I don't think of these hackers as heroes.

They are identical to the Tea Party dunderheads as they work to disrupt and interfere with valid government functions like law enforcement. We should treat the Tea Party folks the same as we treat these hackers and round them up for some serious prison time.

Ah, politics being brought into the discussion. Well played, J...WAIT A MINUTE! What in the holy hell are you talking about??

There is plenty of "good" that could be done by these kids.

Jim-3113262

I don't think of these hackers as heroes.

They are identical to the Tea Party dunderheads as they work to disrupt and interfere with valid government functions like law enforcement. We should treat the Tea Party folks the same as we treat these hackers and round them up for some serious prison time.

Here is THE PROBLEM in America today.... bringing politics into this as if you are informed and educated. NOT!

This is the STUPIDEST thing I read on Newsvine today.

Anonymous are nothing more then "stupid" hostile activist hiding behind the internet. If they want REAL change they would not be so anonymous.

they are anonymous for a reason....do you like a prison cell for exposing the truth?

Funny how every time a hacker group goes on a noble crusade against injustice, bank account information gets stolen.

These guys aren't on a noble mission to prevent tyranny, they're common thugs that hide behind masks and computers.

@ proud2bpeaceful

Except they aren't "exposing the truth." They're carrying out attacks on companies/government organizations who have policies they happen to disagree with. They claim to be all about freedom of expression, and then they attack people who go against their opinions.

Yearningtobefree: The IRS knows the names of the Americans who illegally kept their Assets in foreign banks. The IRS did invite those people to pay up (like giving them a tax holiday) so their wouldn't be any penalties involved. Ask the IRS to give out that information. I would like to see who kept their assets overseas so they wouldn't have to pay US taxes.

Only after they locate the leeches that pay NO income tax. Amazing how many get earned income credit because they are baby mamma to several kids with different biological fathers who are not on the scene. No sympathy.

Even the kids?

Stealing credit card info is not 'exposing the truth' or 'protesting' against anything- anybody stupid and gullible enough to believe that needs to pull their head out.

They tried to make themselves appear like the good guys, but they've exposed themselves as being no different than the common thief.

Of course for the kids. That is not a question that should even be asked. Make the supposedly adult ones have some skin in the game, whats wrong with that ?

I wish they'd hit News Corp. and BoA.

they are anonymous for a reason....do you like a prison cell for exposing the truth?

Right, people such as Nelson Mandela would have been much better served had they hid away like cowards in a basement and protested anonymously. Oh, wait...that's right; he actually believed in what he was standing up for enough to put his neck on the line. He wasn't just some spoiled, punk, coward who had to con himself into believing he stood for something, because he actually did stand for something.

Nobody said they used the credit card info for anything. It's just a means to hold people accountable for their corruption. I know for a fact, that there's corruption to be exposed in damn near all our police departments, fire departments and the list goes on, so if the credit card records lead to the arrest and conviction of just one of the corrupt SOB's, it's worth it. Corruption has taken hold of everything in this country, including the military and politics. Why do you think we are in the mess we are in. It's not because everyone is virgin clean. It's bad, very bad! Most of us are tired of it. We had enough! I wanna see some police and politicians rot in jail and have rooms with Bubba, the Skinhead, or whoever might be lonesome for a little companionship.

Sane Central . criminal actions never lead to any good.

I have to wonder what other info they were able to get away with and if its true they actually found alot of corruption.
Either way, the world of today sucks. Mabe one day everyone will value honestly and no underhanded events like hacking will take place. I guess its nice to dream about that sort of thing...

These hackers are nothing but a bunch of common criminals who enjoy putting peoples finances and physical security at risk for their own perverted amusement. Posting the physical addresses of police officers is not protesting anything, it is willfully putting those officer's lives at risk. Posting people's personal financial information it not protesting anything, it is placing their financial well being at risk and committing a felony. It is also enabling identity theft. Posting someone's private e-mails in an attempt to damage their reputation is not protesting anything, it is destroying someone's life through innuendo with information taken out of context. If these hackers feel there is direct evidence that a person did something illegal, turn the information over to the authorities to look into it, do not try and convict them on-line without the benefit of being able to confront their accuser and respond to the charges, which is a cornerstone of our justice system. If those of you out there think these hackers are such heroes, why don't you post your own personal information and e-mail archives on-line and watch what happens.

These hackers need to be tracked down and thrown in prison for a good long time. They are nothing but criminals and belong in prison with the rest of the criminals. They are not heroes, they are felons!!!

Computers WILL be the downfall of America. Our financial system, our security systems, our health systems. And while it happens all of us will sit with our eyes closed to reality.

@backcountry164

This is the digital age, deal with it.

I suppose you think the US Army is a bunch of cowards because they send drones in to attack targets instead of putting their necks on the line also right? Or are you just another socialized hypocrite with double standards who thinks the Gov can't do anything wrong, and if you are against them, you are a terrorist?

@JS in SD

You say turn the info over to the authorities? The authorities are the corrupt ones. You seem to miss the point. In case you didn't hear, a homeless man was recently beat to death in CA by 6 cops as he was begging for help. The authorities are taking care of that, guess who is in jail? Nobody.

Soldiers opened fire on reporters in Iraq. No, not taliban soldiers either, US soldiers, then they unloaded on a van with kids in it, and laughed as a tank drove over bodies. The authorities handled that also, guess what happened?

The US Gov is turning your money into worthless paper, stealing from the poor and giving to the rich. Guess where the money went? Hell, the person in charge of watching that can't account for the 6 trillion that has vanished.

Yes, you keep your faith in the authorities, I'll put mine in the people actually doing something about it.

Well said!

The problem with hacking is that it's used to support an agenda, any agenda. The Anonymous group claims to ride the high horse, fight corruption etc. If that were really true then they wouldn't place children in harms way. Posts that are aimed at the parents often impact the kids in dangerous ways. Also, the sited hacked, pfft. Small town, small time. Petty thievery cloaked under the guise of being noble. Rather like the looters and rioters in an initially peaceful protest.

This is a way to get even, quid pro quo, for arresting some of their little hacker group. I would be more impressed if they really hacked into, say the White House, the Parliament, the NSA, the CIA, and the secret police of several countries and broadcast THAT type of info.

We need Hackers and Anarchist to keep our politicians on their toes.

What I want to know, why are some of you so upset about the hackers, but you don't care that your Congressman and Senator are selling their votes to the highest Corpotate bidder? Why don't you care that your government is for sale. Why don't you care that many will never achieve the American Dream, not from any fault of their own but because the Scoundrels and Thieves in Washington have sold it for their own enrichment?

That is just like saying that we need CRIMINAL to keep the rest of us honest.....

JS in SD said:

These hackers need to be tracked down and thrown in prison for a good long time. They are nothing but criminals and belong in prison with the rest of the criminals. They are not heroes, they are felons!!!

Great idea! I'm sure we have plenty of the best computer people in the world working on it! Surely we should be able to catch a bunch of kids playing games with our countries computer networks? Maybe we haven't been really trying to catch them for the last year or so? Maybe we CAN"T catch them because they ARE smarter than us!!

On second thought, we better ask the Chinese for help in catching them! They're way ahead of us on technology!! MORE AMERICAN JOBS OUTSOURCED! LOL

How much did the tea party include in the budget for catching hackers??

Keith, who says we don't care? You? You know nothing about me or anyone else on this thread. You jump to unfounded conclusions about others to divert attention from the subject of the thread--which is demonstrated criminals. If you want to talk about pols and corporates, start another thread. The same for all of you who want to connect this story to politics and taxes.

Anybody ever think that if we did not have hackers. Who would find the flaws. That China is peeking into everyday. You know we suspect them of hacking our Nations Networks as well.

Not saying they are right hacking is theft and an intrusion like burglary. And if they get caught well they are not that good anyway. I think these folks are watching to much Sci fi . We are not at that point yet where the cyborgs are taking over and Humans must fight the machines.

Uh oh gotta pull the router out of the wall

It's hard to believe that anyone can buy into the whole "we're exposing the truth" bs that these cyber terrorists are spouting, yet here we are. These guys aren't freedom fighters, guys. Their idiots who've watched too many bad hollywood movies and don't have an ounce of empathy between them. They aren't righting any wrongs...they are a group of people trying to make a stupid point about imagined slights who don't care if anyone gets hurt in the process. Sound familiar? That's the modus operandi of your average, run of the mill, terrorist.

We aren't seeing any incriminating emails disseminated to the press to trigger investigations of any criminal activity. What we're getting are stolen credit card information and personal data from thousands of innocent individuals posted on the web to be accessed by any criminal with a laptop. What we're getting are innocent people being put in harms way for no reason other than they were somehow connected to this group's target. What we're getting are websites being defaced and blocked for no other reason than to hurt the owners. How does any of that "expose the truth"? How does that right some imaginary wrong?

These morons even ACT like your stereotypical, "send in the suicide bomber" terrorists. How many times have you heard al quida or the taliban, or hell, any terrorist organization, claim responsibility for an attack and claim it was in retaliation for an attack on one of their own. It's like these nutjobs are all reading from the same script...it's laughable.

Anonymous

"[we hope to] disrupt and sabotage their ability to communicate and terrorize communities."

Kettle, pot...pot, kettle. These guys are a joke.

Sigh...people are so naive.

Listen, it's this simple. YOU HAVE NO PRIVACY. The sort of "privacy" being breached here, is a kind you not only don't have, you've never had.

Anyone with $5 and a reason to do so can LEGALLY gain far more information about an individual than has ever been publicly leaked by a hacking group. The way our modern society works created this reality. You reveal this sort of information to "trusted" sources every single day. But why do you trust those sources? If anonymous revealed your personal information, realize that at least they did reveal it. Russian hackers working for organized crime won't tell you they did.

You can be guaranteed that all of the people exposed by Anonymous, Lulzsec, and Wikileaks have not been financially compromised. Why? Because those reveals were public. Every financial institution with a potential for liability is and was guaranteed to be all over that information like a hobo on a ham sandwich to minimize the financial impact to their organization, and not through some altruistic concern for their clients. This is just the nature of the business.

The reason why you haven't heard any big press stories about the personal tragedies created by these dumps, is because there haven't been any.

There have been, however, quite a few small but significant reveals of corruption, collusion, fraud, waste, and illegal activity by municipal, state, and federal government agencies.

@Scott

You're missing one important thing. Having information that may be accessible to someone who who was motivated to find out and having that information given to you by a third party with no effort on your part are two different beasts.

The people whose info was leaked may have taken enough precautions to make it so that it was more trouble than it was worth to try stealing their identity. Criminals will almost always go for the easy mark, and most of those people may have done just enough to make it not worth the effort. Why should criminal X spend any time trying to exploit loopholes to get at the personal information for Joe from Antigua when they can get info on Jane from Nantucket without breaking a sweat since she doesn't do anything to protect hers. it's not like Joe is a high value target that's worth spending the extra effort for. There are plenty of people out there who don't even both with the most rudimentary of precautions...might as well hit those people.

Enter anon. What their leaks did was paint a bulls eye on the backs of everyone on that list. Someone who may not have been worth the effort before is now a viable target since anonymous did a sizeable chunk of the legwork. Criminal X may have never even HEARD of Joe from Antigua before (they may not even be in the same country), but all of a sudden, anonymous made Joe someone worth looking at.

And your whole "where are the press stories?" argument is...well, it's kind of dumb. For one thing, the fallout for stolen identities can take months/years to become apparent, if they're discovered at all. That's why it's such a lucrative crime...victims don't know their victims until well after the fact. Secondly, actual victims of identity theft aren't all that newsworthy. It isn't something that gets a whole lot of press on slow news days. Considering all that's going on in the news right now, do you really think any reporter will spend the time combing through the list of leaked info and check to see if any of them were victimized again?

Also, your argument about financial institutions being actual gatekeepers has you putting a hell of a lot of faith in them (and you call others naive). We're talking about large entities with large teams of lawyers. I wouldn't be surprised if they found it cheaper to deal with several stolen identities, after the fact, than to spend any effort trying to head it off at the pass by perusing anon's list and cross referencing people on that list with clients. Their lawyers probably know of a lot of ways to insulate their client from any financial liability, since the financial loss wasn't their fault. In those situations, it'll be Joe left holding the bag, just so anon could prove a point.

As for the "reveals of corruption, collusion,...etc.", do you have a link pointing to an investigation? And how much of the "illegal activity by municipal, state, and federal government agencies" was found on Sony's servers?

i wish some of you were as concerned about the politicians you support breaking the law. Or shielding those who break the law but are rich from prosecution. Or changing the laws to to make illegal activities legal. How about Murdock hacking into phone accounts to exploit and profit from peoples tragedies and loss? It'd be nice if your outrage weren't so biased. I'm all for exposing police corruption. There's a lot of it and these guys don't police themselves.

It is nice when you are young- the ideals no matter how misguided they are. What these hackers might not realize is that when the US has had enough- the gloves will come off... and that is when they will get caught and have to pay for what they did.

I imagine when this happens enough and escalates to when our government might have to send out hit squads to deal with these misguided kids.

Until then you kids worry about your own country and keep hacking away at the Europeans- Leave America alone. BUT don't whine when you get caught.

Jim-3113262

I don't think of these hackers as heroes.

They are identical to the Tea Party dunderheads as they work to disrupt and interfere with valid government functions like law enforcement. We should treat the Tea Party folks the same as we treat these hackers and round them up for some serious prison time.

wow, I didn't even get two posts, and some "dunderhead" blamed the Tea Party. round them up for some serious prison time, really Jim? Under what charge? You say they disrupt functions like law enforcement - really? Please show when and where. Give me a single source where they have violated ANY laws. Unlike Liberals when they protest by throwing rocks and overturning vehicles and setting them on fire [Seattle 2011, 1999, WTO protesters - and that's just Seattle]. Oh, and let's not forget all the liberal rallies where they leave garbage all over the place, but not one piece is left at Tea Party rallies. But I guess if it's a liberal organization, that's their "constitutional right" to protest. But when it's the Tea Party, their all terrorists and should be rounded up and get some serious prison time, right Jim?

Dunderheads indeed. watch your glass house there Jim

@TruettCollins

I'm not saying I support these hackers; in truth, I have no opinion one way or the other of them, but I feel like playing the devil's advocate by giving you this food for thought.

There are criminal actions that are, these days, viewed as good. Those Germans who sheltered Jews during the Holocaust were breaking the law. The Boston Tea Party was a criminal act of vandalism. Please try to avoid generalizations.

I regret that I have little else to contribute to this debate.

Yes the Anonymous group is doing good. Telling criminals where police officers live. Telling rapists and murders that the man that arrested them lives with his wife and daughter on this street or that street. Telling the ex-wife of an officer that her husband has a bank account under his name that she did not know about when she took him to the cleaners in the divorce.

Can any one of you show proof that these people have done a bit of good. They have selected companies and organizations to harass based on their own personal bias. This company refuses to work with one of our friends. Shut them down, sounds like the mobsters in the 40's. This group did something that we did not like. We are going to cause them trouble. I repeat it sounds like the mobsters of old. Oh yes, I forget the new breed of hero is criminals. Scarface is enshrined.

Anonymous you want to do some good in the world, get out and hit the people that are actually doing bad things and prove it. Do not just post all the information and start yelling this is for our fallen comrades. You want to hack the police, great, find all the crooked cops and expose them. Don't just grab a few files and throw it all out for the world to see. Aim for the real problems. How many people have been hurt by your activities. You might actually start with an apology to those your fooling around have hurt. Or do you not think its worth your time to take the blame for the damage your causing.

If any of the people you post addresses for gets hurt in any way, your to blame. If you think that your doing good by posting this your wrong. You want to show how good you are find someone worth dealing with and deal with them. In your files did you find any dirty cops. Proof that one cop is living outside his means. How about going after all these politicians in Washington that are burning through our tax dollars like its water and then pointing their fingers at each other and saying its his fault.

Here is a better use for your talents, start an actual group designed to fix the problems with systems. If you can figure out how to break in, then figure out how to prevent it. Sell that information to the company. But I forget your not interested in doing anything other than destroying people's lives.

This is what happens when our elected public servants passed the "Patriot Act" "The Protect America Act" and the "F.I.S.A. Act" If it is legal for law enforcement then the technology is open to the criminals!! Remember the nature of mankind is evil at its roots whether in uniform or out of uniform; with a badge or without a badge! There is legalized criminal behaviors and there are illegal criminals behaviors. "We the people" tax dollars are used to pay for them both!! It is written "there is none good; no not one whether you believe it our not!

Well, I don't know that the long term tax avoidance was a game to anybody... but it was a thing that law enforcement officials and politicians were in on.

...a hundred thousand Americans, they tell me.

But sure...track them down, make their names public. Teach them a lesson, I agree.

Since the government pardoned everybody already, Anonymous is all we got.

You know?

@ Sissyphus:

Hackers may not always be "ethical"- but some people become conversant with hacking as self-defense from an overtly intrusive, ethically bankrupt and completely Orwellian government.

Did you know that some branches of the military run hacking schools all the way up to the postgraduate level- or that the internet protocol in this country- just like China- has been "kept back" to a version that makes it easy for the powers that be to look over your shoulder at everything you do?

Ever hear of a (rather outmoded, at this point) program called "carnivore" used to track the activities of anyone using particular terms on line?

Guys like you live in darkness. You never learn the world because you prefer illusion- and detest anything that disturbs your dreams of security and predictability- when the universe- let alone any government- has never, EVER guaranteed either.

Ah, the uninformed educating us.

All countries use the same TCP/IP protocol. It is the protocol of the Internet. But let's make it sound like some wide spread conspiracy, right?

No one is "holding back" the conversion from IPv4 to IPv6. It takes massive amounts of planning and money, affecting every single one of the thousands and thousands and servers and routers on the Internet.

But, to you, the uneducated, it's just a matter of flipping a switch.

Talk about Orwellian. The BS arguments in Anons favor seem to be the are harmless, clever or fun-loving, or they are performing some great service to humanity. And now what? The arguments fall back on 'well they should be using xxx protocol, or yyy security'. So if someone breaks into my house and commits a crime, it is entirely my fault for not having adequate security? Certainly not the aggressors fault who defiled my own liberites.

Bull! This group is taking it upon themselves to determine who is "guilty" in their eyes. Anon wants to buy a breand new rope, hang the guilty, and hold a fair trial afterwards. In a true democracy, the trial comes first. As well, the persecutors are also held to scrutiny.

That's why some companies- including the one I work for- use both architectures simultaneously, Mike. Trying to make information accessible and comprehensible hardly proves ignorance- though your assumptions prove something worse, and uncorrectable: arrogant stupidity. Quick, Mike: what's the fourth layer in the stack for in IPV6, and how does it differ from the stack in ipv4?

yes, they are taking it upon themselves to go after who they think deserves to be exposed and or punished somehow.. sure beats the minions of folks who sit on ther butts and write messages on blogs about who they think is wrong or guilty or whatever...

how many folks would do something 'nasty' or vindicative to casey anthony if they could... or rod Blagovich or OJ simpson...

how many folks believe our govt is corrupt but either dont know how or arent willing to get involved and or speak out publicly against them?

I applaud anyone who tries to invoke change for the better... they feel justified and vindicated by thier efforts to allow wikileaks to be public info, and are attacking those that persecute assange... while the minions allow their hired guns to do it...

we either have free speech or we dont... and squelching wikileaks is the antithesis of that...

it is FACT that our system is broken, and BROKE.. but yet we have millions to go after someone who has taken it upon himself to publicize illigal and immoral activities and people... while many others would rather have the status quo, which is a false happiness at this point...

iPan,

You are entirely correct. You are something else but I can not say what in polite company. But remember, what goes around, comes around. You can't hide forever and, as always, criminals can not cover all thier tracks.

jumpintoconclusions,

"...sure beats the minions of folks who sit on ther butts and write messages on blogs about who they think is wrong or guilty or whatever..."

Me thinks you have been foisted upon your on petard.

you may think that, but you would be mistaken... i have written to legislative officials and offered suggestions, and stated my opinions and dissatisfaction on this case and many others.

I have also been on committees for local city govts, PTAs and HOAs...

I have tried and now it is my childrens turn to do as they see fit while i read, taunt and lament with all you folks here and now...

Mike? Are you there? Come on, bubba, you could probably find the answer on Wikipedia...

Oh, hell, I'll give it to you: it's the transport layer. Ipv6 uses 128 bit addressing and Ipv4 use 32 bit. There are other differences which might interest you too- such as the built-in security features of Ipv6. Again- not intended as a college level course- just a simple precis- did you follow any of that, Mikey?

Spud = government patsy

Ok, I'm going to skip reading the majority of these since it seems like Anon supporters feuding with moronic nincompoops who feel like they know 100% about what Anon, Lulzsec, AntiSec and all of those are doing (in a terrorist form). You don't. No one, unless you're a member of those groups, can know what they're doing, and why in many cases, also. So, instead of trying to play the role of the internet tough-guy, how about you all just go in and take a nap like most of the other elderly folk do around this time, and we can discuss later about how government and technology are moving much too fast for you to follow over a cup of tea.

Deal?

Why arrest the hackers?

Honestly, if they hack these agencies, taking info about corruption that they might be hiding and expose it, should we want them to do it?

Anon hasn't taken the info like credit cards and ruined lives that way, but I'm pretty sure those people involved in the corruption have ruined so many lives.

Anon is not stealing to make themselves rich, they are stealing to open our eyes.

Zackt25

Anon is not stealing to make themselves rich, they are stealing to open our eyes.

Stealing is stealing... you said it, not me.

No offense, but if it wasn't for hackers, your cyber security probably wouldn't be half as good as it is now. Hacking forces security upgrades when it's shown to be lacking. For alot of hackers, it's about proving to themselves as well as the world that they CAN do it. But of course, there are always those who would cause chaos for the sake of chaos.

If it wasn't for hackers we wouldn't need better security. Kind of a circular argument don't you think?

Zackt25 said:

Anon is not stealing to make themselves rich, they are stealing to open our eyes.

You'd have to be pretty gullible to believe that. Stealing credit card info has one purpose only.

All Anon has done is shown the world that they're no different than common ordinary thieves. Stealing has no connection whatsoever with any form of protest.

Anon is not stealing to make themselves rich, they are stealing to open our eyes

They stole credit card info and personal information, please explain to me how stealing that type of info is opening anyones eyes to corruption?

What corruption have they exposed?

They must be pretty stupid if they think that they can expose corruption by stealing credit card info from random web sites.

You tell 'em, bobo.

FE02 Dreams,

Honestly you sound a little foolish rattling off layer info. It sounds to me like you're studying for your N+ (which is practically worthless when trying to get a job) and just learned the 7 layer OSI model. Not that the person who called you uneducated is any better. How can anyone even pretend to know anything of substance about anyone else on these forums? It makes no sense.

Bingo, gb4657. I have this argument with one of my geeky counterparts at work. He praises the hacking community for exposing vulnerabilities and forcing companies to implement robust security systems. I, on the other hand, think it would save people a lot of hardship and companies a ton of money if folks were simply honest and didn't cause the need for security systems. Obviously that will never happen, but it would be nice.

The only positive thing about hackers and script kiddies is that they create jobs.

Anon isn't attempting too steal credit card information, it just comes down with the package. If they don't use your card to make purchases or ruin you then there no different than the gas station attendant you pass your card too when you fill up (or at todays inflated cost, purchase 10 bucks worth) with gas. To steal information is really not a crime, if your intent is to do nothing with it. I'll make it simpler, when a hospital or legal service obtains your SSN is it stealing? No if they don't create a false identity with it or pass it on to those that could or would. Seeing something doesn't make you guilty of a crime, it's what happens next that can result in criminal activity . So far I've heard nothing about any particular citizen being injured.

Jeffery - Theft of information is a crime when it was done by hacking systems regardless of what you intend to do with it. There was nothing legal about this.

National Security Agency - You can track them down via word of mouth and surveillance. Ever hear the saying "No honor among thieves?" Just because you can't easily track them online doesn't mean they are impossible to find. You are a fool if you believe otherwise.

FE02 is an arrogant A-hole

If Anon got ANY of MY information from those websites I'm gonna sue the web sites!

They all promised NOT to reveal my e-mail addy and now Anon will be adding me to all kinds of spam sites! LOL Being law enforcement and all you would think that they would be able to at least keep a website safe!!

I'm sure they will be prosecuted for not adhering to the terms of service of those sheriff's websites. LMFAO (as soon as we find someone that is smart enough to catch them!) ;-)

How many millions are we gonna spend to catch them? Depends on how close they get to incriminating evidence on the politicians!

Bob about National Security Agency He does have a point. Any laptop with Wifi will do. Even McDonald's has free Wifi. Most cheap laptops cost less than a throwaway phone. And with so many people. Logging onto open wireless that Grandpa has setup. With no security it leaves the Internet wide open. I am not spurring any new ideas its all fairly common now to anyone with a brain.

And the amount of kids or thieves logging on are far to many to track for any Police force or the FBI. We just do not have the Manpower.

I remember hearing alot from the right about some of the citizens in some middle-eastern countries should rise up overthrow their corrupt police and and government. A lot of the BS Bush sold the second half of his war on was how peoples basic human rights were being trampled upon and that they couldn't even criticize their government without fear of persecution. But at home you preach the exact opposite when it suits you. I also remember talk about not criticizing a president during a time of war, I guess unless he's black. Criticizing the president also got you labeled unpatriotic from this same group too. If this were a movie, you would complain about how the characters were so dumb as to make the movie completely implausible. They do say life is stranger than fiction though, and it's so true.

To Jeffrey,

So it is ok if I break into your house and steal your tv, so long as I never watch it...you are ok with that, Right?

Joeyfromcali - I know. I am in the IT industry. My point was - there are other ways to track someone down other than through tracking their online activities. People are too closed-minded.

No offense, but if it wasn't for hackers, your cyber security probably wouldn't be half as good as it is now. Hacking forces security upgrades when it's shown to be lacking.

That's like saying, if it weren't for burglars rapists and car thieves, our home or car security and personal defenses wouldn't be as good as it is.. our locks and barb wire and alarms and martial arts would be weak and defenseless.

Sissyphys, with cops invading our privacy through "National Security Letters" issued to ISPs, I think that what Anonymous has done is wonderful payback. Screw this fascists running this country and policing it.

jefferyf...i just can't WAIT until someone steals your identity and you thinks its ok. Hey...they might not have gotten around to using it yet when you find out...so its not a crime, right? Pull your head out from where the sun don't shine, ok?

Its funny that all the people support these sort of thing till it bites them. Everyone of you that thinks their doing good. Apply this to their actions. What if they did this to me or my family.

Your brother, a police officer, comes home to find his house burned down. Oh well, he deserved it, that is what your saying.

Your sister is married to a cop, you get the call she is dead due to being raped. Oh well, she deserved it for marrying a cop.

Your mother, father, or even you, comes home to a group of thugs with baseball bats waiting on them. Ah well, they deserved it, for being a law enforcement member. The criminals hire a few hackers of their own to alter your accounts. They burn off two to three thousand dollars out of your account because you had the audacity to arrest one of their buddies. Yep, you deserved it, just because your name was on file in one of those law enforcement agencies. How about this you put your name on the dotted like to convict a criminal. That paper suddenly appears on the web. Yep you deserve what you get, because these people want to further their agenda.

I regret to inform you that your life is likely to end, because of this sort of thing. Do they have the right to endanger you or your family to suit their purposes. I think not. If you however think so, then please support them.

Like Jersey has the internet...Please....Those moroons have wife-beaters and hairgrease but nothing cyber-like.

Yet jersey didn't get hacked, so that would make the IQ's of the states that were ?

Hey National- Jersey isn't about that little tart (Snooki) you see on the tube,(Jersey shore or the Real Housewives) We are the nations center for pharmaceuticals, IBM and Johnson and Johnson, Not to mention 100's of other big names on the corridor that call Jersey Home, Jersey contributes 47 cents on every dollar sent to Washington ( in other words we don't get it back in goods or services). Don't know where your from, but I'll bet it's from a state that takes, not one that actually contributes. Our housing cost hasn't plummeted and our school systems have the 2nd highest graduation rate in the country and are in the top 5 for the High School proficiency exam. We actually have jobs here if your looking, Go figure huh?

Or at Princeton? guess your Caltech guys come here to work huh? says a lot about the condition of California's employment situation, But I will agree, you do have LiLo. Old fire crotch could trump about anything? By the way the biggest names in sport live here as well, so I guess there's a reason for it, But your "Dumb" comment says it all and I'm for damn sure your not a student or a graduate of any school you've mentioned. Have fun in the unemployment line jerk weed.

Jersey was hit Carmen-1965629:

Organized cyber thieves took roughly $600,000 from the coastal city of Brigantine, New Jersey this week after stealing the city’s online banking credentials.

This was not Anonymous that did this attack, but New Jersey is no more immune than any other state to attacks like this.

Sammy I know that, I was just replying to the rocket scientist who contends there is something wrong with Jersey. just an arrogant punk spewing BS with no foundation other than the show"Jersey Shore" as a reference. Really an indignant little Bast@rd.though I'll give him that...lol

Jersey is the arm-pit of America.

Aardvark and that would make where you live the place you insert the enema pipe...

You do realize that when these people are caught (actually, it's IF), they will be given high ranking jobs in computer security, right?

The reason these people are able to do this over and over again is because they are that much better at computers than the people running the security. They will never catch even a fraction of these people. It's like expecting a night watchman to catch the master criminals. They're just out of their league

Depends on who catches them madd-dawg. They want to operate outside the law they will be handled with means and methods outside the law.

Vigilante brings death to Anonymous, and what a wonderful world it will be.

@ ReturnToGlory: Why, I have to agree- that's exactly how we should treat tax evaders, corrupt politicians, and any dirty cops assisting them in these endeavors.

You do realize that when these people are caught (actually, it's IF), they will be given high ranking jobs in computer security, right?

You do not get high ranking security jobs using code injection and zombied PC's to ping flood sites offline...

Are you referring to the hacker or the allegedly corrupt police departments?

Hey Spud, you seem to know a lot about vigilantes. Shame you just sit at your computer and talk about things instead of taking action. You have all this butthurt, yet all you do is talk. Because of this, no one gives you any credit on this topic in the real world.

Shame, wishing death on people. What a lovely American.

To Spudnikidaho

You are just so retired. Must be one of the REAL Republican Idahoans that still belive Craig isn't GAY!!!!

Do you know that the rest of the country thinks Idaho is 100 years behind in time? No wonder you are talking Bull@!$%#.

I am ashamed living in Idaho.

The rest of the country does not think Idaho is 100 years behind. The rest of the country doesn't even think about Idaho. The rest of the country knows you sell potatoes and that's about it.

Duh? Which way did he go Ralphie?

Well... you know...there was that list...what was it? 140k Americans who kept anonymous Swiss accounts until 2008 when the list came out?

It's a good thing the Cayman islands were there, or folks would have been really inconvenienced.

The government did a automatic pardon for all criminals involved, if they came forward within a year or so... paid back taxes on however much they had in the account at the time of their surrender...

And there were assurances of... being anonymous.

And I think if Anonymous could get that list for us that we would lose our Cabinet and half our Congress.... if not more.

And that would be a good thing by me.

Your use of the singular term "party" is a glimpse into reality- all bipartisan bickering aside. You probably just made someone's watch list...

Always been there, I think.. I marched in '66. It took me 45 minutes just to get into Canada the other day.

...seems I have a file. Hey, they're paying my good tax money to monitor me, might as well give them my money's worth.

Danged Party anyhow.

Canada, oh, Canada...the wheat belt of the future- just like Siberia. But..hey...global warming is a myth told by libtards to scare their children. I saw it on Faux News!

FeO2-it would be easier to believe in global warming if the earth was warming

I am way more worried about police access than the Hackers access. Actually I am more worried about all those guys in black SUV's that park at the AT&T switch building every day.

It ain't about homeland security boys !!!!!!

Those guys at the At&t switch are tapping into your Iphone and tracking you via GPS. Old laptops do not have GPS like smart phones. LOL

Hey!!! Violent Felons have feelings too....Couldn't we call them "Societies peacefully challenged"?

Seems like everyone gets respect except criminals...Stupid society!

They have to get out of their mums basement first. Way too much time pulling their tiny puds to porn........hacktivists indeed.....bleh

These are white collar crimes. They just get club-fed for a few years.

Doubtful that any of them, IF ever caught, would do time with violent felons.

I guess that depends on whether they are arrested on state or federal charges.

luvenia48,

They (government) committed treason in 1913?! I hope you're not refering to income tax laws. If not, then please clearify your claim of treason.

I think the reference was made to Archduke Ferdinand being assassinated in Europe around 1913. Maybe the references made were meant to shed light on the actions that precluded world war one and the end of the Ottoman Empire.

No, what luvenia48 is referring to regarding 1913 is the U.S. government selling the nation out to the "Federal" Reserve....which there is nothing "federal" about it, it was set up by a group of private bankers and they have been running this country (into the ground) ever since. That IS treason as far as I'm concerned.

luvenia48? seriously? treason?

Also, why wait until 2011 to do something about it? The Teapot Dome scandal was more recent, and possibly more egregious. And there was that nasty business with the Maine, and the Lusitania that started wars without real provocation. And then there was the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, and the supposed Weapons of Mass destruction...

Seriously if you want to make the case for government gone too far, why go all the way back to the Federal Reserve?

@ben the reason it is brought up is simply a matter that those same families are still calling the economic shots in the US and the government is still being run by the super class that pretend to serve the best interest of the US. Thus crimes still left unpunished and the true criminals at large.

Truth is truth no matter how much time passes.

WWIII was already faught...It was the cold war.

Well said, J.

I'll second that, J.

Terrorism, while loathsome and heinous, is a political tactic- requiring an organized structure and leadership.

Anarchy, by definition, has neither. We do have anarchists in this country. We call them the "Tea Party" or the "Libertarians"; both groups want government out of their lives altogether. Therefore: terrorists are generally not anarchists, but have specific changes to the target polity firmly in mind- more like the House Republicans willing to destroy our economy to fix it.

Once again- you lack knowledge, you're confused, but you certainly have a passionate opinion about a topic you can't even begin to grasp.

Idiots flock to long, uneducated monologues. Talk to me guys, when did you put so much faith into the government and yourselves?

J Bartley speaks of, "..,they cloak their activities beneath a coat of righteous defense against imaginary wrongs."

And those that oppose the status quo are never, ever fighting against real wrongs? We know this because the powers that be tell us so, I suppose.

"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason? Why if it prosper, none dare call it treason." - Ovid

Keep on believing these lies your oppressive government feeds you, while they rob from the poor to feed the wealthy, turn your money into worthless paper, and keep taking your liberty away in the name of security, all the while calling anyone who opposes them terrorist.

I like what Jherek said, "those that oppose the status quo are never, ever fighting against the real wrongs? We know this because the powers that be tell us so". It is true, it is called socialization. Some people are so socialized they can't see the wrongs that are right in front of them.

Maybe you should educate yourself, go watch the video of a 95 year old lady forced to remove her soiled diaper to fly home on a plane, or the excessive force used on a man for dancing at the Jefferson memorial, perhaps if your stomach can stand it, the video of a us helilcopter gunning down reporters, and even kids in a van, then laughing as a tank rolls over their bodies. Maybe you will realize why people are finally fighting back.

Those that give up liberty for security deserve neither

-Franklin

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-Adams

Good work Anon, expose all the corruption!

Odnoc....oooooo..."opressive government"...."taking your liberty away"...."some people are so socialized they can't see the wrongs that are right in front of them"

Anyone looking for a big helping of hyperbole needs to look no further.

Got any real rebuttal Kevin or just sneering ad hominem attacks?

And how many people do you know who's information was released or used by us? Exactly. Just another government brainwashed ewe babbling what they are taught to believe. And your right about Osama. Too bad he was a 'leader' with 'followers'. Who's our leader? Hmmmmm....

Well done Anonymous.

what government corruption is being exposed by stealing credit card info from random web sites?

I myself do not believe that they are "trying" to steal credit information. I believe that they are just trying to get as much "INFO" as they can... (kinda like stealing a car out of a dealership and only having 60 seconds to do it). There must be some time limit that they can download information so that their IPs reset or change before they get tracked.

I honestly think that they are trying to point out all the corruption in this world. How many of those people out there know facts and tell authorities or anyone who will listen, and they either get ignored or get slammed behind bars to be "quieted", or suddenly have "fatal accidents" because they know truth. Or that they are being accused of being a "tin-head" or a "conspiracy theorist" or "not drinking enough Kool-Aid"... My thought is this is the only way to "WAKE people up" and see the real truth behind the people trying to make this a NEW WORLD ORDER are these people right here that are doing this very thing!

oh boy, you have really been brainwash by our lovely government. We the people have been raped by these so called laws of the land, but what is so sad is that it only applied to us the people. Now you have corporations, wall street, insurance companies and yes capitol hill robbing us blind and the laws they set up to protect us from such criminal acts is nothing but a big joke on us. So if there is someone smart enough to fight back with what ever tool or tools is needed for real justice, more power to them. And for hurting us as people the banks with their out of control fees, insurance going into the credit report to see if they can charge you more money, counties driving by your addresses and charge more money on your property taxes because they say that your property is worth this amount, knowing damn well you could sell it for that set price. This is to get more tax money. All this mess is just a scam by your local, state and federal governments. So don't worry about hackers releasing personal info, you need to worry about the real theirves.

Poor arguments all. If these miscreants had skills, they wouldn't be using a shotgun when a stiletto would do. By ignoring the collateral damage they are doing they prove that they are terrorists rather than patriots.

Fleur de Lulzz-You don't have to be part of an organized group or have a political agenda to be a terrorist. You only have to have a weapon and a desire to instill fear. Anonymous and Lulzsec qualify.

Odnoc - I'm not giving up my liberty for security, Anonymous is trying to take both away and my government is fighting back. Adams missed one aspect of fear. When the people fear the people there is anarchy.

Time will tell who is right, but I'm betting Anonymous is going down.

@Odnoc

Actually it's:

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

All I'm seeing from the anon supporters are conspiracy theories and hollow justifications without really addressing what these guys are actually doing. How does releasing the private information and credit card info of innocent people serve their supposed cause? It doesn't. All it does is open these people up to getting their identity stolen while the anon idiots sit back and pat themselves on the back for a job well done. If they were releasing emails showing actual criminal activity, then I'd be the first guy in line to pat them in the back. Instead, we get cyber vandalizing of websites and the releasing of mountains of personal data for people who did NOTHING WRONG other than having their information stored at one of Anon's targets. There's no justifying that. It's spiteful and immature and does absolutely nothing for the "cause" these guys purportedly are fighting for.

It's pretty telling that they're more than willing to expose information about anyone and everyone except for themselves. Hypocritical doesn't even begin to describe it.

@CXM-703103

"If they were releasing emails showing actual criminal activity, then I'd be the first guy in line to pat them in the back."

That's exactly what they said they had. Try reading the damn article.

"We are releasing a massive amount of confidential information that is sure to discredit and incriminate police officers across the US", adding that it hoped the leak would "demonstrate the inherently corrupt nature of law enforcement using their own words"

Any and every corrupt officer/official should be exposed and disposed of. Any officer/official that doesn't agree is one of them.

J Bartley said:

Poor arguments all. If these miscreants had skills, they wouldn't be using a shotgun when a stiletto would do. By ignoring the collateral damage they are doing they prove that they are terrorists rather than patriots.

They NEVER said they are patriots of this or any other country!

Fleur de Lulzz-You don't have to be part of an organized group or have a political agenda to be a terrorist. You only have to have a weapon and a desire to instill fear. Anonymous and Lulzsec qualify.

The tea party republicans and democrats are also terrorists then I suppose? Was the president terrorizing the United States when he threatened to not send out ssi checks to people who depend on them to survive?

Odnoc - I'm not giving up my liberty for security, Anonymous is trying to take both away and my government is fighting back. Adams missed one aspect of fear. When the people fear the people there is anarchy.

The Government IS taking away YOUR liberty, it has been happening since 9/11, in the name of security. People are only afraid of other people when one of them is able to harm the other. their fear creates anarchy. Right now, I am afraid of what our congress is doing to this once great country, so that makes our government a bunch of terrorists? Maybe you ARE correct in saying that congress and the president are also using terrorism against us. Maybe our government is really just terrorists trying to disolve this once great nation.

Time will tell who is right, but I'm betting Anonymous is going down.

I'm betting that our government has neither the time or resourses or the knowledge to catch the people behind these attacks! Maybe if our government wasn't so corrupt and have so much they are afraid the rest of the world, they wouldn't have so much to worry about!

Screw you, J Bartley. The police are the terrorists. Cops stalk activists online, which is the primary reason cops do nothing about cyberstalking.

@Vengeance187

Anon say a lot of things that don't amount to a hell of a lot. The fact that you're taking their statement at face value is funny.

Just because they say they're releasing information that shows criminal behavior doesn't necessarily make it so. I liken it to PR spin...they're saying things they hope will make their illegal activities seem justified, but at the end of the day, all they're releasing are random emails and innocent people's personal information.

@Aardvark-2722084

You know you're sounding like you're wearing a tin foil hat right now, right?

Given the number of activist groups out there and the limited amount of resources available to law enforcement, I seriously doubt they have buildings full of people who spend all day cyber stalking anyone who calls themselves an activist. I'm sure the authorities are keeping an eye on the activities of certain activist groups that have done something to make themselves seem like a threat, but most everyone else shouldn't have to worry. It just doesn't make any practical sense. There's a fine line between cautious and paranoid and you probably stepped over it.

@aardvark-2722084 - I don't think so, but thanks for the offer!

@sammy sezso -

"People are only afraid of other people when one of them is able to harm the other."

You don't get it. Anonymous IS able to harm ordinary innocent people. They're doing it every time they STEAL and release the private information of people who did no wrong. Ordinary people are afraid of that and that makes Anonymous followers terrorists and anarchists.

Exposing corruption is an honored tradition in our country. But if you want a valuable comment of the validity of making an ordinary citizen's credit card number public, why don't you ask Daniel Elsberg whether he thinks that's justified. That would be the opinion of someone who truly knows what it's like to fight corruption.

What Anonymous does is no different in principle from what Al-Queda does when they set off a bomb in an Iraqi market and kill or maim people who were just shopping to buy food for their families. Anyone who thinks different is pathetic.

I think you are the one not getting it J Bartley.

Do you have one shred of evidence of ANYONE that has been personally harmed by the attacks of Anonymous? No, because there is none.

Private individuals are not forced to pay for any false charges made to their credit cards. It hurts the banks, they cover it and write it off.

I checked out Daniel Elsberg, and he agrees with Anonymous! (not really but...) Then he told me about he back In late 1969—with the assistance of his former RAND Corporation colleague Anthony Russo and the staff of Senator Edward Kennedy—Ellsberg secretly made several sets of photocopies of the classified documents to which he had access; these later became known as the Pentagon Papers. As an editor of the New York Times was to write much later, these documents "demonstrated, among other things, that the Johnson Administration had systematically lied, not only to the public but also to Congress, about a subject of transcendent national interest and significance". They revealed that the government had knowledge, early on, that the war could most likely not be won, and that continuing the war would lead to many times more casualties than was ever admitted publicly. Further, the papers showed the government had lied to Congress and the public.

Of course ALL of our government officials have nothing to hide, so I'm sure Anonymous can't get any dirt on them.

If all of this "Information" is so important, what is it on the internet for? There is and NEVER was any expected privacy by any intelligent person using the internet. Sending an e-mail is just like sending a post card, you never know who will read it! EVERYONE knows this.

Private information is being collected and mined constantly on the Internet. Companies know where you went and what you bought on the Internet. This information is mined and compiled daily AND THEN IT IS SOLD TO ADVERTISERS WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION! They spend thousands of dollars to find out anything about their customers and their habits. So your argument that their information is being made public is not true. It is public already and is now a commodity that anyone can purchase. THAT is all legal!!

No you don't get it....every time they by-pass a security system, every time they hack a password they are just like the person picking a lock or breaking into a house to steal things.....THEY ARE CRIMINALS PERIOD.

Password hacks and getting by security is child's play TruettCollins.

The Internet is not a secure place for anything. Get used to it. The Internet was never designed to be secure and cannot be made to be secure EVER! That is a fact.

That being said, There are lots worse crimes being committed every minute of every day, all over the world. How much time and effort and money do you think the U.S.A. should spend to try to bring these hardened criminals to justice? Quick launch a congressional investigation! That'll solve the problem. Yea nice long, drawn out federal investigation and maybe do an evironmental impact study too just in case they hurt our environment! Don't forget to also do the same investigations at the state level. Spend a few million trying to suppress any incriminating evidence against our government officials.

I bet we'd do better if America would start a nationwide hunt for all of the J-walkers and double parkers, they are criminals too you know.

I rate what these hackers the same as j-walking or speeding on the freeway or double parking. If they produce any evidence of corruption their methods justify the means.

@sammy sezso

You do realize that identity theft goes well beyond a few fraudulent charges on a single credit card, right? If fraudulent charges are all that occurs, then good. Like you said, people may be able to get the banks to stop payment on the charge, assuming it's discovered in time and your bank is willing to believe that those charges are, indeed, fraudulent. However, what happens if a criminal uses the information leaked to get enough information about the victim to open a different account? One this account is opened, they can rack up tons of dept, then bail. The victim probably wouldn't have any idea that the account was opened unless they happened to check their credit report, and the criminal deadbeat has just sown the seeds of a serious negative blow to the victims credit history...something that can take YEARS to fix.

Do a quick google search about the damage identity theft can have on peoples lives and how long it takes to fix. Once you've done that, see if you can honestly tell me that what anon does is akin to jaywalking. If you can, then there really isn't any hope for you, unfortunately.

Those of you who think that Anonymous leaking personal information is a victimless crime either aren't looking at the big picture, or just plain stupid. Which one will be determined based on whether you keep blindly defending them or if you reexamine their tactics and see them for what they really do.

@sammy sezso- I feel sorry for you sammy, I really do. Something has happened in your life to twist your understanding of morality and ethics.

Do you really think that the banks pay the costs of credit card fraud? If you do then you are woefully misguided. Banks work on a "cost plus" basis. Anything they lose in one area is made up in another. In this case it would be in higher fees and interest rates for everyone and lower taxes from the write offs. I'm sure that last bit gives the poor guy who is paying his fair share in taxes a warm fuzzy.

It's obvious that you've never had to clean up the mess from identity theft. I have, and it takes weeks and months to just get through the beginning part of it. After that there is years of increased monitoring and financial cost and inconvenience to insure that it doesn't happen again.

With regards to Elsberg, he had specific knowledge of corruption and acted on that based on his personal sense of ethics. He didn't come close to damaging any innocent people. It's a sad commentary on your education that you had to "check him out" rather than already knowing what he did. If you and the idiots at anonymous were truly interested in fighting injustice rather than simply wreaking random havoc, Danial Elsberg would be your and their icon.

Sad, so sad

sammy sezso and the only reason for a lock on your door, or on your car is to keep an honest man honest....the criminal will figure a way around it....the same on the inter net....but then it seems you fully support criminal activity.

@CXM-703103:

Who said anything about identity theft? That's really hard to do having only a stolen credit card number! They stole 5 credit card numbers total this time. They used them to make "involuntary donations." They did not take any social security numbers at all, so identity theft isn't going to be a problem. Social security numbers should never be put on the Internet. If a company is storing your social security number on line in an un-secured place that is a different issue and different laws have been broken.

Basically all they got was a bunch of names, addresses and phone numbers of the officers, along with their pay scales. MOST of the information they downloaded was displayed on the websites in public view anyway. They did not get ANY sensitive "personal information" as you put it.

Of course you do realize that by having a name and city they live in, it is very easy and cheap to get ANYONE'S social security number, AND it's 100% legal!

Do you consider the companies that are SELLING your personal information to be criminals? They also get the information without asking you for it. REMEMBER a company that sells your information is legal, hacker that gives information for free is a criminal. Where's the logic in that?

Besides if you are paying attention to your bills and credit accounts you should not have a problem. It is YOUR responsibility to keep YOUR information private! Read the TOS on your credit accounts.

They did get some sensitive information concerning tips and gangs AND one mail that proved to be VERY interesting, It was from the chief of police in a small town.

At least one email had material — including pictures of teenage girls in their swimsuits — that Tim Mayfield, the police chief in Gassville, Ark., said was sent to him as part of an ongoing investigation. Mayfield declined to provide more details.

(I bet his wife is asking a few questions) Investigating little girls in swim suits? yea, we need to investigate this more...

So with all that is going on in the world we're going to stop and chase our tail trying to find who hacked a small town sheriff's e-mail?

@ J Bartley, Save your sorrow for someone that needs it, maybe the people with their info online???

These people did not take any social security numbers! Why does nobody realize that without YOUR social security you cannot steal someone's identity?

Yes identity theft is running rampant, but it isn't MY or Anonymous's fault!

If companies are storing sensitive information of yours on their servers that is YOUR problem. The way laws are written, it is also YOUR responsibility to be sure that your information is held in the strictest confidence. NOT ON THE INTERNET! Your responsibility not the bank!

Stop giving out your personally identifiable information out over the internet. THE INTERNET IS NOT SECURE and was never ment to be! EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS!

There was identity theft long before Anonymous came around and so far there has been absolutely NO EVIDENCE of identity theft EVER occuring due to an attack by Anonymous.

As far as Elsberg, you got me there, I never was a history buff. I look for the information as I need it.

@sammy sezso -

"They stole 5 credit card numbers total this time. They used them to make "involuntary donations." "

So they stole the numbers and then they stole money from 5 innocent people. Do you think that they turned that money over to some hidden Anonymous account for use in the continuing fight against corruption? No, they're sitting at Taco Bell having a chicken Gordita and discussing whether to buy iPads or Galaxy Tabs with the rest of the money.

They're THIEVES. Now five people have to cancel their credit cards and arrange for credit monitoring. For the life of me I can't figure out how someone who has the brains to at least write a coherent sentence can defend their actions.

You are hopeless and I'm done with you.

J Bartley, False fallacy, dripping with them, nobody used the cards for anything illegal, I know you don't want too swallow that answer, but go ahead it's the truth. Nobody was hurt in the hacking, you should follow the Owner of news Corp if you want to prosecute someone for hacking and doing others harm, That old man Rupert has pervade a great injustice on the world and seeks to control whole countries off the indiscretions of the powerful, that ultimately harm you way more than Anon could ever imagine. Rupert Murdock is a hacking puppet master, one thats out too get us all.

@jeffrey f -

"The leaked information also included five credit card numbers Anonymous said were used to make "involuntary donations." At least four of the names and other personal details appeared to be genuine. One person confirmed to the AP that his credit card had been used improperly."

Hmmm. Foot-In-Mouth disease. Nasty stuff. Try some Desenex, that might help.

@sammy sezso -

You stated that only 5 card numbers were taken. Those 5 number were then used to make involuntary donations. How is that any different from me taking your credit cards and using them to make involuntary donations to my favorite website.

The sheriff that had the pictures of teenage girls in swimsuits. What else was in the pictures, who else. If you take pictures of say the ocean, and a 6 year old happens to be in the image does that make you a pervert. That is what your implying with your statement. What if those images were part of an investigation into kidnapping or rape. Do you want the person investigated to know your getting closer to arresting him. How about the guy that would go to elementary schools and jack off while watching the little boys coming and going from school. Then when he could not stand it anymore would kidnap one and abuse them till they died. Your saying that the pictures that might catch one of these people is OK to post on the internet. Guy sees himself on line and walks away with no proof he was doing more than just watching the cops are put back at square one and he is free to do what he wants. Great job there.

Wgere were all these people at when congress mandated "Homeland security"?

They too are hacking into your private e-mails and information. Legal companies are compiling and selling YOUR information everyday, but apparently that is o.k. with all of you!

What policitcal party are you all affiliated with that would be so concerned about some small town sheriff getting his kiddie porn hacked into and their credit card swiped. My wife had a credit card stolen once, they think someone scanned her card while it was in her purse! we noticed the charges and notified the bank right away, and the charges were removed imediately! No charge to me. new card issued that day, no further problems since then! Amazing story huh?

so the banks have to write off a few more charges I guess, oh well. I have no sympathy at all for banks, THEY are the biggest crooks in the country!

As far as the pictures being of criminals they were not. They were pictures of a teenage girl in a bikini! Surely the pictures are part of some BIG crime spree the these local country bumpkin sheriffs are working on that has international implications! NOT

You are trying to blow this incident up into something it simply is not.

Anonymous has NO hidden agenda, They will continue to attack our networks until they find something on every corrupt official we have, and I say MORE POWER TO THEM!

Christ, sammy. You are making zero sense. One minute you're saying identity theft isn't an issue, then you go on and point out how easy it is the steal someone's identity with the information that Anonymous has released to the public, multiple times. Face it, Anonymous is helping criminals, regardless what their misguided intent was.

Keep hoping matter of fact start holding your breath. They seem more likely to disrupt a companies website with DDOS attacks and retaliation hacks then actually exposing any real wrong.

Have they exposed ANY political criminals yet?

I don`t think stealing credit card info from random web sites is going to be effective in exposing government corruption.

Code Check .0

NBForrest

Have they exposed ANY political criminals yet?

yes, Check wikileaks.

sammy sezso, yeah, because wikileaks is anonymous...

Unfortunately, Chris, the only way you're likely to be impacted by this bunch is as collateral damage.

Chris, I'd love to! just go ahead and shoot me your email, the credit card numbers you used, and your soc. sec. number. :D

But on a serious note, Chris, you will not be affected by any collateral, as Sparky is just uninformed.

Sparky, u mad?

And there it is: the ultimate troll expression..."u mad?" lol! I knew I was going to see it sooner or later!

@fleur de lulzz - You're right, Chris is probably safe this time. But, the five people who Anonymous took "involuntary donations" from using their credit card numbers...not so much.

chris-1866549, yeah, exactly!

These guys claim all kinds of conspiracy $%^& about the government, yet they don't do anything about it.

If you really believe that the IRS is the bad guy, how about going into the IRS database and deleting the info on all pending cases of tax evasion. Or at least publish emails that show the "violence inherent in the system".

And so on and so on... ugh it is so disgusting.

Washington was a treasonous bastard...If he wasn't already dead...Why I otta!

Reliving myyouth, so you're drawing parallels between yourself and the founding fathers of the US? Where is your Declaration of Independence, what kind of government are you proposing to replace the one you want to overthrow?

Your argument seems to be that anyone who is labelled with these terms is really a hero, but there are many others who really were social pariahs.

It's sort of like killing 500,000 Iraqis in the course of deposing Saddam Husein isn't it?

The difference being that a late Visa payment doesn't hurt quite so much as dying and is rarely fatal.

Jherek Carnelian-

Except the 500,000 death toll never happened. That was the exaggerated estimate- the actual body count came in somewhere around 100,000 including insurgents. Verifed by Wikileaks.

Regardless, one stupid act doesn't justify another. Comparing the hackers to the stupid tactics of the Bush Admin is a pretty poor justification.

Oh, it was ONLY 100,000 people.

That's okay then.

Maybe Bo needs to send their payment in earlier next month.

Don't kid yourself the security upgrades were gonna be "written off" anyway!

You should not be resoponsible for their lack of security, BUT YOU ARE!

Don't ya just love it when the banks and credit card people stick it to ya with late fees, but that's o.k. I suppose, they are only stealing a little at a time from us, so we'll just let it slide.

Jherek Carnelian-

Oh, it was ONLY 100,000 people.

That's okay then.

Nobody said it was okay.

The point is that it's clear you're being spoonfed your information by the mainstream media. You obviously take what they tell you as being fact.

Jherek Carnelian, I want your expert advice. Since the US killed 100k people trying to overthrow Saddam Hussein, am I justified in getting drunk and side swiping my neighbor's car?

I am just asking because after you justify all the mayhem of Anonymous using that logic, there seems to be enough justification left over to cover about 50 murders, a couple of hundred rapes, some child porn, and about 25k cases of human trafficking.

Please respond, I quiver in anticipation.

"Law Enforcement Officers" are above the law. Thank God its the hackers that have the knowledge and not the police.

exactly...they break the law with impunity and are rarely held accountable...cowards and self loathers that most of them are...

Code Check .1

Keeping the police in line is hard enough. Corruption and violence is endemic in police departments nation wide.

Police killed 1200 citizens last year. How many will we lose this year to their arrogance and big egos.

Anything that makes their job harder is a good thing.

so the 272 police officers killed last year in the line of duty mean nothing.

Code Check

But Billie - they're doing this for you. Don't you see? You'll be much better off when all your financial info has been "liberated". </s>

If you are talking of a reality shift into a new one, then yes. If you think that is what this reality will end up being without moving into a new one, not likely.

If you really want to help expose corruption you should send them your credit card info because apparently collecting credit card info from honest citizens is the only way to expose government corpution.

You DO realize you're starting to sound like one of those crazy homeless guys in the movies, right?

Seriously, though, you'd probably be better off starting your own group of freedom fighters. Going by what anonymous claims to be doing and what they're actually doing, I seriously doubt anyone is going to be brought to any sort of justice. What they're doing is the equivalent of a teenager tee-peeing someone's house to show the neighborhood that homeowner kicks dogs or something. A few of his friends will probably get the message (if he tells them outright), but the rest of the neighborhood will just thing he's being an idiot that could probably use a night in a jail cell to teach him a lesson and nothing actually gets accomplished. Only in anonymous's case, innocent bystanders ARE actually getting hurt. Not exactly praiseworthy, imo.