Cascades: the Anonymous Hack of Hbgary (Part A)
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How We Became Legion: Burke's Identification and Anonymous By
How We Became Legion: Burke's Identification and Anonymous by Débora Cristina Ramos Antunes da Silva A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfilment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in English - Rhetoric and Communication Design Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2013 © Débora Cristina Ramos Antunes da Silva 2013 I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii Abstract This thesis presents a study of how identification, according to Kenneth Burke's theory, can be observed in the media-related practices promoted by the cyber-activist collective Anonymous. Identification is the capacity of community-building through the use of shared interests. Burke affirms that, as human beings are essentially social, identification is the very aim of any human interaction. Cyber-activism deeply relies on this capacity to promote and legitimise its campaigns. In the case of Anonymous, the collective became extremely popular and is now a frequent presence even in street protests, usually organised online, around the world. Here, I argue that this power was possible through the use of identification, which helped attract a large number of individuals to the collective. Anonymous was particularly skilled in its capacity to create an ideology for each campaign, which worked well to set up a perfect enemy who should be fought against by any people, despite their demographic or social status. Other forms of identification were also present and important. -
List of Targets of Arrested Computer Hackers 6 March 2012
List of targets of arrested computer hackers 6 March 2012 The five computer hackers charged in New York Tribune and Los Angeles Times, using on Tuesday and a sixth who pleaded guilty are misappropriated login credentials. accused of involvement in some of the most notorious hacking incidents of the past 18 months. -- February 2011: A cyberattack on private computer security firm HBGary that involved the The following are some of the cyberattacks in theft of 60,000 emails from HBGary employees and which the two Britons, two Irishmen and two the HBGary chief executive, as well as defacing his Americans allegedly played a role as members of Twitter account. Anonymous, Lulz Security or associated groups: -- April-May 2011: A cyberattack on a Fox -- December 2010: Operation Payback. Distributed Broadcasting Company website that involved the denial of service (DDoS) attacks by members of theft of names, dates of birth, telephone numbers, Anonymous on the websites of MasterCard, email and residential addresses for more than PayPal and Visa in retaliation for their refusal to 70,000 potential contestants on the Fox television accept donations for WikiLeaks. In a DDoS attack, show the "X-Factor." a website is bombarded with traffic, slowing it down or knocking it offline completely. -- May 2011: A cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment that revealed the passwords, email -- January 2011: Defacing a website of the Irish addresses, home addresses and dates of birth of political party Fine Gael after accessing computer 100,000 users of the www.sonypictures.com servers in Arizona used to maintain the website, website and a subsequent online attack against www.finegael2011.com. -
Easier Said Than Done: Legal Reviews of Cyber Weapons
Easier Said Than Done: Legal Reviews of Cyber Weapons Gary D. Brown* & Andrew O. Metcalf** INTRODUCTION On June 1, 2012, author and New York Times reporter David Sanger created a sensation within the cyber-law community. Just over a year previously, Vanity Fair, among other media outlets, reported that a malware package of unprec- edented complexity had effectively targeted the Iranian nuclear research pro- gram.1 The malware, which came to be known as Stuxnet, was also discovered on many computer systems outside Iran, but it did not appear to do any damage to these other systems. Just as the discussions spurred by the discovery of Stuxnet had begun to die down, the New York Times published an interview with Mr. Sanger to discuss his newest book, in which he alleged that the Stuxnet malware had been part of a U.S. planned and led covert cyber operation. The assertion that a nation state had used a “cyber attack” in support of its national objectives reinvigorated the attention of cyber-law commentators, both in and out of government. What makes Stuxnet interesting as a point of discussion is that the basic functioning of the software is easy to understand and easy to categorize. A piece of software was deliberately inserted into the target systems, and physical damage was the result. However, resulting physical damage is not characteristic of most cyber operations, and the legal analysis of Stuxnet is of limited utility when examining a broad range of cyber activities.2 A distinct lack of physical effects is much more characteristic of cyber operations, and the absence of physical effects has continued to complicate the legal analysis of cyber in the context of military operations. -
A PRACTICAL METHOD of IDENTIFYING CYBERATTACKS February 2018 INDEX
In Collaboration With A PRACTICAL METHOD OF IDENTIFYING CYBERATTACKS February 2018 INDEX TOPICS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 OVERVIEW 5 THE RESPONSES TO A GROWING THREAT 7 DIFFERENT TYPES OF PERPETRATORS 10 THE SCOURGE OF CYBERCRIME 11 THE EVOLUTION OF CYBERWARFARE 12 CYBERACTIVISM: ACTIVE AS EVER 13 THE ATTRIBUTION PROBLEM 14 TRACKING THE ORIGINS OF CYBERATTACKS 17 CONCLUSION 20 APPENDIX: TIMELINE OF CYBERSECURITY 21 INCIDENTS 2 A Practical Method of Identifying Cyberattacks EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW SUMMARY The frequency and scope of cyberattacks Cyberattacks carried out by a range of entities are continue to grow, and yet despite the seriousness a growing threat to the security of governments of the problem, it remains extremely difficult to and their citizens. There are three main sources differentiate between the various sources of an of attacks; activists, criminals and governments, attack. This paper aims to shed light on the main and - based on the evidence - it is sometimes types of cyberattacks and provides examples hard to differentiate them. Indeed, they may of each. In particular, a high level framework sometimes work together when their interests for investigation is presented, aimed at helping are aligned. The increasing frequency and severity analysts in gaining a better understanding of the of the attacks makes it more important than ever origins of threats, the motive of the attacker, the to understand the source. Knowing who planned technical origin of the attack, the information an attack might make it easier to capture the contained in the coding of the malware and culprits or frame an appropriate response. the attacker’s modus operandi. -
Analysis of Human Factors in Cyber Security: a Case Study of Anonymous Attack on Hbgary
Analysis of Human Factors in Cyber Security: A Case Study of Anonymous Attack on Hbgary Benjamin Aruwa Gyunka Directorate of Information and Communication Technology National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Abuja, Nigeria [email protected] Abikoye Oluwakemi Christiana Department of Computer Science University of Ilorin Ilorin, Nigeria [email protected] ABSTRACT awareness programmes for workforces and the Purpose: This paper critically analyses the implementations and maintenance of basic human factors or behaviours as major threats to security culture and policies as a panacea for cyber security. Focus is placed on the usual roles social engineering cyber attacks against played by both the attackers and defenders (the individuals and organizations. targets of the attacker) in cyber threats’ Originality: Lots of work has been done and pervasiveness and the potential impacts of such many still on-going in the field of social actions on critical security infrastructures. engineering attacks and human factors, but this Design/Methodology/Approach: To enable an study is the first to adopt an approach of a effective and practical analysis, the Anonymous practical case study to critically analyze the attack against HBGary Federal (A security firm effects of human factors on cyber security. in the United State of America) was taken as a Keywords: The Anonymous; HBGary Federal; case study to reveal the huge damaging impacts Uniform Resource Location (URL); Content of human errors and attitudes against the security Management System (CMS); SQL Injection; of organizations and individuals. Cross-site Scripting (XXS); Social Engineering; Findings: The findings revealed that the Cyber Security; Information Security powerful security firm was compromised and Paper Type: Research Paper overtaken through simple SQL injection techniques and a very crafty social engineering attack which succeeded because of sheer 1 Introduction personnel negligence and unwitting utterances. -
Darpa Starts Sleuthing out Disloyal Troops
UNCLASSIFIED (U) FBI Tampa Division CI Strategic Partnership Newsletter JANUARY 2012 (U) Administrative Note: This product reflects the views of the FBI- Tampa Division and has not been vetted by FBI Headquarters. (U) Handling notice: Although UNCLASSIFIED, this information is property of the FBI and may be distributed only to members of organizations receiving this bulletin, or to cleared defense contractors. Precautions should be taken to ensure this information is stored and/or destroyed in a manner that precludes unauthorized access. 10 JAN 2012 (U) The FBI Tampa Division Counterintelligence Strategic Partnership Newsletter provides a summary of previously reported US government press releases, publications, and news articles from wire services and news organizations relating to counterintelligence, cyber and terrorism threats. The information in this bulletin represents the views and opinions of the cited sources for each article, and the analyst comment is intended only to highlight items of interest to organizations in Florida. This bulletin is provided solely to inform our Domain partners of news items of interest, and does not represent FBI information. In the JANUARY 2012 Issue: Article Title Page NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT NEWS FROM GOVERNMENT AGENCIES: American Jihadist Terrorism: Combating a Complex Threat p. 2 Authorities Uncover Increasing Number of United States-Based Terror Plots p. 3 Chinese Counterfeit COTS Create Chaos For The DoD p. 4 DHS Releases Cyber Strategy Framework p. 6 COUNTERINTELLIGENCE/ECONOMIC ESPIONAGE THREAT ITEMS FROM THE PRESS: United States Homes In on China Spying p. 6 Opinion: China‟s Spies Are Catching Up p. 8 Canadian Politician‟s Chinese Crush Likely „Sexpionage,‟ Former Spies Say p. -
Ethical Hacking
Ethical Hacking Alana Maurushat University of Ottawa Press ETHICAL HACKING ETHICAL HACKING Alana Maurushat University of Ottawa Press 2019 The University of Ottawa Press (UOP) is proud to be the oldest of the francophone university presses in Canada and the only bilingual university publisher in North America. Since 1936, UOP has been “enriching intellectual and cultural discourse” by producing peer-reviewed and award-winning books in the humanities and social sciences, in French or in English. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Title: Ethical hacking / Alana Maurushat. Names: Maurushat, Alana, author. Description: Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190087447 | Canadiana (ebook) 2019008748X | ISBN 9780776627915 (softcover) | ISBN 9780776627922 (PDF) | ISBN 9780776627939 (EPUB) | ISBN 9780776627946 (Kindle) Subjects: LCSH: Hacking—Moral and ethical aspects—Case studies. | LCGFT: Case studies. Classification: LCC HV6773 .M38 2019 | DDC 364.16/8—dc23 Legal Deposit: First Quarter 2019 Library and Archives Canada © Alana Maurushat, 2019, under Creative Commons License Attribution— NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Printed and bound in Canada by Gauvin Press Copy editing Robbie McCaw Proofreading Robert Ferguson Typesetting CS Cover design Édiscript enr. and Elizabeth Schwaiger Cover image Fragmented Memory by Phillip David Stearns, n.d., Personal Data, Software, Jacquard Woven Cotton. Image © Phillip David Stearns, reproduced with kind permission from the artist. The University of Ottawa Press gratefully acknowledges the support extended to its publishing list by Canadian Heritage through the Canada Book Fund, by the Canada Council for the Arts, by the Ontario Arts Council, by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program, and by the University of Ottawa. -
The Management and Insurance of Cyber
CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................... 5 LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................................... 5 ANNEXURES ........................................................................................................................................... 5 DEFINTIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 6 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................ 16 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 17 2. Emerging cyber exposures ....................................................................................................... 19 2.1 Cyber-crime ..................................................................................................................... 20 2.1.1 Business Disruption and Misuse .................................................................................. 20 2.1.2 Online scams ................................................................................................................ 23 2.1.3 Theft and Fraud .......................................................................................................... -
American Behavioral Scientist
American Behavioral Scientist http://abs.sagepub.com/ ''LOIC Will Tear Us Apart'': The Impact of Tool Design and Media Portrayals in the Success of Activist DDOS Attacks Molly Sauter American Behavioral Scientist published online 15 March 2013 DOI: 10.1177/0002764213479370 The online version of this article can be found at: http://abs.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/03/15/0002764213479370 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com Additional services and information for American Behavioral Scientist can be found at: Email Alerts: http://abs.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://abs.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav >> OnlineFirst Version of Record - Mar 15, 2013 What is This? Downloaded from abs.sagepub.com at MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH on March 17, 2013 ABSXXX10.1177/0002764213479370American Behavioral ScientistSauter 479370research-article2013 Article American Behavioral Scientist XX(X) 1 –25 “LOIC Will Tear Us Apart”: © 2013 SAGE Publications Reprints and permissions: The Impact of Tool Design sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0002764213479370 and Media Portrayals in the abs.sagepub.com Success of Activist DDOS Attacks Molly Sauter1 Abstract This article explores the role of tool design and media coverage in the relative success of Operation Payback and earlier activist distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) actions. Through a close reading of changes in the tool’s interface and functionality across several iterations, the article considers the evolution of the Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) DDOS tool, from one that appealed to a small, inwardly focused community to one that engaged with a larger population. -
The Masked Avengers: How Anonymous Incited Online
A REPORTER AT LARGE | SEPTEMBER 8, 2014 ISSUE The Masked Avengers How Anonymous incited online vigilantism from Tunisia to Ferguson. BY DAVID KUSHNER Anyone can join Anonymous simply by claiming affiliation. An anthropologist says that participants “remain subordinate to a focus on the epic win—and, especially, the lulz.” n the mid-nineteen-seventies, when Christopher Doyon was a child in rural Maine, he spent Ihours chatting with strangers on CB radio. His handle was Big Red, for his hair. Transmitters lined the walls of his bedroom, and he persuaded his father to attach two directional antennas to the roof of their house. CB radio was associated primarily with truck drivers, but Doyon and others used it to form the sort of virtual community that later appeared on the Internet, with self- selected nicknames, inside jokes, and an earnest desire to effect change. Doyon’s mother died when he was a child, and he and his younger sister were reared by their father, who they both say was physically abusive. Doyon found solace, and a sense of purpose, in the CB-radio community. He and his friends took turns monitoring the local emergency channel. One friend’s father bought a bubble light and affixed it to the roof of his car; when the boys heard a distress call from a stranded motorist, he’d drive them to the side of the highway. There wasn’t much they could do beyond offering to call 911, but the adventure made them feel heroic. Small and wiry, with a thick New England accent, Doyon was fascinated by “Star Trek” and Isaac Asimov novels. -
ABSTRACT the Rhetorical Construction of Hacktivism
ABSTRACT The Rhetorical Construction of Hacktivism: Analyzing the Anonymous Care Package Heather Suzanne Woods, M.A. Thesis Chairperson: Leslie A. Hahner, Ph.D. This thesis uncovers the ways in which Anonymous, a non-hierarchical, decentralized online collective, maintains and alters the notion of hacktivism to recruit new participants and alter public perception. I employ a critical rhetorical lens to an Anonymous-produced and –disseminated artifact, the Anonymous Care Package, a collection of digital how-to files. After situating Anonymous within the broader narrative of hacking and activism, this thesis demonstrates how the Care Package can be used to constitute a hacktivist identity. Further, by extending hacktivism from its purely technological roots to a larger audience, the Anonymous Care Package lowers the barrier for participation and invites action on behalf of would-be members. Together, the contents of the Care Package help constitute an identity for Anonymous hacktivists who are then encouraged to take action as cyberactivists. The Rhetorical Construction of Hacktivism: Analyzing the Anonymous Care Package by Heather Suzanne Woods, B.A. A Thesis Approved by the Department of Communication David W. Schlueter, Ph.D., Chairperson Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Approved by the Thesis Committee Leslie A. Hahner, Ph.D., Chairperson Martin J. Medhurst, Ph.D. James M. SoRelle, Ph.D. Accepted by the Graduate School May 2013 J. Larry Lyon, Ph.D., Dean Page bearing signatures is kept on file in the Graduate School Copyright © 2013 by Heather Suzanne Woods All rights reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ -
Seven Things Malware Authors, Botnet Controllers and Security Companies Don’T Want You to Know
Seven Things Malware Authors, Botnet Controllers and Security Companies Don’t Want You to Know October 2009 White Paper By Rich Cummings, CTO HBGary, Inc. Table of Contents #1 Cybercrime Is Big Business… .................................................................................................................... 3 #2 Information Is Easy To Steal Online ......................................................................................................... 4 #3 Cybercriminals Have An Advantage ......................................................................................................... 5 #4 Networks Are Vulnerable ......................................................................................................................... 6 #5 Modern Malware Bypasses Multiple Security Layers .............................................................................. 7 #6 Malware Removal Is Not Always Possible.............................................................................................. 10 #7 Malware Is Costly To Business ............................................................................................................... 10 New Approach – HBGary Digital DNA – “A better way to detect malware” .............................................. 11 Obtaining Actionable Intelligence – Improving Security Policy .................................................................. 12 New Approach - Responder Pro- The Ultimate Tool for Incident Detection and Malware Analysis .......... 15 HBGary Digital DNA