Meet the Israeli Hackers Who Are Striking Back

[Fozzledick]

Israel this week has faced a heavier than usual amount of cyber-attacks, but local hackers are doing their bit to fight back. And you can follow their progress in near-real time thanks to the magic of Twitter.
...
The Israeli hackers who have been fighting back, on the other hand, have had far more impressive results. In addition to crashing and defacing numerous anti-Israel or radical Islamist websites, including the official #OpIsrael website, the Israeli group known as Israeli Elite Force actually broke into the personal computers of many of their anti-Israel foes.

An Israeli Elite Force hacker calling himself Buddhax published a document including the names, email addresses and various online login information of several of the Anonymous-affiliated hackers. Buddhax even managed to snap mugshots of some of the anti-Israel hackers using their own webcams.
...
The anti-Israel hackers “are good at talking and small hacks, but we aren’t dealing here with the global Anonymous,” said the Israeli, explaining that “Anonymous Palestine” is primarily made up of small groups of Arab and other anti-Israel hackers who unilaterally decided to use the name “Anonymous.”

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24553/Default.aspx?hp=readmore

pwned!

[Scootaloo]

1. "who unilaterally decided to use the name “Anonymous.” "

I wonder if the author knows how Anonymous works.

[Fozzledick]

2. Well, they're not so anonymous now.

This strikes me as the BDS(T) movement in a nutshell: they don't have any significant impact but they do wind up exposing themselves.

[Scootaloo]

4. Well, my point is that "Anonymous" isn't exactly a trademark name

It's self-applied, there's no like "Anonymous High council" that approves the term usage. It's thus impossible to "unilaterally" use the name.

[Fozzledick]

6. Sort of like "al-Qaeda" or "Mafia"

Lots of punk-ass groups use those names to try to sound tougher than they are ("al-Qaeda in Iraq" particularly comes to mind) but they shouldn't be confused with the originals.

This group seemed to be trying to give the false impression that they had the support and backing of the larger international movement, but they look more like inept wannabees.

[azurnoir]

3. Do these hackers that proudly confess to stealing the personal information of "anti-Israel" posters

work for the Israeli government? They have confessed to committing cyber crimes

[Scootaloo]

5. Quite likely

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

7. State sponsored spying?

If indeed these hackers work for the Israeli government then what other clandestine and potentially illegal activities are they involved in?

[Maedhros]

8. State-sponsored Israeli hacking is one of the top-5 cyber threats acknowledged by the FBI.

Pot, kettle, etc.

[Fozzledick]

9. I'll bet they're #1 in Iran!

[Maedhros]

10. Top 5 here are China, Russia, Iran, Israel and North Korea

not necessarily in that order.

[Fozzledick]

11. So howcum I keep getting the Indians?