Anonymous launches attack in retaliation for arrests

Well-known hacking group Anonymous has reportedly launched an online assault in retaliation for the arrest of some of its members.
Russia Today reported that the hacktivist group had attacked the Vatican's website in protest against  Roman Catholic Church's scandals.
A spokesperson for the Vatican said he could not confirm the site's crash was the work of hackers, but technicians worked for hours to get it back online.
"Anonymous has decided to put your site under siege in response to your doctrine, liturgy and the absurd and anachronistic rules that your profit-making organisation spreads around the world," a statement published on the Italian website of the Anonymous group read.
It was reported Anonymous also breached anti-virus company Panda Security, a claim that was dispelled by the company.
Anonymous said Panda Security was involved in the arrests of 25 people in Spain and Latin America last month, and accused them of "snitching" to officials in exchange for cash.
Panda released a statement denying both the allegations and that their system had been tampered with.
US authorities revealed that leading Anonymous hacker "Sabu" - real name Hector Xavier Monsegur, aged 28 - had been arrested last June in his apartment in a Manhattan housing complex.
According to a newly released court transcript, he agreed to cooperate with authorities in return for likely leniency - helping US prosecutors bring charges against five more men, including two in Britain and two in Ireland. All had also been previously arrested.
"Sabu was seen as a leader," said Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer of Finnish security firm f-secure. "Just yesterday people were looking up to him... it's a very serious blow.
It's probably not going to be the end of Anonymous but it's going to take a while for them to recover, particularly from the paranoia."
All six were said to be senior members of LulzSec, an offshoot of Anonymous that took credit for a range of hacking attacks on government and private sector websites. Targets included the CIA, Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency, Japan's Sony Corp and a host of others including in Ireland and Mexico.
Taking inspiration from the hacking and Internet community as well as popular culture - particularly the 2005 film V for Vendetta in which a masked hero fights a dystopian government - Anonymous emerged in the middle of the last decade.
Initially focused on fighting attempts at Internet regulation and blocking free illegal downloads, it has since taken on a range of other targets including Scientology and the global banking system. Governments have been a growing target, both Western and in more autocratic states such as China and Iran. Websites have been attacked and occasionally shut down.
But Anonymous - and LulzSec in particular - leapt to much greater prominence in late 2010 when they launched what they described as the "first cyber war" in retaliation for attempts to shut down the Wikileaks website.
They attacked websites such as MasterCard that tried to block payments to Wikileaks after apparent pressure from the US government following the release of thousands of diplomatic cables.
"No honour among thieves?"
"This is probably the end of this particular group," said Tim Hardy, a British activist and computer scientist who runs the blog "Beyond Clicktivism. " But... part of the point of Anonymous is that it's a group that anyone can say they are part of, whether they are attacking a website or wearing a mask outside the Church of Scientology."
Those masks became an increasingly frequent sight on Western streets in 2011, increasingly adopted by more radical, libertarian and sometimes anarchist elements of European and US protest groups.
They became a frequent sight at demonstrations such as "Occupy Wall Street" and its spin-offs elsewhere in the US and Britain. They were also heavily used by the "indignados" anti-austerity protesters in Spain, where fancy dress shops ran out of stock and had to import them from abroad.
Such popular usage will likely continue, but the loss of some of the movement's highest profile stars and technical experts will still hurt.
Web forums frequented by Anonymous were frothing with abuse and anger following the arrests on Tuesday. "Sabu" had been occasionally suspected of being a mole, but had continued to operate as an effective leader advising other hackers on the importance of maintaining anonymity and security.
"No honour among thieves," said Tony Dyhouse, a computer security expert at UK defence firm QinetiQ who has long studied hackers. "Any further (Anonymous) actions are likely to be much more low-key. Fear is in the ranks. However, there will be many that see some of the casualties as martyrs and empty footprints to be filled."
Computer security experts say the hackers of LulzSec appeared much more technically adept than had been usual for Anonymous, which has often relied on simple - if illegal - software that can be downloaded by any potential hacker regardless of their technical skills.