Haroon Meer: Lessons from Anonymous on cyberwar -- A cyberwar is brewing, and Anonymous reprisal attacks on HBGary Federal shows how deep the war goes

Lessons from Anonymous on cyberwar: A cyberwar is brewing, and Anonymous reprisal attacks on HBGary Federal shows how deep the war goes.
Haroon Meer
Al Jazeera

"Cyberwar" is a heavily loaded term, which conjures up Hollywood inspired images of hackers causing oil refineries to explode.

Some security celebrities came out very strongly against the thought of it, claiming that cyberwar was less science, and more science fiction.

Last year on May 21, the United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) reported reaching initial operational capability, and news stories abound of US soldiers undergoing basic cyber training, which all point to the idea that traditional super powers are starting to explore this arena.

Recent activities with one government contractor and Anonymous, however, show clearly that cyber operations have been going on for a long while, and that the private sector has been only too ready to fill the cyber mercenary role for piles of cash.

Anonymous vs. HBGary

Early in 2011, Aaron Barr submitted a talk to a security conference in which he planned to "focus on outing the major players of the anonymous group".

Barr, the CEO of Washington-based HBGary Federal, had spent time "infiltrating the group" using multiple identities on social networks and Anonymous IRC channels.

He was confident enough of his analysis to publish parts of it through the Financial Times. Barr (and indeed the rest of the company) planned to milk the exposure, lining up a string of meetings to profit from the research, from an interview with 60 Minutes to multiple potential deals with federal agencies.

The CEO of HBGary prepared a post explaining how they had flexed their "muscle today by revealing the identities of all the top management within the group Anonymous."

Anonymous were quick to respond.

Even while Barr was proclaiming victory and threatening to "take the gloves off", Anonymous were burrowing deeper into his network.

By the end of the attack, Barr's iPad was reputedly erased, his LinkedIn and Twitter accounts were hijacked, the HBGary Federal website was defaced, proprietary HBGary source code was stolen and with over 71,000 private emails now published to the internet, HBGary was laid bare.

In this, was our first lesson: The asymmetry of cyber warfare.

HBGary, a well-funded, pedigreed security company with strong offensive cyber capabilities was given a beating by a non-funded, loosely organised hacker collective.

The incident holds a string of lessons for those wishing to secure their networks from attack, but what's far more interesting is the leaked emails that give us insight into the murky world of "cyber contractors" and what’s being called "the military digital complex".

HBGary: cyberwar arms dealer

HBGary was formed by security research veteran Greg Hoglund, who has made a name for himself over the years doing research on rootkit technology.

A rootkit is a piece of software installed to ensure that an attacker is able to maintain control of a compromised computer. Rootkits are designed to avoid detection once installed.

Hoglund’s emails claim that his current products were built with "about 2 million in Uncle Sam's money", but this alone is no shocker. Governments fund technology research all the time, and HBGary were also building a commercial product.

What is shocking though, are some of the other details that came out in the wash.

The emails make it clear that HBGary sold rootkits and keyloggers (tools to record and exfiltrate keystrokes surreptitiously) to government contractors for prices between $60,000 and $200,000 each.

These pieces of "malware" would be tailored specifically to the clients needs, which undoubtedly reflected the state of the ultimate targets e.g.: "..test the tool against McAfee and Norton".

Some rootkits were fairly routine, while others clearly betrayed specific needs: "Runs on MS Windows XP sp2 and Office 2003, finds MS Office files using the XRK technique to exfiltrate files".

Even next generation rootkits were explored - to remain active despite the removal of a hard drive or to persist on a machine through the video card.

Make no mistake, these were offensive cyber tools, made to order.

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Anonymous and the global correction: A loosely organised group of hackers has been targeting oppressive regimes and ... this is just the beginning

Anonymous and the global correction: A loosely organised group of hackers has been targeting oppressive regimes and has said this is just the beginning.
by Anonymous
Al Jazeera

The tendency to relate past events to what is possible in the present becomes more difficult as the scope of the geopolitical environment changes. It is a useful thing, then, to ask every once in a while if the environment has recently undergone any particular severe changes, thereby expanding our options for the future.

Terminology, let alone our means of exchanging information, has changed to such a degree that many essential discussions in today's "communications age" would be entirely incomprehensible to many two decades ago.

As the social, political and technological environment has developed, some have already begun to explore new options, seizing new chances for digital activism - and more will soon join in. It is time for the rest of the world to understand why.

Service denied

When a release by WikiLeaks revealed the depravity of just how corrupt and horrid the Tunisian government really was, it prompted Tunisians to step up active dissent and take to the streets en masse for the first time.

In response, a loose network of participants within the international Anonymous protest organisation attacked non-essential government websites - those not providing direct services to Tunisians - at the prompting of our contacts.

Several such sites were replaced with a message of support to the Tunisian people, while others were pushed offline via distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, involving thousands of computer users who request large amounts of data from a website simultaneously, overwhelming it.

Other assistance programmes followed, even after the deposed Ben Ali fled the nation that reviled him, with Anonymous and other parties working with Tunisians - both in-country and abroad - to provide the nation's people with the tools and information resources they needed to begin building up new, reasonable political institutions capable of ensuring a freer civic life.

Our "Guide to Protecting the Tunisian Revolution" series - a collaboration between hundreds of veterans of traditional revolutionary movements as well as practitioners of "new activism" - were disseminated both online and in print; aside from tips on safety during confrontation and the like, these also explain how to establish secure yet accessible networks and communications for Tunisians, as well as instructions on establishing neighbourhood syndicates capable of uniting in common cause.

Already, such organisations are being established across Tunisia, just as they will be established elsewhere as the movement proceeds.

The seeds of cyber revolution

Anonymous is a means by which people across the globe can assist in the hard work being performed by the Tunisian people - who have long taken issue with their government, but first began protesting in earnest after a fruit vendor set himself ablaze in response to police cruelty.

The Anonymous movement itself grew out of message boards frequented mostly by young people with an interest in internet culture in general - and Japanese media in particular; in 2005, participants began "attacking" internet venues as a sort of sport, and in the process honed their skills in a way that proved useful in "information warfare".

In 2007, some users proposed that the Church of Scientology be exposed for its unethical and sometimes violent conduct, sparking a coordinated global protest movement that differed from anything else seen, and which still continues today.

The Australian government was later attacked for introducing new internet censorship laws, and in the meantime, those within Anonymous who see the subculture as a potential force for justice have launched other efforts while also building new strategies and recruiting individuals from across the globe - some of whom hold significant positions in media, industry, and the sciences.

For great justice

In the meantime, there are obstacles to overcome. Those within the Tunisian government who seek to deny liberty to "their" people are easy enough to deal with; the greatest threat to revolution comes not from any state but rather from those who decry such revolutions without understanding them.

In this case, the idea that a loose network of people with shared values and varying skill sets can provide substantial help to a population abroad is seen as quixotic - or even unseemly - by many of those who have failed to understand the past ten years, as well as those whose first instinct is to attack a popular revolt rather than to assist it.

Elsewhere, a number of US pundits decided to criticise the revolution as possibly destabilising the region; many of whom once demanded the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan - and greeted every Arab revolt as the work of President Bush - but now see nothing for themselves in the cause of Arab liberty.

Some have even portrayed the movement as the work of radical Islamists - yet most cannot find Tunisia on a map.

Suffice to say that the results of our efforts are already on display and will become more evident as Tunisians use our tools and resources to achieve their greatest triumph. Those who wish to assist and are competent to do so can find us easily enough; the Tunisians had little trouble in doing so.

Although we have made great progress in convincing individuals from across the world to join our efforts in Tunisia, other campaigns, such as those taking place in Algeria and Egypt - both of which have seen government websites taken down and/or replaced by Anonymous, more must be done before the movement takes the next step towards a worldwide network capable of perpetual engagement against those who are comfortable with tyranny.

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Best of the Left: #440 Governments vs Journalism (Wikileaks); #442 They are legion, etc (Anonymous)

(Good summaries and retrospective look)

#440 Governments vs Journalism (Wikileaks)

Act 1: The campaign to ruin Julian Assange – The Progressive
Song 1: And So It Goes – The Essential Billy Joel

Act 2: Assange released from jail – The Bugle
Song 2: Jailhouse Rock – The Essential Elvis Presley (Remastered)

Act 3: Full Exclusive Assange interview – MSNBC
Song 3: Hurt – American IV: Man Comes Around

Act 4: Thomas Friedman’s approval of wikileaks – Counterspin
Song 4: Morning Sun – Shayna Zaid & the Catch

Act 5: US reaps what it sows – Majority Report
Song 5: What You Get – Bastards of the Beat

Act 6: Open letter signatory on wikileaks – On the Media
Song 6: What we’ve got – Anthony da Costa and Emilyn Brodsky

Act 7: Media should stand up for Assange – Young Turks
Song 7: Time to Ride – Sammy Davis, Jr.: Greatest Hits (Live)

Act 8: Nothing bad about wikileaks – David Feldman Podcast
Song 8: One Day – Light (Bonus Track Version)

Act 9: Losing liberties over wikileaks – The Progressive
Song 9: Flamencos En El Aire – Gipsy Kings

Act 10: Inhumane treatment of PFC. Manning – Young Turks
Song 9: Drift Away – Brothers In Blues & Sisters In Soul – 18 Classic Tracks (Re-Recorded Version)

Act 10: Michael Moore on wikileaks – Rachel Maddow

To Listen to the Episode

#442 They are legion, etc (Anonymous)

Act 1: News on Anonymous Operation: Payback – Countdown
Song 1: I Want You – Savage Garden

Act 2: Anonymous back up wikileaks – On the Media
Song 2: Little Lion Man – Sigh No More

Act 3: WW 3.0 Omar Wason on cyber war – Colbert Report
Song 3: Gone – On and On

Act 4: Are the Anonymous attacks civil disobedience? – On the Media
Song 4: Natural Blues – Play & Play: B Sides

Act 5: Intro to interview with Anonymous – Citizen Radio
Song 5: Legion – Empires

Act 6: Operation: Payback message – Anonymous
Song 6: Eclipse – Welcome to Earth

Act 7: Interview with Anonymous spokesman – Citizen Radio

To Listen to the Episode