Operation Payback | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

A U.S. Grand jury indicted and accused 13 members of the hacking group Anonymous for allegedly participating in the cyber attacks against a number of websites as an  anti-copyright campaign called " Operation Payback " Hackers took down the sites by inflicting a denial of service, or DDoS, attack , including those belonging to the Recording Industry Association of America, Visa and MasterCard. The attacks were in retaliation for the shutdown of " The Pirate Bay ," a Sweden-based file-sharing website used to illegally download copyrighted material. The DDoS Campaign was later extended to Bank of America and credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard after they refused to process payments for WikiLeaks . According to the indictment, the suspects are charged with conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to protected computers. Suspects downloaded and used software known as Low Orbit Ion Cannon , or LOIC, to launch distributed denial-of...

Dutch media report   Skype has Illegally (without court order) distributed a 16 years old user's personal information including user name, real name, email addresses and the home address used for payment to a private company consistently a police investigation into Anonymous-sanctioned cyber attacks on PayPal.  In 2011 most of the online payment solution companies blocked donations to WikiLeaks, in relation to this Anonymous Hacker DDOS paypal and Mastercard. During investigation of attack an IT firm reach skype for the information of their use and Skype  handed over the personal information of a 16-year-old  Illegally to them. Dutch media report that Police operating the case as 'Operation Talang' which is actually focussed on two persons. Joep Gommers, senior director of global research at the Dutch IT security firm iSIGHT Partners, was hired by PayPal to investigate the attacks. They are Alleged to...

On December 10, 2010, Anonymous released a press statement to clarify its identity and objectives. Who is Anonymous? Anonymous, often misunderstood, is not a conventional group. Instead, it is an internet gathering without formal structure. Both Anonymous and the media acknowledge the perceived internal disagreements within the group. However, this does not imply a failure in their command structure. The decentralized nature of Anonymous is based on shared ideas rather than hierarchical directives. Unique in its form, Anonymous learns through trial and error. The collective is now working on better communication of core values to its members. They also aim to inform the public and media about their identity and principles. Contrary to popular belief, Anonymous is not a group of hackers. Members are average internet citizens driven by frustration over daily injustices. They do not seek to steal personal information or credit card details, nor do they intend to attack critical infras...

Do you support WikiLeaks? Are you angry at critics trying to suppress it? Maybe you're considering joining online protests to shut down the websites of its opponents. Don't. A group of vigilantes named Anonymous has turned their Operation Payback campaign, previously targeting antipiracy organizations, on PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Senator Joe Lieberman, Sarah Palin, and others who have criticized WikiLeaks or stopped doing business with the document-sharing project. The fallout from WikiLeaks has reached a fever pitch since the site began releasing diplomatic cables last month, causing embarrassment for U.S. diplomatic efforts. Launching denial-of-service (DOS) attacks against target websites to send a message and disrupt their operations is the modern-day equivalent of walking the picket line with a sign. However, the electronic version is illegal. "Participating in a botnet with the intention of shutting down a website violates the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act," ...

Hackers rushed to defend WikiLeaks on Wednesday, launching attacks on MasterCard, Visa, Swedish prosecutors, a Swiss bank, and others who acted against the site and its jailed founder, Julian Assange. Internet "hacktivists" under the banner "Operation Payback" claimed responsibility in a Twitter message for causing severe technological problems on MasterCard's website. MasterCard had recently severed ties with WikiLeaks. Although MasterCard acknowledged a disruption in its Secure Code system for verifying online payments, spokesman James Issokson assured that consumers could still use their credit cards securely. Later on Wednesday, Visa's website also became inaccessible. These online attacks are part of a broader wave of support for WikiLeaks sweeping the Internet. Twitter was flooded with messages of solidarity for the group, while its Facebook page reached 1 million fans. However, late Wednesday, Operation Payback itself faced difficulties as many of i...