Thread: Anonymous

Anonymous threatens violent Mexican drug ring

Published: 4 November, 2011, 00:57
Edited: 4 November, 2011, 01:50

Hackers with the online collective Anonymous say that they will press on with a war against their latest target despite threats of certain death. Anonymous says they are about to battle it out with the notorious Mexican drug cartel the Zetas.
[at]Citing an abduction of a fellow hacker as the motivation for their upcoming assault, Anonymous members say that they will release thousands of names connected with the Zetas drug cartel if their comrade is not released by Saturday, November 5. According to Anonymous hackers, they’ve illegally obtained around 25,000 emails from the Mexican government which they will leak online to out people affiliated with the Zetas through a mission they are calling OpCartel. They say that the roster they’ve managed to put together by combing through the governmental emails identify at least 75 individuals affiliated with the Zetas.

Anonymous officials say police officers and other authorities are all connected to the violent drug ring. Given the notoriety of the Zetas and the seriousness of the ordeal, leading hackers with the collective say that only veteran “Anons” should participate in the online onslaught.

Unofficial Anonymous spokesperson Barret Brown of Texas has posted a video to YouTube in which he warns rookie hackers to sit out this sting, but despite acknowledging the possibilities of an attack on the Zetas, he says he isn’t scared.

"I mean, it's a drug cartel, they're violent people," says Brown. "But they're not going to come streaming up the street in downtown Dallas and kill me."

Others say that that might exactly be the case.

Stratfor, an internationally renowned security company, tells The Guardian that the Zetas have already hired experts in an attempt to hunt down the Anonymous users responsible for the rally. According to Stratfor, this could mean “abduction, injury and death" for any hackers that are caught.
Earlier this week disemboweled bodies were founding hanging from a bridge near the border city of Nuevo Laredo, where the corpses were accompanied with signage warning social network users to keep "funny things" off the Internet. Both of the deceased were young bloggers who wrote about the drug ring.

Earlier this week, however, Brown warned the Zetas via his Twitter account that he was serious himself. “Give us back our Anonymous participant or many of you die within a week,” he tweeted.

Another Twitter user aligned with Anonymous using the handle [at]Sm0k34n0n also called participating in the leak as a risky maneuver and warned new members to not partake. He added, however, that trying to stop the movement from happening would mean equivocate to pledging allegiance to the Zetas.

Brown adds that this attack won’t necessarily take down the Zetas, but it will pose a problem for the drug lords. He did say, however, that it could open the door for further Anonymous assaults in the future.

"Fundamentally, there's no way to stop the Zetas or any other cartel other than legalizing drugs, which is something that's more of a long-term ambitious effort that Anonymous could potentially pursue,” Brown says in his YouTube video.

In the meantime, however, Anonymous officials have confirmed that they do plan to go ahead with their attack on the Zetas, regardless of whether some hackers say it isn’t the best move for the collective to make. Many Anons have already retreated and given up on the cause and no hackers have yet to provide concrete proof that they have in fact obtained the 25,000 emails they say they have in their possession.

"Are we afraid? Clearly so. Do we fear for our lives? Obviously. Notwithstanding that, we think it is time to say 'enough,'" reads a statement posted by the group on the Anonymous IberoAmerica website. "We will go ahead with the operation, because people have asked us to."

Brown has appeared on YouTube unmasked speaking to the Zetas and Anons and shows no sign of backing down, even with his identity out in the open for a Zetas-ordered hit. When asked why he showed his face, Brown responded "because I was asked to do so by several Mexicans who are risking their lives for this, too."


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Anonymous will attack Fox News on the 5th of November in support of the OWS protestors.

The rogue hacker group known as Anonymous posted a video on YouTube threatening to attack the Fox News website on Nov. 5 over the network's coverage of the Occupy protests.

Fox has been "alienating the American people by propagating the left-right false-dichotomy," an electronic voiceover in the Anonymous video says, "promoting fear by exaggerating the threat of terrorist attacks, supporting the corporate astro-turfed Tea party and trying to pass it off as a grass roots movement, using derogatory language to describe the popular, real grass-roots Occupy movement, and covering up corporate corruption by forcing your employees to lie on the air."
"By participating in an orchestrated attempt to misinform the general public you have chosen your side," the statement continues. "You claim to be fair and balanced, yet you have gone to court to protect your right to lie to the people. You have sacrificed your journalistic integrity to the dollar;
unfortunately for you the dollar can not stop an idea whose time has come."

The group encourages those wishing to participate in the attack to post a link to this video to "any and all" Fox News Facebook pages and websites.
"You have been poisoning the minds of Americans far too long," the threat concludes. "We have been watching; we know your secrets. Americans are waking up to your treachery. Fox News will be made an example to all corporate media. You cannot hide from us. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. November 5th. Expect us!"

When contacted by Yahoo! News, Fox News said that "keeping security is top of mind, so this day is no different."

It's not the first time Fox has had to deal with hack attacks. In a July 4 stunt earlier this year, the Script Kiddies--an offshoot of the hacker groups Anonymous and LulzSec--commandeered the Fox News Twitter account to report that President Barack Obama had been assassinated. At the time, Fox said it was cooperating with the Secret Service in an investigation of the incident.

NBC News' Twitter feed was the victim of a similar stunt the weekend before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The same day, Talking Points Memo was the victim of a separate, massive server attack on Friday in apparent retaliation for posting the mugshots of 14 people alleged to be members of the Anonymous group. In those attacks, the FBI was called in to investigate.

In August, there were rumors of a planned Anonymous operation against Facebook on Nov. 5. Some speculated it was all a hoax; others that it was merely the work of a rogue offshoot of the hacker collective. It turned out to be a misunderstanding.

But, as CNET notes, the Nov. 5 date has some significance for Anonymous:

The date--November 5--is commonly referred to as Guy Fawkes day in honor of the Brit who tried to blow up parliament in the Gunpowder Plot of 1604. Fawkes was immortalized in "V For Vendetta," a 2006 movie about a freedom fighter who uses terrorist tactics against a totalitarian society. A mask from the movie has become a symbol for Anonymous.

You can watch the Anonymous video statement below:

This is AWESOME!

^ My feelings too

^Me three! I just think they may have picked the wrong target with the Zetas...it's already well known to authorities who is involved in that, not nice people. Not nice people with a lot of cash and influence that could easily afford to pay people to counter hack Anonymous and find them.

Fair play on the paedo front but big difference between a few dirty paedos in their bedrooms and murderous Mexican drug lords. Dangerous stuff.

I've always had a soft spot for these guys because of there protests against dangerous scientology nutters.