For a couple of days now, we are not only celebrating Christmas but also ‘LulzXmas’. The virtual Santa Claus here consists of the hacker and hacktivists groups LulzSec, TeaMp0isoN, Anonymous and every other hacker-related group which sees itself within the framework of Anti-Sec. Anti-Sec functions as an umbrella term for hacker groups fighting against governments and companies in order to make information more transparent to the citizens (valid targets are considered those within these framework of: national defense, ‘capitalistic’, against freedom of information – here have a look at my Tweets on #SOPA). It started of with the popular wiki cables release by Wikileaks and went on e.g. with hacks of American defense contracts such as HBGary and just recently – as a Xmas surprise – Stratfor. Just ask your friends Google, Bing or Metager, they will point you in the right direction of news articles about these hacks (or follow me on Twitter).
Now, we got a glimpse of what Anti-Sec is. Anti-Sec Christmas coincides with the ‘real’ Christmas and describes the period starting December the 24th in which Anti-Sec groups release information they obtained through hacks about valid targets. These valid targets are – as mentioned above – government and private companies within a certain framework. During those days it is very interesting to follow the developments of Anti-Sec.
The CNN network shares my thoughts and already published news about the Stratfor hack on their website. Clearly, the lack of other important news during Christmas time might be a driving factor here. What is shows however is that Anti-Sec became more and more popular. In the beginning hardly anyone outside a certain circle knew what was going on, now they are on national broadcasting networks. This is a very similar development to their brothers-and-sisters-in-arms on the ground of the #occupywallstreet movement. At first, national media is reluctant (or maybe forced not) to publish anything about why people gather on and camp at Wallstreet. At a certain point thought, it is difficult to deny the fact and not cover it. How long will I continue watching CNN when I know that they deliberately not cover events that are of certain interest for me, the common person?
I would like to remind everyone here, that there is a difference between those hacking groups, fighting for cyber liberty and those fighting for their own income. Some might regards Anti-Sec as criminals (which is outright wrong) or as terrorists (in order to clamp down on them) but maybe you can also regard them as modern freedom fighters? They say that someone who is perceived as a terrorist by one party might be perceived as freedom fighter by another party. I leave it up to you, to make your own judgement. However, let me share with you a personal story. A couple of days ago, the server of an online game company got hacked. The obtained information from this server included inter alia one of my email addresses. Since that day, I receive a lot of SPAM and eventually had to deactivate this email. The spam was targeted to lure you into paying money for something you will never receive – which is called scam. This cracking is clearly a criminal act. Those who did the break in were not interested in publishing information about the company because it does something wrong or against human rights or to support censorship (maybe they do, we don’t know yet). The crackers did it because they want to earn money from the succeeding scam – and the credit card numbers they obtained. It is clearly different to what Anti-Sec is doing. This is a message we should not only keep in mind but also spread to our friends and relatives. Anti-Sec does violate laws but it is for a cause other than getting rich. They fight for transparency.
Anti-Sec is both, Santa Claus and Servant Ruprecht. As Santa Claus they bring information and transparency to those who long for it – and who ought to have this knowledge. Servant Ruprecht is, in some cultures, the helper of Santa Claus. While Santa Claus gives presents to the good children, Servant Ruprecht hits the bad children with a birch so that next year, they will behave better.
Stratfor, you have just been bitch-slapped* by Servant Ruprecht.
*’To open handedley slap someone. Denote disrespect for the person being bitch slapped as they are not worthy of a man sized punch. Suggests the slap was met with little resistance and much whining’ (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Bitch+Slap)
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