when it comes to being forthcoming and truthful with their customers. Let's not forget, part of the reason this whole mess started is because Sony lied about slimline PS3's not being capable of running OtherOS. I'd rather wait until all the forensics are complete.
Now, they are a proper organisation, with aims and objectives, and it looks like it won't be long before they have a leadership. I miss the terrifying, disjointed, unprincipled mass of angry motherfuckers they once were.
If your mother or sister or lover gets raped in a home invasion....is it their fault for not getting reinforced locks, steel bars on the windows, and spending years honing self-defense skills?....Or is it the fault of the rapist? Should we just let the rapist go, then?
I guess to have a more 1:1 analogy, let's say you're the Man who's societally-defined role is to protect the people in your house...but you didn't get steel bars on the window and weren't home to fend off the rapist...or maybe the rapist shoots you dead first....are you the one responsible then? Not the rapist, but you?
Beyond that, I'm not sure what their motive would be in seeking the wrong target, especially one who's been largely toothless in the past (as I doubt Sony's afraid of DDoS) and difficult to pin down. Anonymous largely continues to exist because they prove to be too much work for too little a target.