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The computer hacking group Anonymous has promised to shut down the Internet in its entirety this Saturday, March 31st, according to a post on "pastebin" which has since gotten 165,000 views. The piece states that Anonymous will be attempting this in order to protest "SOPA, Wallstreet, our irresponsible leaders and the beloved bankers who are starving the world for their own selfish needs out of sheer sadistic fun." The post, which was then uploaded to Reddit, promises an attack on 13 root DNS servers. Anyone trying to access a website, it promises, will get an error message. The group, however,...

Top members of the computer hacker group "Anonymous" and its offshoots were arrested and charged Tuesday after a wide-ranging investigation used the help of a group leader who was working as a secret government informant. Five of the suspects, considered by investigators among the "most sophisticated hackers in the world," were arrested in the United States and Europe and charged in a Manhattan federal court over their alleged role in high-profile cyberattacks against government agencies and large companies, according to an indictment. A sixth man, Hector Xavier Monsegur, a notorious hacker known as "Sabu," pleaded guilty in August to computer...

In January the group decided to hit the websites of the US Department of Justice and various media companies in response to the takedown of file storage site Megaupload, providing a guide on Pastebin for those who wished to take part in the attacks. Symantec says that an attacker appears to have copied that guide and inserted their own version of the Slowloris software containing a secret Trojan that downloaded a copy of Zeus, a piece of malware often used to take control of an infected computer.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been under fire from world leaders to step down this week. He’s also under fire from hacktivist group Anonymous, who leaked hundreds of his office’s emails on Monday. While Anonymous is infamous for its hacking know-how, it doesn’t take a genius computer programmer to guess one of the passwords commonly used by Assad’s office accounts: 12345. The string of consecutive numbers is the second-weakest password according to a 2011 study.

The “anti-fascist” wing of the “Anonymous” hacker group has broken into a website run by the white supremacist American Third Position (A3P), and released a document dump consisting of private forum messages, emails, organizational notes, and other personal information. The documents show numerous connections between Republican candidate Ron Paul and these racist Neanderthals; they’re heavily involved in campaigning for Paul, and according to the messages, have held regular meetings with Ron Paul himself:

A federal appeals court has rejected a former University of Tennessee college student's appeal against being convicted for hacking former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's personal e-mail account during the 2008 campaign. Lawyers for the ex-student, David Kernell, said the felony obstruction of justice statute he was convicted under was so vague as to be unconstitutional. In particular, they argued, Kernell had no obvious notice that a federal investigation was underway before he deleted files from his computer and defragmented his hard disk. However, according to Politico, in an opinion Monday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of...

A U.S. elections officer who served in voting districts that partnered with a controversial online voting firm recently retired from his government position to work for the firm in question, the foreign-headquartered company SCYTL. WND reported yesterday that SCYTL has faced questions about the security of its electronic voting technologies, which are now set to be deployed in 900 U.S. jurisdictions. The firm already provides balloting for overseas U.S. military and civilian voting in nine states along with elections technologies in several districts. Concerns have also been raised about SCYTL’s ties to the Spanish government and to international venture capital...

Man charged in attack on Simmons siteBy GREG RISLING - Associated Press Tuesday, December 13, 2011 LOS ANGELES - December 13, 2011 (WPVI) -- A Connecticut man affiliated with a hacking group was arrested Tuesday on federal charges for an attack on a website belonging to Kiss bassist Gene Simmons, authorities said. Kevin Poe was indicted in Los Angeles on two counts: conspiracy and unauthorized impairment of a protected computer. Poe made his initial appearance in court in Hartford, Conn., and was released on $10,000 bond. If convicted of both charges, the Manchester man faces up to 15 years in...

Gamma International UK Ltd. touts its ability to send a “fake iTunes update” that can infect computers with surveillance software, according to one of the company’s marketing videos.< snip> ...the type of intrusion used by criminals trying to steal people’s financial details.< snip> ...All of the hacking companies say they sell their tools to law enforcement and governments to help them track down criminals.< snip>

Julian Pike said he had been aware in 2008 that the practice of people hacking into phones to secure stories had been more widespread than the company acknowledged. But he told the Commons Culture Committee he had "not done very much" to dispute the firm's claims that only one rogue reporter was involved. He also told the committee he thought James Murdoch had made mistakes in his recollection of what he knew and when regarding the hacking.

Brought to you by the letter “X” – Sesame Street’s YouTube channel is back up today after being shut down Sunday when hackers took over the site and replaced the videos with porn.

Cyber-attackers could have stolen defense contractor's passwords October 08, 2011 Passwords for servers at defense contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) may have been stolen during a wide-ranging cyber-attack. The Kobe Shipyard and Machinery Works, which builds submarines, and the Nagoya Guidance and Propulsion Systems Works, which makes missile-related products, were among installations compromised in the attack, which was reported to the Metropolitan Police Department on Sept. 30. In total, 45 servers and 38 personal computers at 11 of MHI's facilities were infected with viruses. An analysis of a virus used in the attack suggests the perpetrators used simplified Chinese...

Exclusive: A laboratory shows how an e-voting machine used by a third of all voters can be easily manipulated It could be one of the most disturbing e-voting machine hacks to date. Voting machines used by as many as a quarter of American voters heading to the polls in 2012 can be hacked with just $10.50 in parts and an 8th grade science education, according to computer science and security experts at the Vulnerability Assessment Team at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. The experts say the newly developed hack could change voting results while leaving absolutely no trace of the...

Missile and submarine secrets 'may have been stolen' in cyber attack on Japanese defence firm By Rachel Rickard Straus and Rob Waugh Last updated at 6:05 PM on 19th September 2011 Some of Japan’s most sensitive defence secrets have been targeted by hackers, who have gained access to up to 80 computers of its biggest defence contractor - in what appeared to be a coordinated attack. Contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd said today its submarine, missile and nuclear plant component factories had been targeted, according to a report. Some information could have been stolen in the first known cyber attack...

Mitsubishi Heavy comes under cyberattack: Yomiuri Tokyo: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.'s computer network was hacked at factories that build submarines and missiles and make components for nuclear power plants in the first such attack targeting Japan's defence industry, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Monday. Information from the company's computer system was seen stolen in the cyber attack, the Yomiuri said without citing where it got the information. A Mitsubishi Heavy spokesman confirmed the cyber attack, but said the firm was still investigating the case including the possibility of information leaks. Yomiuri newspaper said about 80 virus-infected computers were found at...

The Obama administration is seeking tougher sentences for people who are found guilty of hacking or other digital offenses, two officials said Wednesday... The administration argues the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act should be updated to make CFAA offenses subject to its terms. That law is used to prosecute organized crime

Technology: While Democrats agonize over the "digital divide" separating urban black youth from Web access, data show the gap closing. But hold the applause. It's led to high-tech thuggery. A member of the Congressional Black Caucus this week blamed black unemployment on "racism" and the "digital divide," defined as the gap between those with access to computers and the Internet and those without it. "It has a lot to do with many issues: racism, shipping jobs overseas, no access to technology," said Rep. Frederica Wilson, D- Fla. "You know, the digital divide is there, and many of the new jobs...

LINK ONLY view live news feed of protest: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/livenow?id=8308260#&cmp=twi-kgo-video-8308260

Link only - Small-business nightmare: 8 million sites hacked to harm customers' computers

35m Cyworld, Nate users’ information hacked 2011-07-28 18:29 SK Communications Co. said on Thursday that personal information of its 35 million online users has been hacked, marking South Korea’s worst online security breach and sparking fears that the leak could lead to massive online and voice scams in coming weeks. “The company has confirmed that a leak of customers’ information has taken place due to hacking on July 26,” SK said in a statement. “The specific scale of the hacking is still being investigated, but it is estimated that some of the personal information of 35 million Nate and Cyworld...