The remarkable ongoing story of Anonymous took an almost unbelievable twist after the group revealed details of a joint FBI and Scotland Yard conference call – which claimed to have Anonymous on the back foot.
In a development which appears to be straight from a Hollywood spy blockbuster, the internet activist collective has left top security forces on both sides of the Atlantic shame-faced.
Scotland Yard and the FBI thought they were closing the net on Anonymous members after the group had conducted many high profile security breaches. However, it seems that the hacktivists were at least one step ahead of the bungling cops the whole time, after it posted a YouTube video with a recording of the conference call.
An email was also released by the hacker group, revealing codes being sent around to security officials to join in on the call.
One Anonymous member said: “The FBI might be curious how we're able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now."
The names of various suspected members of Anonymous were discussed during the meeting, though some were blurred out. The call also covered splinter groups of Anonymous such as LulzSec.
Despite the leak, British police have released a statement claiming that “at this stage no operational risks” have been identified.
Aside from potentially hampering attempts to apprehend suspects, the revelation that the very people that security officials were hunting had become the hunted will be hugely embarrassing for all involved.
At one point, the British police admitted that they had “cocked things up in the past, we know that”.
Security expert at Sophos, Graham Cluley, highlighted the astounding nature of Anonymous’ latest hack: “It is extraordinary - incredibly audacious,” he told TechEye. “It is one thing to DDOS the FBI or SOCA but to actually dial into a conference call between the FBI and Scotland Yard is really rubbing the authorities’ noses in it.
“In fact it is almost the sort of thing you would expect in a movie or a comedy.”
Cluley believes that aside from the sheer cheek of the hack there is certainly a serious side to it, and shows security officials to be bungling and care free.
“They do talk about the current investigations, so that might give suspects a tip off," Cluley said. “Also, it seems that Anonymous didn’t use high tech means to do this, someone’s email account has been hacked.”
The email, Clulely said, might have been forwarded to a personal account which had then been accessed. "Forwarding to a personal account is dangerous," Clulely warns, "and, if this is the case, it is certainly a clear example of how it can go wrong.”
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Republican response to State of the Union = Just try and get a Republican, Tea Bagger or Birther or some inbred, racist deadneck to admit 32% of our current budget is to pay for Bush/Cheney spending our national wealth like a crack Ho with a credit card. HOW could you degenerates forget 2 wars, tax cuts for the rich and Medicare Part iDiot were never paid for? All I hear is more spin, more propaganda, more whinny excuse or blaming the Black guy. Not anymore, it’s ACCOUNTABILITY time.
None too soon because the hypocrites are thick as thieves. Mitch Daniels is talking like a fiscal conservative but I can’t help but remember the reckless economics during his stint as George W. Bush’s budget director… In 2 years he increased the deficit by 200 BILLION and laid the ground work that would add TRILLIONS! (I wonder if any of those dumb@$$ Conservative wackos even KNOW that?)
Gov. Mitch Daniels speaking for all Republicans whined about dividing a nation or the politics of envy and Class Warfare because they were never VICTIMS of the Top 1%, ONLY BENEFICIARIES!
Open your eyes and look at the Bush/Cheney catastrophe… The rich guys spit in American faces, pulled down Americans pants, f***ed Americans in the @$$ for 8 years and stole our wallet before they left in 2008. Any American citizen with half a brain is VERY angry, demanding accountability but Republicans don’t see it that way. They liked the violations so much they want MORE!
I think we need to focus on those in the TOP 1% who made their fortunes on the backs of American workers… with American ingenuity, technology, ideas… using infrastructure paid for by the American taxpayer… And how did they repay us? The silver spoon, trust fund baby m’f***er’s moved all our jobs to Asia, fouled our environment with stuff that would make a bill goat puke and turned our politicians into a stable of high priced prostitutes.
It used to be called bribery, collusion and all those crimes covered by the RICO Act. How come they can get away with a white bred corporate crime wave of epic proportions but our jails are filled by pot smokers? WHY IS THAT? These Wall Street guys ruined our economy with their reckless policies and deregulation, so why aren’t the American PEOPLE standing up to them? WHY AREN’T THE FED’S PROSECUTING?
There’s only a few thousands of them but there’s MILLIONS of us. There’s 48 MILLION of us living below the poverty level. Probably another million+ non-violent offenders ruined by the jail/prison industrial/vendor complex & Convict Lease System. That’s a fight I’ll take… what about YOU?
uh you guys I think the phrase is 'the hunter has become the hunted' not 'the hunted has become the hunted'.
Fail.
The people that security officials were hunting were already the hunted!
"There is a time to laugh and a time not to laugh, and this is not one of them."
"the revelation that the very people that security officials were hunting had become the hunted will be hugely embarrassing for all involved"
is incorrect - the very people that security officials were hunting had themselves become the hunters.
As hoohoo said above, "FAIL!"
I'm in favor of the truth but the price may (will) be terrible. I"m ready, I think.