Though some information provided by Sony hinted at Anonymous as the culprit behind the attacks on the company’s online infrastructure, Anonymous has repeatedly denied involvement in the attack. Well it seems a growing schism within the upper ranks of the group has led to one member taking control of two of the group’s sites.
Thinq reports that a rogue operator named ‘Ryan’ has taken over two Anonymous sites, AnonOp.net and AnonOps.ru, and stolen the IP addresses and passwords of those sites’ users. Following this, Ryan launched a Denial of Service attack against both sites.
The sites provide IRC chat and other communication services to bring users together and plan operations. Former admins ‘Owen’, ‘shitstorm’, ‘Nerdo’, ‘Blergh’, and ‘Power2All’ have apologized for the hack, and urge Anonymous members to stay away from both sites for the time being.
“We would STRONGLY ADVISE all users to STAY AWAY from AnonOps.net and AnonOps.ru, and they should be considered COMPROMISED. Using or connecting to any service on those addresses may put your computer, and by extension your person, at risk,” they warned.
‘Ryan’ told Thinq that he seized control because the group had become too centralized, despite original intentions.
"There is a hierarchy. All the power, all the DDoS - it's in that channel. The only way to make things safe is to make users aware how insecure it is," he said.
"I was never a fan of OpSony, for instance," replied ‘Garrett’, a member of the splinter group that seized control. "I don't believe Anonymous people were responsible for the Sony PSN outage. Even if they were, it was planned behind closed doors. No one's going to admit to that. It's way too hardcore. The FBI will be involved. I doubt if that will ever come out."
The members agree that a group like Anonymous still has a place and purpose, and they believe that big businesses and governments will still have to contend with their fury.
"You can't kill something like that," Ryan said. "More groups will pop up. Probably many different ones. AnonOps just won't be the flagship."
