George Floyd: Anonymous Hackers Reemerge Amid US Unrest (bbc.com) 187
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: As the United States deals with widespread civil unrest across dozens of cities, "hacktivist" group Anonymous has returned from the shadows. The hacker collective was once a regular fixture in the news, targeting those it accused of injustice with cyber-attacks. After years of relative quiet, it appears to have re-emerged in the wake of violent protests in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd, promising to expose the "many crimes" of the city's police to the world. However, it's not easy to pin down what, if anything, is genuinely the mysterious group's work.
Various forms of cyber-attack are being attributed to Anonymous in relation to the George Floyd protests. First, the Minneapolis police department website was temporarily taken offline over the weekend in a suspected Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. This is an unsophisticated but effective form of cyber-attack that floods a server with data until it can't keep up and stops working -- in the same way that shopping websites can go offline when too many people flood it to snap up high-demand products. A database of email addresses and passwords claiming to be hacked from the police department's system is also in circulation, and being linked to Anonymous. However, there is no evidence that the police servers have been hacked and one researcher, Troy Hunt, says the credentials are likely to have been compiled from older data breaches.
A page on the website of a minor United Nations agency has been turned into a memorial for Mr Floyd, replacing its contents with the message "Rest in Power, George Floyd", along with an Anonymous logo. On Twitter, unverified posts have also gone viral, apparently showing police radios playing music and preventing communication. However, experts suggest it is unlikely to be a hack, and could instead be the result of a stolen piece of hardware being commandeered by protesters on the scene -- if the videos are genuine in the first place. Anonymous activists are also circulating years-old accusations against President Trump, taken from documents in a civil court case that was voluntarily dismissed by the accuser before it went to trial.
Various forms of cyber-attack are being attributed to Anonymous in relation to the George Floyd protests. First, the Minneapolis police department website was temporarily taken offline over the weekend in a suspected Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. This is an unsophisticated but effective form of cyber-attack that floods a server with data until it can't keep up and stops working -- in the same way that shopping websites can go offline when too many people flood it to snap up high-demand products. A database of email addresses and passwords claiming to be hacked from the police department's system is also in circulation, and being linked to Anonymous. However, there is no evidence that the police servers have been hacked and one researcher, Troy Hunt, says the credentials are likely to have been compiled from older data breaches.
A page on the website of a minor United Nations agency has been turned into a memorial for Mr Floyd, replacing its contents with the message "Rest in Power, George Floyd", along with an Anonymous logo. On Twitter, unverified posts have also gone viral, apparently showing police radios playing music and preventing communication. However, experts suggest it is unlikely to be a hack, and could instead be the result of a stolen piece of hardware being commandeered by protesters on the scene -- if the videos are genuine in the first place. Anonymous activists are also circulating years-old accusations against President Trump, taken from documents in a civil court case that was voluntarily dismissed by the accuser before it went to trial.
Doomed to failure (Score:5, Insightful)
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
- John F Kennedy, 1962.
At some point, anger at systemic abuse turns into protest. Eventually that protest becomes "doing something" now, insurrection. To grow into a revolution, a leader must appear that earns the support of the middle-class. That is more difficult in a 'peaceful' society for two reasons; the appointed leader must sacrifice the current 'peace' he enjoys, a 'peaceful' society makes it easier for police to identify and suppress dissidents.
There are 21st-century reasons why a leader can't appear:
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"Organisations such as Anonymous and Anti-fa demand leaderless protest, thus limiting themselves to protest and vandalism."
That's a feature, not a bug. If they have a leader, their leader can be attacked.
The leader can come from somewhere else. If they're affiliated with a group they can be attacked just by claiming that group is terrorist.
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"Whatever you do, don't vote for democrats."
Okay, but double especially don't vote for Republicans. The war on drugs? Republican. Attempts to destroy social aid programs? Republican. Racist sheriffs? All Republican.
Uh huh (Score:2)
"However, it's not easy to pin down what, if anything, is genuinely the mysterious group's work."
Yeah, that's why the members refer to it as "Anonymous"... sheesh.
Re:pure garbage - psyop - misinformation (Score:5, Funny)
Anonymous Coward says Anonymous is not Anonymous, News at 11!
Re: pure garbage - psyop - misinformation (Score:5, Informative)
But other than the guys the FBI got to, there was no central driving force so the name fell into disuse, many of the individuals grew up and got jobs, or started operating under their own names/groups. This recent "return" is not a return of anything other than the name itself, and is most likely being pushed by one or two small groups or individuals who know that it will get them some media attention.
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Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
Re: pure garbage - psyop - misinformation (Score:4, Informative)
Wasn't the whole point about Anonymous supposed to be that anyone could be Anonymous?
Re:The moment the (Score:5, Funny)
I'm just surprised that so many businesses could be destroyed so easily by people who don't run hedge funds.
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I'm just surprised that so many businesses could be destroyed so easily by people who don't run hedge funds.
A lovely little bit of satire there. Well done.
Re:The moment the (Score:4, Informative)
History may repeat itself. In 1968 Americans saw rioting and looting on TV and then elected Richard Nixon as president. Nixon promised "Law and Order" and launched the War on Drugs, laying the foundation for mass incarceration and police militarization.
Now, once again, Americans are seeing blue-on-blue protests and black people burning their own neighborhoods.
This should help the Republicans in November.
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Funny thing, what I see is black people calling for restraint, and white out of towners driving in for a little smashy-smashy fun times.
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There are a lot of black people who have had their communities destroyed and my heart goes out to them because Bill is probably correct. Most people aren't going to look into this beyond a surface level and will ins
Re:The moment the (Score:5, Insightful)
Funny how when one bad protestor taints the whole movement but one bad cop is just an aberration.
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Too many Sith [youtube.com] on all sides, but it's just more comfortable for most people to believe what they want to believe than it is to even look for evidence to the contrary and challenge those assumptions.
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Funny how when one bad protestor taints the whole movement but one bad cop is just an aberration.
They aren't "protesters". They are rioters.
"Protesters" were the people who drove cars around in Lansing. One ambulance with nobody in it and going nowhere got stuck in traffic briefly (endlessly played on the news). A tiny fraction got out of their cars, an even tinier fraction didn't have masks when they did so, and an even tinier fraction legally carried guns, which they hurt nobody at all with.
Remember them? They were the worst people ever, right, who were so scary and were going to make everybody's g
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> Funny how when one bad protestor taints the whole movement but one bad cop is just an aberration.
Weird how you guys never put that shoe on the other foot, no? I mean, you guys have #ACAB and 1312. Nobody is angry at the peaceful protesters, just the rioters attacking innocent people.
Floyd was wronged and the cop has been arrested for it. Nothing you do will bring him back. You could be pushing for actual accountability--having an outside agency that reviews/charges cops instead of letting them inve
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Nobody is angry at the peaceful protesters, just the rioters attacking innocent people.
Except for the cops attacking the peaceful protesters.
For some reason they left the armed white guys who invaded government buildings a few weeks ago alone, but when someone is angry about the behaviour of the cops the rubber bullets and riot gear come out.
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> Except for the cops attacking the peaceful protesters.
Who will get sanctioned properly.
> For some reason they left the armed white guys who invaded government buildings a few weeks ago alone, but when someone is angry about the behaviour of the cops the rubber bullets and riot gear come out.
Yeah, weird how that didn't lead to mass violence. Oh wait, you don't realize this makes the opposite point, do you? Everyone knew they weren't going to cause violence. But everyone expects violence from a rac
Re: Its not about the cop, but the consequences (Score:2)
But that doesn't really apply in this case.
If the argument is that it should be 1st degree murder, that's just going to guarantee the cop walks. 3rd degree means they're serious. It's what fits. It's what the evidence supports. He will likely go to prison.
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1st degree doesn't mean "really bad" it means "premeditated murder." It has a specific set of factual elements to prove, so you have to show that he somehow planned to arrest and suffocate that guy that day, among other things.
Plea deals are definitely a bad joke, but you can't just charge random crimes in court, you lose the entire case when you can't prove the elements of the crime.
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here's another where a black man and a (Pakistani or Indian judging by the name) woman were similarly up to no good
Well, they shouldn't have been throwing gasoline bombs at the police, but nonetheless it's great to see ethnically diverse people like this working together in racial harmony toward a common goal.
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white out of towners driving in for a little smashy-smashy fun times.
Journalists who have looked at arrest records have reported that they are mostly local people.
Politicians asserting that the violent people are from out of town have backed their claims with no evidence.
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They also attacked and looted a jewelry store, a cell phone store, a drug store, and about 10 other businesses including setting 4 other fires including a gas station. The whites and hispanics were all in their late
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That video proves nothing, except that most folks aren't too keen on masked looters in their own neighborhoods, and most protesters are non-violent. It's one guy who, what? Calls himself Antifa? How do you even know his affiliation? And even if he did claim affiliation with Antifa (no real Antifa would claim that when captured by the way) why would you believe him?
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Funny how when some rando claims to be Antifa they are part of a terrorist cell under leftist command, but when that guy with the MAGA truck tries to blow stuff up he's just a lone fruitcake with no links back to anyone else in a MAGA hat.
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Antifa is an actual organization that advocates property destruction and physical violence.
MAGA is a campaign slogan.
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Antifa isn't an organization, it doesn't have leaders, there is no membership card. Now that Antifa is designated a terrorist organization the police can simply declare you a member and justify beating the shit out of you. That's what this is about.
Re: The moment the (Score:2)
Antifa is an ideology, not an organization
False dichotomy. Antifaschism is an ideology; numerous antifa chapters/groups are organisations. Just like Nazism is an ideology and the Nazi party was an organisation.
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Who the fuck do you think you're kidding? Call them what you will - they all look the same. 5'5-5'10, skinny little shits in dark clothes well prepared with riot tactics and equipment. They instigate and provocate, and seem to think themselves quite cool and collected.
I'm fully prepared to lie, let's just call them white supremacists. I think those protesters should start beating the fuck out of those little shit white supremacists on site, and they're not hard to pick out and almost all white.
Re: The moment the (Score:2)
Someone tearing up bricks to assault the police is pretty much the definition of antifa. You're stretching really hard to support your world view.
Re: The moment the (Score:2)
except the current president who ran on law and order isn't doing shit other than threatening to send in the military and trying g to get an impromptu campaign rally outside the white house.
Re: The moment the (Score:5, Insightful)
except the current president who ran on law and order isn't doing shit
There isn't much he can do: Posse Comitatus Act [wikipedia.org].
This is a state and local issue.
Trump could, perhaps, give a national speech. I don't think anyone seriously believes that would make things better.
Republicans are mostly sitting back in smug satisfaction as leftist mobs attack Democratic city governments.
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It's too late. The police are attacking and arresting journalists. Especially the ones from orgs that Trump didn't like, like CNN and the BBC.
They used to accept that journalists had a legitimate reason to be there and a legitimate job to do, but 4 years of Trump attacking them has changed that.
Trump has destroyed freedom of the press in your country. You should be out there trying to salvage your democracy.
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Trump has been calling them the "lying media" for years. A literal translation of lugenpresse. Does he actually have to say it in German for you to understand what this is?
Re: The moment the (Score:2)
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A few journalists were detained. They were all quickly released ... with an apology.
As if that's not a well known tactic...
The calls for controls on free speech are coming from the left.
Fact checking warnings are not controls on free speech. Kneeling during a national anthem is free speech, but the right uniformly called to control such free speech. The right want to ban many forms of media - free speech - rather than face the facts that firearms restrictions are needed.
In a democracy, change should come through the ballot box, not through riots.
Don't you types like to trot out the line that America is not a democracy?
You Republicans have been telling us that you deserve to own firearms in defense of a tyrannical government
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"To[o -- are you Russian?] bad the democrats sent in their violent Antifa anarchist wing to burn these communities down.
You have as much proof of that as me saying that it's too bad the republicans sent in their red flag ops to distract from the real problem: institutional racism and badly trained police officers.
"The moment the looting and burning started I tuned out everything.
As far as the republicans are concerned: mission accomplished.
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I'm a bit dubious about that "badly trained" claim. When something is that widespread I tend to doubt that it isn't the intended result. There's a lot of people "in charge" who tend to think that what you need to do is keep people down and quiet. It's an old custom dating at least back to Rome.
We tend to think of people who act that way as Nazis, and the Nazis did act that way, but they weren't the first, and it was done by the Russians during the time they were fighting the Nazis. It's part of the stan
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Isn't it weird that if the Boston Tea Party happened today the Republicans would be the ones condemning it?
Or maybe not, those rioters weren't black.
Re: The moment the (Score:2)
There is a huge difference between throwing tea in the harbor and burning down a target or a bar. I cannot believe you dont see a difference. They didnt burn the ships to the ground. They didnt beat the sailors. It was a direct attack on the East India Trading Co.
Theres what, 40% unemployment in some of these areas? So when you burn a Target to the ground, do you know who youre fucking over? About 300-500 people making just a bit over minimum wage. You arent hurting the corporation nearly as bad as your hu
Re: The moment the (Score:2)
If it's night time and no one is in the bank, then what's the difference? They didn't assault anyone, it wasn't an act of terror. They destroyed private property. That's exactly what the tea protesters did. What distinction are you trying to make?
Re:The moment the (Score:5, Insightful)
You mean, "Too bad the police agent provocateurs busted in windows and made sure piles of bricks were available around the city, so they could justify their violent tactics."
By the by old chap, how do you feel about dumping tea into harbors? Damage to property, justified, or no?
And finally, to clarify, Antifa is leaderless and anyone who is against fascists can claim the name. Why, if you were against fascists, you could call yourself that! But the one thing they are not, is associated with any official party.
Stop trying to make this a partisan issue. It is not.
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Kind of is partisan because only one party is even interested in resolving it for good, the other just wants to look tough.
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All you've really told you is that you yourself want to appear nonpartisan. Sometimes, one side is wrong, while the other side is right. Here, for example, the police are wrong to riot. They are wrong to kill people without trials. They are wrong to protect criminals who happen to wear badges.
Tell me, in Hong Kong, do you think "both sides" want a peaceful resolution? In the American revolution, did the Royalists have good points? Were the patriots wrong to dump tea into the harbor?
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Of course I'm partisan, I'm not a fucking fascist!
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Why, if you were against fascists
If Antifa were against fascists they wouldn't dress all black, wear masks, attack political opponents with violence and intimidation and riot at every opportunity. They are anything but "anti". They are the very thing they claim to fight. They are radical extremists who have been indoctrinated to think they are "on the right side of history" and that any means are acceptable.
As for affiliation, I'll let the Democrat attorney general of Minnesota speak to that: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EZ... [twimg.com]
Re: The moment the (Score:2)
Not all antifascists are radical extremists. In some countries (Ukraine, for example) they're more akin to irregular infantry with urban combat specialization.
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It's really not a great comparison for the point you're trying to make, though it isn't completely unfair. It also didn't work out well for the people of Boston because the British closed
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I'm not sure that happened this time. Yes, it's a common tactic they've used many times in the past, but sometimes it isn't what's going on. Don't be too sure.
Not that it matters. Blame is going to be pointed in ways that are useful to those doing the pointing.
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And finally, to clarify, Antifa is leaderless and anyone who is against fascists can claim the name. Why, if you were against fascists, you could call yourself that! But the one thing they are not, is associated with any official party
I like that you seem to actually believe this. It's so naive it's precious.
If I say I'm against fascists, does that mean I get immediate access to a local group's Signal group chat? They just sign me up? I had no idea it was so easy.
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Don't presume. If you don't know, don't act like you do.
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Are you religious? Because belief in the absence of data does not make something reality.
Re:The moment the (Score:5, Informative)
Look, I know some of those guys. The activist crew I ran with (Food Not Bombs) were all non-violent but we knew some black shirts and antifa types. They were all anarchists, anyone who tried to call themselves the leader would be laughed out of town.
All you have is this delusional fantasy in your head. You know absolutely nothing about any of this.
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Yeah, the fucking COPS dropped off those pallets of bricks, my man. They WANT people to riot so they can shoot folks and play military.
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You are lying. You vermin lie just like the right wing whackos lie. Cops didn't put the bricks there, nor did antifa/George Soros or whatever other liberal boogeyman they fetishize today.
Guess what - the fucking bricks were for construction you dipshit.
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Funny, that picture in my head of extremists from the left and the right, arguing over what conspiracy delivered the pile of bricks. Critical thinking is not what they think it is...
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Also, you already outed yourself as a rioter... (Score:2)
> Yeah, the fucking COPS dropped off those pallets of bricks, my man
Prove it. The police are going around searching for and removing these right now.
And even if we pretend that was true (and it's not), who threw them? Oh, right, the rioters did...
Amazing how a pile of bricks could turn so many peaceful protesters into brick throwers just by being there, huh? Must be mind control bricks or something.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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Well, Republicans wanted a government small enough to be drowned in a bath tub. Well, now it is going to be.
Once you have taken everything away from them, what do they have to lose? When they dont have anything to gain being law obedient, why should they?
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To bad the democrats sent in their violent Antifa anarchist wing to burn these communities down.
Who are the democrats you're referring to? Are you referring to the majority of registered democrats? or to the majority of people who vote democrat? or to members of the DNC? or to Joe Biden?
I can't imagine any meaning of the term "the democrats" in your sentence which makes sense. I'd love clarification.
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He means the ones in charge of the White House and the Senate.
Re:The moment the (Score:4, Informative)
People who monitor extremist groups say that there is at least some participation across the board -- from anarchists and antifa on the left and boogaloo boys and accellerationists on the right.
This does not mean that *all* violence and property destruction is due to extremist provocateurs -- or even most. We won't have an answer to that for some time. But there's plenty of evidence that they've been prowling around the protests and have been involved in some vandalism.
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There's no way of telling what this person's allegiance is; he could just as easily be a boogaloo boi. But let's say he is. It just makes my point: why would anyone spoiling for a fight sit this one out?
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I couldn't agree more. I think extremists are more like their own boogeymen than they are different. Hitler and Stalin, take your pick. Other people are just *things* to them.
Re: The moment the (Score:2)
It's the era of conspiracies. They're just letting Trump know how things will go down if he tries to fuck with the election. Stupid people keep buying into this narrative that the "2nd Amendment folks" will rise up to keep Trump in office. The "2nd Amendment folks" can't even keep their cities together in the face of real popular rebellion.
Re: The moment the (Score:2)
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It sounds like your ruling class are frightened.
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Both autopsy reports are in and agree that Floyd was killed by asphyxiation
That's just not true. The new report says nothing about asphyxiation. The report commissioned by the family does, but that one was created by a man who was previously fired due to numerous complaints about his work, and who has a history of finding questionable things in cases where it suits his clients (for example see his report on the Michael Brown shooting, or his testimony in the OJ Simpson case).
Re: The moment the (Score:5, Interesting)
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He defunded by a huge percentage the group in law enforcement that investigated white supremacists
That is not how funding nor law enforcement works. Your mind has been programmed by someone external to you. Take a step back bro and look around with innocent eyes.
Re: The moment the (Score:2)
White supremacists and neo-Nazis have been protesting peacefully for a generation. They're the ones who get permits before marching to protect themselves from the police. The violence started when antifa groups (and the Internet) learned that we still have white supremacists and neo-Nazis and decided to start crashing their protests.
There's plenty of blame to go around.
Re: The moment the (Score:2)
Found the guy who suspended his education before he turned 10 years old!
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Because they are co-opting and instigating.
No they're not, you're a liar. Antifa are just some bogeyman invented by Republicans to keep you frightened, and it's working.
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Check out the video, where the black protestor tells the white women to stop tagging "BLM" and "Down with white supremacy" on a Starbucks.
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There wasn't any prospect of a reform then. A swing of popular emotion doesn't have much effect on long-term systematic procedures. It requires an enduring change of mind. And popular emotion would be distracted by the next spectacular event. I doubt there's much of a chance of a real change now, but we'll see. Anyone who would spin like a windmill over how to react wouldn't have held their opinion long enough to matter anyway.
If you're looking for a sign that they're seriously trying to change, look f
Re: The moment the (Score:2)
Except that L.A. in fact DID enact major reforms...
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Yes. But lots of other places went the other way. There are lots of "malign incentives", some of which are at the state level (*perhaps* not Calif., but I wouldn't bet on it) and some of which are at the federal level. Easy purchase of "discarded" military hardware for example. Which comes with training by the military. There are lots of federal programs that come with strings for the attached funding. A few years ago the push was for greater photo surveillance, and when you looked carefully a lot of
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
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My brother-in-law worked in loss prevention for Target, the "real" pros they worried about had much more sophisticated scams that never involved anything that looked like shoplifting or vandalism, their merchandise came out of the stores like any other purchase to get returned for full price or flipped for cash because they used coupon or rebate scams.
Some were well known enough that they would track them by identifying their vehicles from parking lot video surveillance.
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They won't accept facts. Better to just "admit" those are white supremacist agitators.
So, when you see skinny little look alike clone "white supremacists" in all black starting shit to frame BLM, beat the ever loving fuck out of them. Punch a white supremacist today!
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That's almost funny like a crap version of the onion when the onion was good.
Trouble is they take a single funny idea them just hit you over the head with it repeatedly.