hacktivism

The Death of Aaron Swartz and the New Hacker Crackdown

Adrian Chen · 01/14/13 07:02PM

In 1992, the sci-fi writer Bruce Sterling published The Hacker Crackdown, a riveting nonfiction book about a string of high-profile hacker busts on the early "electronic frontier" of the late '80s and early '90s. The first hacker crackdown shook the early internet to its core and helped mobilize political geeks. Today, we're in the midst of a new crackdown. And with the death this weekend of the legally and emotionally troubled 26-year-old computer genius Aaron Swartz, this one has a body count.

Hackers Will Try to Take Down New York Stock Exchange Website Today

Adrian Chen · 10/10/11 12:35PM

There are questions among the hacktivist collective Anonymous whether today's planned attack against the New York Stock Exchange's website in support of Occupy Wall Street is an elaborate trick to entrap participants or smear the movement. Whatever! It's still apparently kicking off less than two hours from now.

Anonymous Wants To Conquer Twitter Trends Next

Ryan Tate · 09/12/11 05:43PM

Online attack mob Anonymous famously built software enabling basically anyone to launch a denial of service attack and help crash a website. Now the group has point-and-shoot software for hijacking Twitter threads, too. Is nothing sacred?

Nude Photo Leak Inspires Pro-BART Protest

Ryan Tate · 08/29/11 03:25PM

Hopefully no one plans to leave downtown San Francisco this evening, because the whole area is set to be consumed in an angry four-way rage fest over the BART subway system, a fest that now includes a counterprotest in support of a BART official whose nude photo was leaked by protesters.

Anonymous Leaks Nude Pics of BART Spokesman

Adrian Chen · 08/24/11 04:36PM

Anonymous has declared war on San Francisco's commuter subway system, BART. They've staged protests and hacked website, but a leak of nude pics of a BART spokesman has taken things to another, more personal level.

Will Anonymous Cripple San Francisco Again?

Ryan Tate · 08/22/11 06:23PM

One week ago, for the duration of rush hour, officials shut down all four downtown San Francisco BART stations — the heart of the commuter subway system — in response to a small protest by Anonymous. Today, the hacktivists are back. Whether the chaos returns is up to BART.

Anonymous Leaks BART Officers' Emails and Passwords

Adrian Chen · 08/17/11 03:05PM

Anonymous isn't done with San Francisco's BART yet. After a leak of BART passenger data and a real-life protest in retaliation for BART cutting cell service in their stations to squelch protest, Anonymous has leaked what it claims are the email addresses, passwords, and addresses of 102 BART officers. [Photo via Getty]

Anonymous Hacks BART Website, Leaks User Info and Passwords

Seth Abramovitch · 08/14/11 08:32PM

It's been a busy weekend for the hacking collective known as Anonymous. Their Operation Fullerton may not have panned out, but Project BARTway was a rousing success. (If you measure success in Thousands of Civilians' Personal Information Being Compromised in the Name of Free Speech.) As they had warned, Anonymous has infiltrated Bay Area Rapid Transit System on Sunday, unfurling their pirate flag logo on the homepage of myBART.com — a promotional website — and, more disconcertingly, releasing the personal information of thousands of myBART.com users.

San Francisco Cops Jam Cell Phones to Prevent Protest

Adrian Chen · 08/12/11 03:37PM

It's not just the London police and Middle East dictators who try to curb unrest by clamping down on communications networks. According to reports, police in San Francisco are jamming cell phones to head off protesters.

Hacker Plot to 'Kill Facebook' Is All a Terrible Misunderstanding

Adrian Chen · 08/10/11 04:15PM

The internet is quaking with the news that the hacktivist collective Anonymous plans to "destroy" Facebook on November 5th. We spoke to the Anonymous member who was there at the start of "Operation Facebook," and he told us the whole thing is a misunderstanding that's spiraled crazily out of control.

Teenage Hacker Breaks Into Norway Shooter's Email

Adrian Chen · 08/09/11 05:50PM

Hackers have reportedly broken into Norway shooter Anders Behring Breivik's email account and turned the contents over to police in an effort to help their investigation. See, hackers aren't all amoral cybermonsters.

Feds Hunt for Anonymous Hackers Who Crashed Toilet Paper Website

Adrian Chen · 07/26/11 05:29PM

The evil, teaparty-funding Koch Brothers do not appreciate their websites being bombarded by hackers. The FBI is targeting people possibly connected to a February Anonymous attack on Koch Industries websites, including a brutal assault on their powerful bathroom tissue manufacturing arm.