OpUSA Failure Shows Anonymous is Past Their Prime

There have been indications of this for quite a while now, but I think it's time someone finally came out and said it.

Anonymous is losing steam, and quickly dying.

That's right, Anonymous is quickly becoming an obsolete part of a forgotten era of the Internet.

OpUSA promised to be a major cyber threat against the United States Government and major banks.  Websites such as FBI.gov, Whitehouse.gov, and Bank of America were the key targets.

The actual damage? (per http://security.radware.com/Threats-Attacks/opusa/)

• An alert system which was being decomissioned by the Honolulu Police Department
• A Blood Bank
• Embassy of Cape Verde in the US
• ...and a handful of low-traffic websites which most people have never heard of.

So what happened? Simply put, most of the "smart" hackers in Anonymous have already been arrested, or have realized that prison orange does not look good on them.  Compound with this the fact that members of Anonymous now know that their organization has been compromised by terrorist groups and law enforcement alike, many members of Anonymous are now most likely finished with the group's illegal activities. A quick look at number of news headlines about "Anonymous Hacker" shows the group has definitely gone past their prime, and may soon be going the way of the dodo, at least for their hacking activities.




How much longer will Anonymous hacking groups last? Based upon current trends they may still be around for a while yet, but gone are the days where Anonymous should be considered a serious threat.

Instead, after the failure of OpUSA, they're now probably the laughing stock of the Internet.

If you're interested, you can pick up a #OpUSA #FAIL t-shirt from my CafePress shop.

OpUSA Updated Target List Posted

I've managed to get a copy of the OpUSA target list.  If you're at one of these organizations, be extra vigilant.

HIGH profile target list

http://www.defense.gov/

http://pentagontours.osd.mil/

http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.whs.mil/

http://www.nsa.gov/

http://nsa.nato.int

http://www.fbi.gov/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Additional targets are listed in the updated Threat Watch brief.

#OpUSA - So far an Epic Failure

In the early hours of #OpUSA, in the words of Anonymous "Op has failed to deliver!"

Anonymous et al. actually started their "hacking spree" on May 4...but no one really noticed.  Probably because most of the websites were foreign hosted sites (you know, outside the target "USA"), or sites most people have never even heard of.  Somewhere the SEO marketing gurus of jrzydevilmarketing.info and clearseo.net are quietly cursing, but if a tree falls on a SEO marketer's website, but no one ever visits it, does it still make a sound?

The attackers stepped up their game on May 5 and hacked even more websites.  And by more, I mean more websites most people have never heard of in the USA.

Protip: Hacking Chinese, French, and Italian websites in the name of #OpUSA does not make a bit of difference to 99.999% of people in the USA.

May 6 - They HACKED BANK OF AMERICA.  OMG!!!! No...wait...they hacked Blood Bank of America.  Really guys? You hacked a blood bank? This speaks of fail on so many levels its not funny.  That's like using your bat to call out a home run, then hitting a ground rule double.  Sure, it just went out of the park, but it's nowhere near as effective.

Early hours of May 7 - A short list of websites was published (because these guys are clearly riding a "short bus"), and finally a target barely worth noting - the Honolulu Police Department alert system which isn't even used anymore.

“HPD Alerts was a pilot program (used) to provide breaking information to the public,” Yu said. “It was recently discontinued due to technical problems not associated with the cyberattack.”

So let's see - Anonymous and company planned to take down Whitehouse.gov, FBI, and Bank of America.

In fact, they even made this statement:

Anonymous will make sure that this May 7th will be a day to remember. On that day Anonymous will start phase one of operation USA. America you have committed multiple war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and recently you have committed war crimes in your own country

So...you've got less than 24 hours for "OpUSA" to be a "day to remember".  So far it's been an epic failure which will be forgotten by Friday.

#TickTock

OpUSA to Strike US Government and Banking Infrastructure May 7

Anonymous and several other hacking groups are planning to attack the US Government and Banking Infrastructure on May 7, 2013.

I added a threat briefing on OpUSA, what's being targeted, and by who, to my Threat Watch site.

Currently, the only named targets of this attack are Whitehouse.gov, FBI, and Bank of America.  However, I'm sure other targets will be included.

If you work for a government agency, or in the banking agency, be vigilant, and be on the lookout for highly targeted phishing attacks.

You can read the full briefing at my Threat Watch site.