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Yesterday we heard the news that internet hacker group Anonymous had begun an attack on Sony in retaliation for their legal threats against PS3 modders. But now things are taking a bit of a dark turn, even for Anonymous. An offshoot of the main OpSony Anon group called SonyRecon has decided that hitting the Sony sites and services with DDoS attacks isn't enough. They've decided to go after Sony employees personally.
The process of gathering "Dox" (or personal documents) has already begun. This can include things like an address, marital status, phone number, IP addresses, or even the details of family members. This information can be leveraged to harass the target. The SonyRecon IRC has suggested participants could engage in all manner of trickery to pressure targets. "Call an AIDS hotline and ask them to anonymously tell the target they could have HIV," one post read.
The offshoot has reportedly already found information on high-level Sony execs including Group Executive Robert S. Wiesenthal, and Sony boss Howard Stringer. We're not even going to assert that this might be okay, but how NOT okay do you think this is?
Comments are closed on this article
Ulrich
April 07, 2011 at 10:15am
Well apparently the "kids" finally figured out that they acted in haste and have called off the attack due to it disrupting innocent gamers...I doubt this will stop it, as they have proven they don't have control of their own organization. Anom is not fighting the good fight.
Also I enjoy how they are saying don't blame us for the offshoot group that is collecting personal information.... I'd imagine all of sony, the customers of sony, the family members of sony employees, and all of the other damage this has caused to studio's, retail stores, trickle on down all the way to the consumer and even themselves would be saying the same thing. Isn't anom blaming everyone involved with sony in one way or another? Very hypocritical of them.
kixofmyg0t
April 07, 2011 at 6:07am
If Anon spent a fraction of thier effort on actually helping people instead of gathering dox and info on peoples children(which btw that makes me sick, really people? you have to bring their kids into this?) and posting craigslist ads the world might be a better place.
But no, the hell with fighting cyber crime and botnets and such. Lets get Mr Stringers childrens names and post an ad on craigs list for erotic services.....THATS fighting the good fight.
Yep, Sony doesnt want you to play pirated games on the PS3. ZOMG NOOOES!!!!!! GRAB YER INTRAWEB PITCHFORKS GUYS BURN SONY!!!! I GOT HIS KIDS UNDERWEAR SIZES!,, LETS ORDER 200 PIZZAS!!!
Anon=piracy fanboys.
Ghok
April 06, 2011 at 10:51pm
Some people are pretty sympathetic to Anonymous, even if they disagree with their tactics. One of the reasons this has lasted so long is because they've uncovered so much dirty stuff when they've done this kind of thing in the past. I somehow doubt this offshoot is going to garner any sympathy. They're really pushing their luck.
ncbfc1
April 06, 2011 at 5:13pm
Sonic see my earlier post, it defines terrorism. To say that people are uneducated due to the use of the term terrorist or terrorism is simply misguided. They are using illegal means to draw attention to their cause, in effect terrorism. The boston tea party was a terrorist act that led to revolution.
Ulrich
April 06, 2011 at 11:55am
If you have a problem with Sony sell your Sony items, and don't buy Sony products. Disrupting service to the innocent public is a terrorist act. Oh and news flash this won't help GeoHot in the real court system... and proves Sony's point. Also this is not the first or last time a company will remove a feature. Seriously you people need to get over your PS3 yellowdog issues... crap was a pain to use and that is if you got it working. Sony was nice enough to include it, and found that people were abusing it so they removed the option... this affected a hand full of people... literally.
bling581
April 07, 2011 at 6:19am
You're completely missing the point. The people that are complaining are the ones who already owned a PS3 when Sony started making changes. Who cares how many people were using it, they advertised it as a feature and had no right to forcibly remove it.
Ulrich
April 06, 2011 at 11:49am
To the guy aaronj2906 that was going on about his stupid family pictures being on his yellowdog PS3.... a.) what if the HDD failed you should have that backed up if they are so important to you. b.) you can put your photos on the XMB and view them just fine... in fact probably with a lot more ease than it took for you to view them on yellowdog. Now that you know you fail at all things... maybe you'll crawl back under that rock you came from.
bling581
April 06, 2011 at 10:07am
It's sad to see so many trying to defend Sony and are oblivious so what rights we SHOULD have as consumers. How many of you were actually affected by Sony's actions? I bet almost none. We live in a world where the government is doing little to defend us from the actions of giant corporations. You try to condemn groups like Anon because of their illegal actions, yet you fail to see the injustice of actions by companies like Sony. What is illegal or legal is no longer the same as right versus wrong. Just because a company can legally remove features you paid for, brick your device, or sue you for every penny you have just because you did what you wanted with something you paid for does not even come close to being justified. It's too bad that more people don't see the direction that our world and our country is heading because when they finally do it will be too late. Money and greed are ruling the world.
graydiggy
April 08, 2011 at 3:40am
I 100% agree with you. Im fighting with this one dude trying to tell him the same thing, but he is too thick headed and bent on being right, to even remotely understand what I am telling him.
ncbfc1
April 06, 2011 at 9:50am
Noun1.terrorist - a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually organizes with other terrorists in small cells; often uses religion as a cover for terrorist activitiesact of terrorism, terrorism, terrorist act - the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fearradical cell, terrorist cell - a cell of terrorists (usually 3 to 5 members); "to insure operational security the members of adjacent terrorist cells usually don't know each other or the identity of their leadership"cyber-terrorist, cyberpunk, hacker - a programmer who breaks into computer systems in order to steal or change or destroy information as a form of cyber-terrorism
da_samman
April 06, 2011 at 9:13am
I must concur with geohot and Anonymous on this issue. If Geohot did actually purchase the console, then he is free to do whatever he wants. If what he does unlocks more features, so be it, it's called getting your money's worth. When he posted the rootkey, he merely helped other PS3 owners to get their money's worth. Nothing more, nothing less. By the way, Anonymous is NOT a terrorist group. Do not DARE equate this group with those who willingly blow themselves up to kill others.
kixofmyg0t
April 06, 2011 at 8:32am
Geohot made a hack public that allowed people to play pirated games(because thats the REAL reason why you would want to "jailbreak" a PS3 people, be honest), which btw is illegal and Sony is going after him. Im over simplfing it but thats what it boils down to.
Now all you cheap ass people that dont believe you should pay for anything are calling up aids hotlines to trick people into thinking they are HIV positive? Thats so childish its sick.
Anon are cyber terrorists plain and simple. At the very least they are a bunch of cyber bullies. DDOSing the PSN and disrupting the service of people who could give a fuck less about that stupid fuck geohot or anon. Real good way to "stick it to the man" you impotent fucks.
Kuvasza
April 06, 2011 at 7:09am
My father had a quote for me when I was younger: "When I was twenty, I didn't care what the world thought about me. When I was thirty, I wondered what the world thought about me. When I was forty, I realized the world had never thought about me at all."
Don't like Sony product? Don't buy it. I'm still not buying Toshiba product for the sale of material to the Soviets in the 80's and the subsequent buying-of-congressmen to paper it over. That's the way the system works.
A friend of mine with a criminal record, his life is significantly worse than it would have been if he hadn't made one, stupid mistake. At some point or another, we're all looking for work, between jobs. It's the nature of the economy. His life when that happens is miserable. Companies have hundreds of applicants for positions. They hire someone without the baggage.
Our lives are hard enough without someone's spoiled child coming into it with a wrecking ball. No one has the time or bandwidth to deal with this kind of nonsense any more. Patience is worn thin. Go after Sony execs, don't be surprised if they apply real resources to putting the mark of Cain on your forehead, and don't be surprised when what comes after is harsh, unpleasant, and unforgiving.
Danthrax66
April 06, 2011 at 6:51am
Honestly I feel that the employees are responsible for the actions of a company and I see no problem with this. Especially since they are starting near the top and working their way down. Obviously going after a janitor is fucked up but if the people in charge realize "hey we are doing stupid shit" then something may change. And lets not forget that they chose to work for Sony and they are responsible for that companies actions, if they see the things Sony is doing and don't agree with it they should quit and tell them why they are quitting and if they want their talent to remain then they should stop being asshats. I understand people need to work and jobs aren't exactly plentiful, but when it comes down to it I would rather have my morals than work for a bullshit company. It's kind of like the dilema of the contractors working on the Death Star when it got blown up the second time, they chose to work on the death star, they didn't have to but they did and as a result they died, just an example of course...
schmag
April 06, 2011 at 6:19am
no one delivers pizza where I live..... I would love it if they did though.
graydiggy
April 06, 2011 at 5:12am
This is to anyone calling Anons a terrorist group or even terrorists. You are all f**king stupid. These are just a bunch of people from 4chan and funnyjunk as well as a few other open forum sites on the web, that are fed up with the BS that sony is dishing out. They are not going to hurt a single person. The worste they will do is pranks. Like ordering 200 pizzas and haveing them sent to whomever their target is. You think the feds will get involved. HA!!!! Good luck with them. If Anon were a threat in the form of terrorism, it would take the governments of the world to even get a few of them.
They are not an actual threat to anyone. I actually condone this. Sony crossed the line because they are greedy pricks. They are losing the console wars and want to find a way to make more money. Instead of sueing someone that want to make their product better, they need to do it themselves. When I buy a Xbox 360 I have full right to do whatever the hell I want to it. Yeah I may get banned from Xbox Live, but oh well. I have another Xbox 360 for my online game play.
I would highly suggest that you people watch what you say on these threads because Anon is always watching. You may have 200 pizzas show up at your door that you didnt order, just because you are a D-bag. Instead of spitting out your stupid nonsense with no previous education on the matter, go do some research and learn some facts.
We are Anonymous, We are Legion, We are unstoppable.
kixofmyg0t
April 06, 2011 at 8:38am
yes because ordering 200 pizzas is a real good way of showing how powerful you are. THATS what makes you a MAN. Youre a cyber terrorist group, nothing more.
graydiggy
April 06, 2011 at 4:44pm
It is a form of being fucking annoying. Nothing more. Its not terrorism. Random stupid phone calls to be annoying. We do the same thing to Westboro Baptist Church. Do you call us terrorists now? Because we are protecting the rights of our fellow people?
So basically you say that Westboro Baptist Church is cool too. to say that God Hates fags, and thank God for Dead Soldiers and to protest at a service members funeral. You are stupid. Nothing less that ignorant. Like I said, do some research.
kixofmyg0t
April 07, 2011 at 5:48am
Protecting what rights? Seriously its a fucking game console, not a fucking religon. What right are you protecting? Hmmm? The "right" to pirate software? My PS3 doesnt play Xbox 360 games, why dont you post craigslist ads becuase Sony is so greedy that they wont let me play any game I want on the thing right? (dont even bother trying to tell me why the ps3 wont play 360 games tard, we all know why).
Using your half logic since i bought a ps3 i should be able to do WHATEVER i want with it right? Well i wanna play Wii games now. So get teh intrawebs in a frenzy cuz you cant. Its ALL because Sony and Nintendo are greedy motherfuckers now isnt it?
Or what about my car? Since i bought it i should be able to do anything right? well i want it to run on jp8. It wont because GM are greedy fucks right?
Oh and yes i would label the westboro church a terrorist group, Im a soldier.
But as far as these "rights" ur talking about....all you want is the "right" to pirate games. If thats ur goal then get a PC. Its too easy to pirate games for PC. Problem fucking solved.
graydiggy
April 08, 2011 at 3:30am
You missed what I was saying. I was simply stating that we should be able to do whatever we want with something we pay hundreds of dollars for. You are throwing it way out of line by making shit up that can't even happen. Im not trying to start a cyber war with you.
Also, some of the things that sony is "reporting" is either not happening, or it is in fact a shit bag offshoot cell of people with no relation to Anon. Go look up the Jesse Slaughter debacle or the Justin Bieber Korea thing. Hell even look up the WBC shit and see what the true Anons have done. We troll stupid people. We don't want to cause any physical harm to any person, we just like to make them understand that they suck and we won't stand for it. Hell we are even trolling Rebecca Black cause she is a horrible, horrible, horrible singer looking for attention. Go look Up her video on youtube and see how many dislikes she has. 90% are from trolls like Anon.
If I want to put Ubuntu On a PS3 that I payed $300 for then why shouldnt I? Yeah I have a PC, but maybe I want to fold on the PS3 like I used to be able to before the update. Now I lose My productivity and so does Standford. My team (Maximum PC 11108) suffers losses because I cannot put my console into it anymore. I want to do good with that console. But sony is going to be a Nazi and stop me. I was never doing any harm by doing that. In fact, I was doing loads of good. hHundreds of thousands of people were doing great things by folding on their PS3. I started folding back when I was in the U.S. Army stationed in Germany. A Soldier, just like you.
Here is a link to Standfords folding stuff incase you aren't sure what i am talking about. http://folding.stanford.edu/
I never want to Pirate anything. Not my style. I believe that the creators of good games and media, deserve to profit from it. They busted their asses to do the work< they should get what they deserve. But for Sony to take away something that was a majority of good, is just immoral and unjust.
If you want to play Wii games, Get a Wii. 360 games? Get that. If you want your car to run with JP8 then its going to take alot of work and a new engine. But it can be done. You just have to put the money, time and dedication into it.
Oh and fuck WBC. They can all burn in hell for all I care.
Free_Wheely
April 06, 2011 at 12:40am
So could someone please show me the proof that this is actually happening. Oh wait a minute it appeared on a Playstation website that has quoted some posts on a forum. Well there you are what more proof do we need?
Lots of posters on here jumping straight in with both feet.
aaronj2906
April 06, 2011 at 12:25am
I put YellowDog Linux on my PS3 (using the 10%) option. With an HDMI TV, it did work as a computer. Surfing worked as a (gasp, non-Microsoft computer). I paid $600.00 for a product, knowing about the OtherOS feature. I USED the OTHEROS feature.
That feature is now gone. A feature I paid for (and still have a recteipt for) is gone.
I have not purchased a Sony product since. I never plan to. They did me wrong. I would love a chance to return the favor, but I can't, not enough hours in the day to waste time on them. I am GLAD that someone else can.
They took something away from me ( by way of making me choose between online interoperability and upgrading a firmware release to remove something I was using ). I had photos of my kids on that Linux partition. I caught it (what they were planning to do) and removed them from the drive prior to firmware flash as a precaution. "They wouldn't take that away, would they?"
Guess what. They did. Anyone who posts here squawking about how wrong it is to go after Sony without knowing what they have done needs to read up on the last year's worth of CRAP they bestowed to their clients.
Imagine buying a hatch-back car. Take it home and drive it for a couple years. The manufactures decides to change the design, comes to your house and welds all the doors shut. You can still technicallly climb in through the hatch-back, right? Your key will work there too and you can still lock and unlock it. No harm done.
Folks like GEOHOT and his ilk are the binary freedom fighters we need, and a court system running at the behest of organizations' deep pockets we do not need.
I have my photos only because my distrust of SCEA was rightfully placed ( and then proven correct ). I think it was at least unjust and in breach of contract ( my receipt ).
As they have done to me, I would LOVE the chance to take something away from them.
For some of the dollars I spent to put that machine in my living roon, sweat and bloodshed (work injuries) were involved. Sony decided I couldn't keep what I paid for. I do not accept that.
As far as I am concerned, these employees are fair-game. They can leave their employment to rid themselves of Sony and being pursued, hatefully, by the people they screwed over. I feel nothing but malace toward Sony and any Sony employee.
They made clear their intent on how they would treat me. Pure indignation. Open season on them.
Renaissance 2K
April 06, 2011 at 11:18am
A better car analogy would be if you bought a car with OnStar as a standard feature, and six months after your purchase, the OnStar service was shut down because it was expensive to maintain and some people were abusing it. There's a clause in your OnStar agreement that states this can happen at any time.
In fact, that's even stricter than what happened in Sony's case. You had an option: disable the third-party OS feature, or disable access to PlayStation Network. There was no ninja firmware update; no ninja IT drones breaking into your office and updating your PlayStation without your permission. In fact, if you get as far as to download the update and ready the installer, the installer tells you what is about to change, including the removal of the Other OS feature.
I also think the assumption about your partition still being accessible post-update is somewhat foolish. If I heard that something was going to be inaccessible, I would assume the worst and back things up immediately, if I wasn't already running regular backups.
This is the part that's so frustrating about the whole "It's because they took away Other OS" argument. You can build a Linux system with HDMI and a game controller for much, much less than the $600 that the PlayStation 3 originally cost. Is having them unified like that really worth the increased cost? I can understand the novelty of such a setup, but for every hacker that found some legitimate use for it, there was another that claims they had their entire life on that tiny little 10% partition, and it's "surprise" removal was nothing less than sheer devastation. And so freed were the dogs of war, as it were.
I'm not a fan of the "I'm getting my money's worth" argument either. Opening up the PS3 facilitated piracy and cheating. As a result, Sony will be using CD keys on their future titles, which makes buying and selling used more difficult, which in turn prevents me from getting my money's worth. (This is on top of the publishers and independent developers that will think twice about supporting the platform due to it being compromised. If you think this is a ridiculous claim, look at the PC gaming industry.) Joining a malicious server ends with me getting my saved data reset or being locked in place by a trio of kiddies running around with perfect aim and 500% speed, also preventing me from getting my money's worth.
Why is my money worth less than yours, especially when I'm using a PlayStation 3 to, you know, play games, which was its intended purpose? Why should I have to deal with vengeful hatchback drivers slashing my tires, rear-ending me, and running me off the road when I didn't care that much about OnStar in the first place?
Yes, let's continue blaming Sony for something that they warned us about since the very beginning via their user agreement. Let's not blame the hackers for destroying the PlayStation ecosystem and making everything more difficult for legitimate consumers in the long run.
aaronj2906
April 06, 2011 at 8:24pm
squawk!
My perception of your response is that you think I think my money is worth more than yours. (Where did you get this?). And that you think corporations have the right to remove features that people pay for if they want to.
CD keys are nothing new. How old are you?
Your analogy does't not hold up. Although I suspect arguing with you is pointless.
May your car doors be one day welded shut :)
Gezzer
April 05, 2011 at 11:06pm
I agree that anon seems to have elected themselves our collective conscience. It seems they feel empowered to enact what justice they decide is needed regardless of any damage they might inflict to innocent people.
No matter what your feelings are on the whole jailbreaking subject, anon has indeed crossed a line. I fear that any efforts to rein in anon and make them accountable for their actions may be futile. At least in the short term. I'm not even sure if "Feds" alone will be able to bring this about. I think it'll take a multi-country effort to really put the brakes to anon's activities.
machew100
April 05, 2011 at 10:24pm
I think it's great when people take a stand and do something about a big company that's being a total dick. I approve of taking on monolithic companies, to at least make a dent and show people that even faceless companies can be made to flinch. Companies and industries are all continually merging into humongous economic monopolies anyhow, and to be honest that worries me.
Navydoc2024
April 05, 2011 at 8:53pm
As has been said multiple times, a line has been crossed. Hopefully the feds can get involved and take this group down. This line was crossed awhile ago by this group as a whole. This vigilantism and I would no more tolerate someone going around and shooting those that they assume are guilty than I would condone these idiots assuming they are right and ruining others lives. I would say that if they feel so strongly then stop being "anonymous" and use real names. I doubt that will ever happen though because they are basically cowards hiding behind their computers but willing to attack others.
Red Ensign
April 05, 2011 at 7:07pm
They have to know the Feds will get involved if they follow thru. The Feds have locked people away for these kinds of cyber crimes (and less) before and there's very few places on Earth these idiots will be able to hide unless they feel like living the Taliban lifestyle.
don2041
April 05, 2011 at 6:09pm
Every day I think people cannot get any stupider Every day I am proved HORRIBLY WRONG
Danielt876
April 05, 2011 at 5:59pm
I dont think its wrong at all. I despise Sony and I'm glad someone is getting back at them for everything they did to GeoHot. Nintendo and Micrsoft both have consoles that have been hacked and all they do is ban them from getting online and thats all they really should do. If someone wants to buy and hack something they should be able to, and I think that Sony should ban anyone who hacks their PS3, but taking it this far is just stupid. The company needs to die...now.
Zachary K.
April 05, 2011 at 6:46pm
while what sony is doing is wrong, they have every right to do it. and sony does not need to die because they make other good products.
and you really accept anon terrorizing the workers and their families? I can tolerate anon attacking the company, but the people? unacceptable! this anon off-shoot should be sent to get-mo like the terrorists (that place is still open, right? whatever, send them to the next best thing).
JMG760
April 05, 2011 at 9:34pm
Perhaps terrrorizing the workers can be a bit extreme to some people to understand but you need to see the whole case on how this started. When sony infringe Geohot property, were there people (very few) feeling sorrow about geohot personal property? Sony should of taken this case in a more rational manner for example, banning him from their network, sony working something out with geohot to see where they failed, or simply you modify your equipment, you void your warranty type of deal. Then you wonder why terrrorists exist!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Humility + Knowledge= Respect
Arrogance + Ignorance= Rudeness
Ulrich
April 05, 2011 at 5:25pm
I hope they get caught, and thrown into a prison for terorrist acts. There is a line... and they crossed it long ago.
warptek2010
April 05, 2011 at 5:22pm
I would never have thought to see something along the lines of an internet version of the... what was the name of that Michael Douglas movie... The Star Chamber? Come to life. Although, I donot condone what they do and it is in fact illegal and unethical Sony, sadly enough, has reaped what it has sown.
kalamity116
April 05, 2011 at 4:39pm
"e-Terrorists" might be a good term for these guys. They may think they fight in the name of "justice" , but they're really the same type of people that strap bombs onto their chests and blow themselves up in the streets; albiet with less violence. Sure, it's non-violent. Doesn't mean it's any more justified. How the hell do these people think they're above everyone else such that they can harrass anyone and everyone with impunity? Is this justice? I think not.
These guys need to find a new hobby or go play in a freeway.
Biceps
April 05, 2011 at 11:35pm
Really? Really? "They are the same as people who strap bombs on their chests and blow themselves up in the streets; albiet with less violence." You mean NO violence? WTF?
Since when is harrassing some executives equivalent to blowing up children?
I find the frequency with which people are comfortable tossing around the word 'terrorist' to be very unsettling. I can be more clear: calling people from Anonymous 'terrorists' is sick and wrong. Terrorists KILL people, terrorists blow up babies and soldiers and anyone unlucky enough to get caught in the blast wave. Terrorists kill babies to make a point. Terrorists cut the heads off of civilians and put it on Youtube. Terrorists are sick, twisted, sorry excuses for humans. I don't believe that the people from Anonymous fall in the same catagory even a little bit.
I don't agree with what Anonymous (or, rather an offshoot of Anonymous - let's be accurate) is threatening to do, and I don't condone it. But I believe labeling them 'terrorists' cheapens the sacrifice of every person who has been killed or has lost a loved one to real terrorism. It is also important to realize using a term like terrorism opens the door to a new and frightening set of options for dealing with said 'terrorists', which is not good. While a harsh spanking might be in order, I don't believe anyone from Anonymous needs to be water-boarded or put in front of a firing squad. Do you?
Watch what you say, others who are even dumber than you will follow your lead. At first, you might think that might make you a leader, till you look behind you and see a bunch of angry idiots in an uncontrollable mob, right behind you. Good luck with that.
TommM
April 05, 2011 at 4:03pm
Nice of these losers to annoint themselves as judge, jury and executioner for anyone they seem fit to torment.
I'm looking forward to the day when they get busted.....we don't need this on the WWW. It just feeds the "we need controls on the Internet" people.
Zachary K.
April 05, 2011 at 3:50pm
and we have found it, the extremists of the internet. they are terrorists! hope they die in a fire.
jgrimoldy
April 05, 2011 at 3:20pm
I am not condoning this tactic, but I can certainly understand why. Personal accountability can be a very strong motivator...
Neufeldt2002
April 05, 2011 at 2:49pm
Never underestimate the power of stupidity in large groups.
Please make publish to facebook opt-in, not opt-out.
