Anonops #5: Anonymous en de MO-revoluties

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http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/anonymous-hackers-threaten-egypt-govt-websites-reprisal-censorship
Global internet hackers threatened to attack websites affiliated with the Egyptian government on Wednesday in retaliation for the regime’s blocking of social-networking sites used by opposition groups to mobilize Tuesday’s “Day of Anger” protests.

The posse of hackers known only as “Anonymous” issued an online press release on Wednesday carrying the following strongly-worded warning to the Egyptian government: “Anonymous challenges all those who are involved in censorship. Anonymous wants you to offer free access to uncensored media in your entire country.”

“When you ignore this message, not only will we attack your government websites, Anonymous will also make sure the international media sees the horrid reality you impose upon your people,” the statement continued.

Egyptians were denied access to both Facebook and Twitter following Tuesday’s protests, in which tens of thousands took to the streets shouting anti-government slogans and demanding political reform. Violent clashes erupted between demonstrators and security forces, leaving at least four killed and hundreds injured. Police used tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets to disperse protesters.

The “Day of Anger” was initially called for by online protest groups, including the 6 April youth movement, that had been inspired by recent events in Tunisia.

In recent years, social networking websites have been used by growing numbers of young Egyptians as a platform from which to voice their political and economic grievances. Since 2008, Facebook activists have been calling for strikes and sit-ins to protest rising inflation and chronic authoritarianism.

“By imposing censorship upon its own people and condemning these freedoms, the Egyptian government has revealed itself to be criminal and has made itself an enemy of Anonymous,” the hackers’ statement noted.

Last month, the mysterious group established themselves as a force to be reckoned with after having disrupted several major western websites that they accused of working against online whistle-blower Wikileaks. Victims included the Visa, MasterCard, PayPal and Amazon websites.

Earlier this month, Anonymous turned its attention eastward when it targeted key websites affiliated with the now-defunct Tunisian government following the successful popular uprising in that country.

ANONYMOUS - OPERATION EGYPT - A Press Release

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1.
Translation:
2.

3.
Ministry of Interior
4.
Office of the minister
5.
Memo 1 # 06/b/mn [slightly illegible]
6.
Secret and Very Important
7.
Topic: Plan to fight back against popular demonstrations
8.
Strategies:
9.
- Allowing demonstrations to pass in the streets of cities and villages of the republic starting from date A and not getting in the way of their walk and being extremely careful not to use live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas unless an order is issued by the respective specialist according to the specialization table you have
10.
- Employing a number of thugs and paying them decent amounts and meeting them in their houses and in the gathering locations and one on one by the elements permitted to do so and the meetings should be unofficial and explain the deployment plan according to the attached schedule of locations labeled B1 and informing them of mobilization time and the plan to spread gradual chaos mentioned in the memo
11.
- Surveillance of all members of organizations and political parties and coordinating with printing presses and publishing houses and communication systems and enforcing a complete record of messages and incoming and outgoing phone calls and explaining their clarifying with a direct report as soon as you get the information
12.
- Communication methods (cellular – internet) will be cut off starting six AM on Friday 28/1/2011 while keeping landline services therefore all deployed officers and personnel must use handheld wireless communicators and make sure they’re in encryption mode
13.
- The plan to deploy police personnel and investigation officers [Mabahes / Maba7es – Translator] and security elements in civil clothing according to the attachment labeled B2
14.
- Limiting the walk of protests on Friday 28/1/2011 in public squares and major squares and cutting them off in case they reach warning locations according to the attached map labeled B3
15.
- Making sure security elements in plain clothing are armed with wooden sticks and metal maces of a small size (hand held) to use for arresting the primary elements present in the protest without revealing any violence
16.
- Shooting rubber bullets and tear gas without using live ammunition and informing everyone of that unless it is absolutely necessary

quote:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/28/syria-internet-down_n_815337.html

On the same day that Egypt has suspended online activity, Syria has also blocked internet service, according to reports.

Syria is known for a tight control of the internet, which was tightened further after the unrest in Tunisia, reports Reuters. Now, Al Arabiya is reporting that internet services have gone down completely in the country. Previously, Syria had blocked programs that "allow access to Facebook Chat from cellphones," according to Reuters.

Egypt's online services have reportedly been down since last night as the country's deadly protests continued into what was planned as the largest day so far.

Facebook has reportedly been blocked in Egypt for days, before which it was being used as a key tool for organizers. It was also used by the successful revolutionaries in Tunisia, raising concerns among other nations that it posed a threat.

UPDATE (10:32EST) Al Arabiya is reporting that a Syrian official has denied the internet service is down.

UPDATE: Reports are emerging that the Internet is not down in Syria, although the previous service disruptions are in place.

This is a developing story. More to come.

quote:

http://www.dailytech.com/ProWikileaks+Hacker+Group+Calls+For+War+Against+the+UK+Government/article20774.htm

Fiery statement from Anonymous follows the arrest of several of the group's hackers

Amid the drama unfolding in Egypt, drama of a very different nature was unfolding in the U.S. over the weekend. Hackers belonging to one of the highest profile online communities have accused the U.S. and UK governments of declaring "war" on them, and vow to fight back.

I. The Search

The turmoil began on Thursday, when the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations executed 40 search warrants, raiding the houses of members of the group Anonymous, a 1,000+ member group of online enthusiasts/hackers who met on the image-board site 4Chan.

The raids followed Anonymous members coordinating and executing distributed denial of service (DDoS) and other malicious attacks on credit card companies and financial institutions. The attacks came after those companies denied funding for controversial leaks site Wikileaks, saying that the site was supporting illegal activity. The hackers used a DDoS program dubbed the Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) tool -- an homage to Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back -- in their attacks.

Anonymous dubbed the attacks "Operation Payback". The attacks were executed during the second week of December and succeeded in briefly disabling some of the targeted businesses' web portals.

Coldbood, Anonymous's unofficial spokesman described the attacks, stating:

Anonymous is supporting WikiLeaks not because we agree or disagree with the data that is being sent out, but we disagree with any from of censorship on the internet. If we let WikiLeaks fall without a fight then governments will think they can just take down any sites they wish or disagree with.

Authorities have since worked with financial institutions and antivirus software makers to weed out and block the LOIC, putting an end (for now) to the attacks.

II. The Arrests

Now international authorities are getting a bit of "payback" of their own. In the Netherlands several arrests were reportedly made. And in the UK five people ages 25 to 16 were taken in for questioning. Among those arrested was the 22-year-old spokesperson, Coldblood.

Arrests may be in store in the U.S., as well, pending the results of the FBI's investigation. As of Monday no U.S.-based arrests had been announced yet.

The FBI issued a press release, stating:

A group calling itself “Anonymous” has claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they conducted them in protest of the companies’ and organizations’ actions. The attacks were facilitated by the software tools the group makes available for free download on the Internet. The victims included major U.S. companies across several industries.

The FBI also is reminding the public that facilitating or conducting a DDoS attack is illegal, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, as well as exposing participants to significant civil liability.

III. Anonymous Says it is at "War"

Following the arrests Anonymous has released a statement [PDF] commenting:

Not only does it reveal the fact that you do not seem to understand the present-day political and technological reality, we also take this as a serious declaration of war from yourself, the UK government, to us, Anonymous, the people.

First and foremost, it is important to realize what a DDoS attack exactly is and what it means in the contemporary political context. As traditional means of protest (peaceful demonstrations, sit-ins, the blocking of a crossroads or the picketing of a factory fence) have slowly turned into nothing but an empty, ritualised gesture of discontent over the course of the last century, people have been anxiously searching for new ways to pressure politicians and give voice to public demands in a manner that might actually be able to change things for the better. Anonymous has, for now, found this new way of voicing civil protest in the form of the DDoS, or Distributed Denial of Service, attack. Just as is the case with traditional forms of protest, we block

access to our opponents infrastructure to get our message across. Whether or not this infrastructure is located in the real world or in cyberspace, seems completely irrelevant to us.

Moreover, we would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight on the difference between a DDoS attack and hacking, as these concepts often seem to be confounded when media and policy-makers talk about Anonymous. Hacking as such is defined by the law as ‘unauthorised access to a computer or network’, whereas a DDoS attack is simply a case of thousands of people making legitimate connections to a publicly accessible webserver at the same time, using up the entire bandwidth or processing power of the given server at once and thereby causing a huge ‘traffic jam’.

It is clear then, that arresting somebody for taking part in a DDoS attack is exactly like arresting somebody for attending a peaceful demonstration in their hometown. Anonymous believes this right to peacefully protest is one of the fundamental pillars of any democracy and should not be restricted in any way.

Moreover, we have noted that similar attacks have also been carried out against Wikileaks itself, yet so far, nobody has been arrested in connection with these attacks, nor are there even any signs of an investigation into this issue at all. Yet, we know exactly who was responsible for that attack. Anonymous believes it is unfair and hypocritical to attempt to put these 5 arrested anons to trial without even attempting to find those who DDoS’ed a website which you oppose. We can therefore only assume that these arrests are politically motivated, and were being carried out under pressure from the US government. Anonymous can not, and will not, stand idle while this injustice is being done.

What exact steps Anonymous will take to fight back in this "war" against the UK and Netherlands governments remains to be seen. It also remains to be seen whether the group will similarly call for a war against the U.S. if it makes arrests.

The members of Anonymous arrested in the UK face up to 10 years in prison and ~$8,000 USD in fines, under the UK's Computer Misuse Act.

In related news, Anonymous is calling for internet action [video] in support of protesters in Egypt. The announcement comes after Egyptian authorities are seeking to block communication, impairing protesters' ability to organize.

quote:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/31/egypt.protests.where.else/index.html

(CNN) -- What began as a popular uprising that toppled the Tunisian government before spreading into Algeria, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan and, of course, Egypt, may now be headed for Syria.

Opposition movements in Syria are calling for mass protests on Saturday against the rule of President Bashar Al-Assad.

The groups are organizing on Facebook, with several pages promoting protests in Damascus, Aleppo and other cities.

Protest organizers want better living standards, human rights improvements and a greater voice for youth, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that studies and translates news accounts and social media postings.

It's unclear how many people might join the protests. A few thousand people had expressed their support for the movement on the Facebook pages, some of them undoubtedly from outside the country, the research institute said.

On Sunday, Sudan got a taste of the protests. An undetermined number of university students and others demanded the removal of the government in Facebook-organized protests that its leaders said were inspired by the events in Tunisia.

The students protested at a university in Khartoum, chanting "No to high prices, no to corruption" and "Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan together as one."

"The people of Sudan will not remain silent anymore. It is about time we demand our rights and take what's ours in a peaceful demonstration that will not involve any acts of sabotage," according an English language version of the group's profile on Facebook.

"We will demonstrate against the rising of the prices, the corruption, unemployment and all false practices of the government such as violence against women and lashing them in ways that breaks all laws of religions and humanity and the violation of minorities' rights."

The Sudan Tribune newspaper, citing a statement from police, said 70 people, 40 of them students, were arrested after the protests.

Meanwhile, a Facebook page has surfaced calling for a protest on Thursday in Yemen, which has been the site of a few demonstrations already.

The Tunisian protests that sparked the region's unrest sprang up after Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old college graduate, set himself on fire in protest of police confiscation of the fruit cart he had set up to make money. He later died.

The protests resulted in the collapse of Tunisia's government and inspired similar protests in other countries, including Algeria, Jordan, Sudan and Yemen.

The protests have reached their zenith to date in Egypt, where untold thousands of Egyptians have ignored government curfews and clashed with police over demands that President Hosni Mubarak resign.

A popular Facebook page that helped organize the Cairo protests was dedicated to Bouazizi.

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# Oilyleaf_normal xitsawrap RT @OfficialAnonOps: #Anonymous / #OpEgypt are attacking www.moiegypt.gov.eg in support of the #Egypt protests. Retweet and join the fight against censorship. 10 minutes ago via web

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Op maandag 31 januari 2011 20:53 schreef -Strawberry- het volgende:
Je bent er maar druk mee Papierversnipperaar.

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Tunisians, we need your voice. Please join the IRC at our webchat (click here). We will keep you updated on new addresses for AnonNews, in case it gets blocked. The migration has been completed, we should be running stable from now on. Whoever attacks AnonNews at this moment, thanks for testing our new host.

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Dear Egyptians,

We are providing a Telefax bridge to the internet for you to use. Due to the harsh internet blackout in Egypt, we are trying to establish all possible means of communications for you.

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It was only last week that Google acquired SayNow, a voice messaging startup, They’re already putting them to good use. I mean really good use.

As they’ve just announced on the Google Blog, the search giant has teamed up with the incoming SayNow team and Twitter to create a simple speak-to-tweet service for people currently engulfed in the turmoil in Egypt.

quote:

Egypt says it's shutting down mobile phone networks

[Update 1:12 a.m. Tuesday in Cairo, 6:12 p.m. ET Monday] Egypt's information ministry told CNN Tuesday that the Noor Group, an Internet service provider, has been shut down. The move essentially takes the country offline.

Minnutes earlier, Egypt's information ministry that mobile phone networks will be shut down in Egypt during the next few hours ahead of demonstrators' planned "march of millions."

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dinmend RT @alphaleah: PLS RETWEET!! French ISP offers free dial up internet access ~ +33 1 72 89 01 50 Login password: toto #egypt #jan25 #cairo PLS RETWEET!!

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Sinistere videomanifesten, romantische compilaties van betogingen en petities tegen providers. Internetactivisten wereldwijd betuigen hun steun aan het Egyptische volk. En niet alleen dat: handleidingen om je tegen traangas te weren, tips om internetblokkades te ontwijken en nummers van bellijnen waar demonstranten verslag kunnen doen worden in rap tempo verspreid.

“Het komt goed, Anonymous zit er bovenop”, schrijft de beweging, die eerder sites van Wikileaks-vijandige bedrijven platlegde, op Facebook. Via YouTube verzoekt Anonymous de VS om “per direct alle militaire en politieke steun aan het regime van Hosni Mubarak te stoppen” en op Anonnews.org publiceerde ze een open brief aan nieuwsorganisatie Al Jazeera om te bedanken voor de “onpartijdige en moedige journalistiek”.

Anonymous ziet zichzelf als machtsfactor. “We zijn een legioen. We vergeven niet, we vergeten niet”, is de standaard afsluiting van haar manifesten. Via Twitter informeert ze duizenden volgers over de laatste ontwikkelingen. “Geen politiebureau is aan brandstichting ontkomen op de weg van Alex naar Caïro”, luidt een tweet van 14.33 uur. [er is meer]

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Help those behind the firewall by lending your bandwidth.

By joining the cloud, you allow people to harness the power of free expression through the internet. The Global Proxy Cloud allows you to donate your unused bandwidth to ensure that governments can’t keep their people behind the firewall.

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ioerror Jacob Appelbaum
Want to directly help Tor get non-state controlled internet access to Egypt? Give: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/egypt_blackout #egypt #jan25

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With the Internet down across Egypt, Google and Twitter have come up with a way for Egyptians to tweet using their phones. Now, Dan Lyons reports, a group of hackers is close to delivering software that could turn laptops into low-cost Internet routers—and help protesters organize.

Hours after the government in Egypt shut down that country’s access to the Internet, hackers around the world started banding together to craft some kind of workaround. And one group claims to be only a day or two away from delivering a partial solution.

Their initiative is called the Open Mesh Project and it began when Shervin Pishevar, an Internet entrepreneur in Palo Alto, California, posted a message on Twitter calling for help shipping software into Egypt that could turn regular laptops into low-cost Internet routers, forming what’s known as a “mesh network,” where each computer can route messages along to the others.

Article - Lyons Egypt Internet Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images; Ben Curtis / AP Photo

Since then, engineers from around the world have been spreading the word and kicking in to help. The mesh network would at least let people communicate with others located close to them. The laptops can all talk to each other. If one goes out, messages just find another way to zip through the cluster of machines.

“This would at least let people build an ad hoc mobile network,” Pishevar said. “At the very least, people inside Egypt will be able to communicate with each other and organize.” [cont]

quote:

The Most AMAZING video on the internet #Egypt #jan25
The Most AMAZING video on the internet #Egypt #jan25
- epic vid, go to 0:45 and shit brix
http://live.reuters.com/Event/Unrest_in_Egypt - live Reuters updates
http://www.ikhwanweb.com/breakingNews.php - muslim brotherhood breaking news. most is unconfirmed and exaggerated
http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/ - live coverage
http://twitter.com/Jan25voices - egyptian in the centre of the protests calling from his phone to another country and his friend there posting the calls on twitter.
http://twitter.com/aymanm - aljazeera journalist
http://twitter.com/nolanjazeera - aljazeera journalist
http://twitter.com/rawyarageh- aljazeera journalist
http://live.cnn.com/ - good for live coverage of major events like presidents speaking
http://www.cnn.com/video/ - missed the news? check the vids

Anonymous involvement:
http://nakedsecurity.soph(...)ackers-launch-ddos-a
ttack/

ANONYMOUS - OPERATION EGYPT - A Press Release

http://hammeroftruth.com/2011/the-anonymous-revolution-in-egypt/
http://blogs.forbes.com/a(...)-mass-faxes-wikileak
s-cables-to-egypt/

For more information and for coordination purposes:
irc.accessirc.net (72.250.175.12) port 6667
channel: #egypt-revolution

Contributing to the Tor network and helping Egypt:
https://www.accessnow.org/proxy-cloud/page/join-the-cloud

What to do if your government shuts down everything:
http://lifehacker.com/574(...)de-internet-shutdown
http://www.budgetdialup.com/html/support_access_1.htm
http://lifehacker.com/140(...)-internet-connection
http://www.sailmail.com/