Anonymous probed for hack threat against WikiLeaker captors
'Operation Bradical' to avenge Manning treatment
The Pentagon has asked for an investigation into threats made by the Anonymous hacking collective against officials at Quantico, the Marine brig that is holding accused WikiLeaker Pfc. Bradley Manning.
The probe was requested following news reports that members of Anonymous were discussing ways to avenge the 23-year-old Manning, who is being forced to strip naked each night while held in solitary confinement and stand at attention in the morning. According to a report published on Monday by Forbes, Anonymous griefers have singled out Department of Defense Press Secretary Geoff Morell and Chief Warrant Officer Denise Barnes as targets.
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The goal of the campaign, dubbed “Operation Bradical,” is to “dox” the two officials, which Forbes says is Anonymous lingo for compiling crowdsourced documentation about the individuals with the goal of using it for mass harassment. Reporting the individuals to the police for drug or sex offenses, tricking their ISPs into canceling service, and “messing with their social security numbers” are all on the table, according to the report.
According to a report published on Tuesday by AFP, Pentagon officials have alerted law enforcement agencies to the reported threats.
While Anonymous is best known for orchestrating DDoS, or distributed denial of service, attacks on the websites of groups its members criticize, the group recently perpetrated a devastating hack against the servers of security firm HBGary. The breach, which exposed tens of thousands of proprietary emails discussing the private matters of clients, came shortly after HBGary CEO Aaron Barr, told The Financial Times he planned to unmask the leaders of Anonymous in the next few days.
Barr resigned in response to the attacks.
According to Forbes, Operation Bradical demands that Manning be given “sheets, blankets, any religious texts he desires, adequate reading material, clothes, and a ball.”
According to a blog post published on Saturday by Manning's attorney:
The Brig has stripped PFC Manning of all of his clothing for the past three nights, and they intend to continue this practice indefinitely. Each night, Brig guards force PFC Manning to relinquish all of his clothing. He then lies in a cold jail cell naked until the following morning, when he is required to endure the humiliation of standing naked at attention for the morning roll call. According to Marine spokesperson, First Lieutenant Brian Villiard, the decision to strip him naked every night is for PFC Manning's own protection. Villiard stated that it would be "inappropriate" to explain what prompted these actions "because to discuss the details would be a violation of PFC Manning's privacy."
Manning, who has been incarcerated since July, has spent much of that time under suicide watch or prevention-of-injury designations. Among other things, they require him to be confined to a 6-by-12-foot cell with a bed, a drinking fountain, and a toilet for about 23 hours a day, and heavily restrict him from reading or exercising. Guards check on him every five minutes by asking him if he's OK. Manning is required to respond in some affirmative manner.
Pentagon officials say the treatment is not for punitive reasons.
I was watching the news when they were talking about how members of Anonymous have already been getting raided by the feds. This government really does not like information getting leaked out. :nervous:
aNYthing
quote:
Originally posted by Moongoose
Bad example, everyone loves canadians.
QFT... when i go ooverseas, I claim to be Canadian. No joke.
I actually want to move to Kanukistan in next few years. I hear that once the global warming truly kicks in, my planned purchase of beach front property in Halifax will finally pay off - it will be the new miami beach.
I was watching the news when they were talking about how members of Anonymous have already been getting raided by the feds. This government really does not like information getting leaked out. :nervous:
P.J. Crowley resigned as spokesman for the State Department Sunday. According to CNN, Crowley came under pressure from the Obama administration to step down in the wake of making controversial comments about the Pentagon's treatment of Army private Bradley Manning, who is currently detained over suspicion he was complicit in leaking classified government documents to WikiLeaks.
"It is with regret that I have accepted the resignation of Philip J. Crowley as assistant secretary of state for public affairs," said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a statement Sunday. "P.J. has served our nation with distinction for more than three decades, in uniform and as a civilian. His service to country is motivated by a deep devotion to public policy and public diplomacy, and I wish him the very best."
Crowley issued a statement of his own on his departure Sunday.
“The unauthorized disclosure of classified information is a serious crime under U.S. law,” he said. “My recent comments regarding the conditions of the pre-trial detention of Private First Class Bradley Manning were intended to highlight the broader, even strategic impact of discreet actions undertaken by national security agencies every day and their impact on our global standing and leadership,” Crowley said. “The exercise of power in today’s challenging times and relentless media environment must be prudent and consistent with our laws and values.”
Blogger Philippa Thomas relayed what Crowley had to say about the matter to a small audience at M.I.T. last week. He characterized the way in which the Pentagon has handled Manning's detainment as "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid." He also said, "None the less Bradley Manning is in the right place."
Shortly after the remarks came to light, Crowley confirmed to Foreign Policy's Josh Rogin that the quotes accurately reflected what he had said.
Last Friday, President Barack Obama shared a different take on the treatment of Manning, whose civilian lawyer "has said his client's clothing is being taken each night because of sarcastic comments he had made about using underwear to commit suicide." The AP reported last week: Crowley's resignation Sunday was sudden. As Michael van Poppel at BNO News noted on Twitter after the story broke, "Crowley released a statement on Yemen just 2 hours ago. Seems really abrupt."
So instead of investigating Crowley's statements, the Obummer administration forces him to resign instead? Some leader this guy's turning out to be...
"I spent 26 years in the air force. What is happening to Manning is ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid, and I don't know why the DoD is doing it. Nevertheless, Manning is in the right place." There are leaks everywhere in Washington - it's a town that can't keep a secret. But the scale is different. It was a colossal failure by the DoD to allow this mass of documents to be transported outside the network. Historically, someone has picked up a file of papers and passed it around - the information exposed is on one country or one subject. But this is a scale we've never seen before. If Julian Assange is right and we're in an era where there are no secrets, do we expect that people will release Google's search engine algorithms? The formula for Coca Cola? Some things are best kept secret. If we're negotiating between the Israelis and the Palestinians, there will be compromises that are hard for each side to sell to their people - there's a need for secrets.
narcism
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Yudhoyono 'abused power'
SECRET US diplomatic cables have implicated Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in substantial corruption and abuse of power, puncturing his reputation as a political cleanskin and reformer.
Is there not one leader of today that a person can look up too? Seems like everyone is a corrupt politician these days.
Joss Weatherby
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Originally posted by Zharen
Is there not one leader of today that a person can look up too? Seems like everyone is a corrupt politician these days.
Welcome to the real world. Its always been like this.
This is what pisses me off so much about the wikileaks incident is that people were actually thinking their governments were honest, or that foreign people thought the US had their best interests in mind.
The17sss
:stongue:
Julian Assange: world's worst house guest? Here's a short film narrated by the actual people who had Assange stay at their place at one time or another, describing his leech-like tactics. Pretty funny.
