Showing posts with label Hacktivist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hacktivist. Show all posts

Friday, January 20, 2012

What is LOIC and how does it work


With the Feds shutting down popular locker storage site Megaupload, hacktivist group Anonymous quickly sprung into action to take revenge. They targeted the FBI and Department of Justice websites including Universal music, Warner music and other popular websites. Once they targeted these websites with DDoS attacks. A DDos (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks works on the logic that if enough number of hits go to a popular website it will shut down under its own weight. So when a DDoS attack is on, a particular websites will get so many hits that it begins to crumble becoming slow and unresponsive. 

What is loic and how does it work



To do this Anonymous uses a popular javascript based program developed by 4chan affiliated hackers called LOIC ( Low Orbit Ion Cannon). Group members used this program as well as directing other internet users who support their cause to download and use the program. So once downloaded on a users computer the program will keep sending requests to a particular website and when thousands of people do this all at once. That website can go down.


LOIC is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. The Windows version of LOIC has something know as a Hivemind. How this works is that once it's downloaded lets you point your copy at an internet relay chat server and once that is done, you can allow someone else to pint your attack to a particular URL, IP or website address. So one mastermind can collectively control thousands of computers. Ensure that all the attacks are being directed at a single website.


Another way Anonymous has been tricking users into targeting website servers is by distributing links via Twitter, Tumblr, pastebin and other popular social sites. Once you click on the link you are automatically part of the program to target websites.  (Here's a link to the Twitter search, just don't click the PasteHTML link. Source)


Will you be prosecuted if you download and use LOIC?
It is unlikely as investigators would conclude that all the computers that were used during the attack might have been part of a compromised botnet. cnet covered this aspect is more detail and you can read more here. Gizmodo says that there is little risk to the user because the attack knocks out servers and the log files do not actually log anything. Plus there is no proof that you computer was not a part of a compromised botnet.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

US Gov shatters Megaupload, Anonymous strikes back takes down FBI and DOJ sites


In what is being described as one of the largest attacks by the Hacktivist group collectively know as Anonymous, Their DDoS (Distributed Denial of service) attacks on Government websites and sites related to the Music and Movie industries are being taken down one by one. This comes soon after it was reported that popular file storage site megaupload.com was taken down by the US government and it's top bosses have been arrested. The Justice Department said in a statement said that Kim Dotcom, 37, and three other employees were arrested on  Thursday in New Zealand at the request of U.S. officials. The site and it's owners have been accused of making $175 million while causing a loss of above half a billion dollars in copyright infringement. The site was among the top 20 internet sites and was being used to store large files with the ability for other users to download it. The more downloads the more points an uploaded got, this way a lot of TV material and movies were being distributed. 


Anonymous took it upon itself to protect the internet and launched #opmegaupload and #megaupload on Twitter. Soon afterwards sites associated with the take down were targeted and taken down. 
Sites that have been attacked till now
1. fbi.gov (Still Down)
2. justive.gov (Still Sown)
3. MPAA.org (was down but back up again)
4. Universal Music (Still down and out)
5. Riaa.com (Was down but now is up and about)
6. Warner Music Group (Back up again)


To keep track of sites that are falling down due to the DDoS attacks you can follow the hashtag #Tangodown on Twitter.




An original post by

Sociolatte



Tuesday, August 16, 2011

[Pics] Bart Station protests called by Cyber Hacktivist Anonymous


The protests called by cyber hacktivist group Anonymous on the 15th of August in Los Angles saw the shutdown of 4 Bart stations. Anonymous protesting the killing of a homeless man in recently by a transit officer encouraged protestors to wear blood-stained shirts with 'Don't shoot, I'm unarmed'. They are also protesting the shut down San Francisco’s BART subway system in response to BART disrupting cell phone service to ward off a planned protest last week. These are lessons learned from the London Riots where social media played a big role and BlackBerry has taken a lot of blame because London rioters were using the BlackBerry messaging system which is free to send text messages and SMS's. 4 Bart stations were closed down because of the protests but no arrests were made. The decision to shutdown the stations were more for reasons of safety that anything else. protesters were shouting,  "no justice no peace/disband BART police."

























This was from the 11th of Aug





11th of Aug

















An original post by

Sociolatte