Prepare to be Thunderstruck: What if 'deuszu' ISN'T the Ashley Madison hacker?

Security researcher Brian Krebs last week named whoever is behind the Twitter account deuszu as likely having had a hand in the Ashley Madison hack. But has Krebs named the right entity? Attribution isn't that easy and Krebs has gone out on a limb. Take, for example, Krebs' belief that a fondness for the AC/DC tune …

[Anonymous Coward]

"how many folks who donned a Guy Fawkes mask were really affiliated with Anonymous?"

Every. Single. Fucking. One.

The social dynamics of Anonymous are really not all that hard to understand. Everyone who chooses to self-identify as Anonymous is Anonymous. There are within Anonymous hackers and non-hackers. Amongst the hackers there are numerous hacking clans; but are are separate and distinct as well as being Anons.

Really, it's not that hard to understand. Think of being an Anon like an internet nationality. You can be from New York City and still be an American. Similarly, you can be part of $hacking_organization and be an Anon. Or you can not be a hacker at all and be an Anon.

If you're going to start pointing fingers on the net (or throw things at those who do), starting from a point of understanding the primary cultures helps.

[Valeyard]

"how many folks who donned a Guy Fawkes mask were really affiliated with Anonymous?"

only the neckbeards

[jake]

@Valeyard

"only the neckbeards"

Kindly define "neckbeard".

jake, old *nix hacker, no beard, not Anonymous ...

[Anonymous Coward]

We are Anonymous

We are you.

You are us.

Don't ignore us.

Don't try to count us.

Don't try to follow us.

Expect us.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a moot thing

The social dynamics of Anonymous

Anon, please.

starting from a point of understanding the primary cultures helps

Not everything deserves the "primary cultures" label.

[Anonymous Coward]

Every. Single. Fucking. One.

@Other AC, I loved how you used the full stops between each word to really ratchet up the tension there. By the time I'd reached the end of your epic, yet terse second paragraph, my heart was hammering in my chest, and I was like a sex machine, ready to explode, like an atom bomb.

Please continue to lecture us commentards on all the stuff you know so well; every sentence of yours is making us better people.

[Anonymous Coward]

This article is really about ..

.. the perils of solely using meta-data to prove something. There is never certainty because you always deal with probabilities, not actual facts. And those facts could be wrong.

Not that that bothers law enforcement much, as far as I can tell.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: This article is really about ..

True, but a few search warrants for logs can help to prove or disprove culpability.

I'm not really with Krebs on this one, for fuck's sake, based upon the timing of the tweet and a relatively popular song?

Following CIOG6 and NSA doesn't prove much, save possible military or former military. Hell, I follow them myself, but I haven't hacked anything - I work on the other side of the house, securing networks.

But, what would I know? I've only been in information assurance for a decade for the US DoD, getting briefings on PRC military officers who were attacking our networks. Currently, I'm in the private sector doing much the same thing.

[Not That Andrew]

So the obviuos conclusion is that @deuszu was behind the Iranian heavy metal attack as well! And is therefore working for a TLA or the Isreali's.

[Bloakey1]

<snip>

"And is therefore working for a TLA or the Isreali's."

No, he is working for the Chi-Knees and the Leban-Knees, the Is-Really's do not come into it and neither do the Pale-Stinians, or the Portu-Geese.

As for TLA, they went bankrupt shortly after Locherbie.

[jake]

"For all we know, Zu may be a dog on the internet."

No. Dogs are not allowed.

STR, win a beer.

[Bloakey1]

Re: "For all we know, Zu may be a dog on the internet."

I told my psychiatrist that I felt like a dog, had panic attacks near lamp posts and had taken to covertly sniffing ladies front bottoms!

He said "OK, go over and lie on the couch".

To which I replied "I am not allowed on the couch!"

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "For all we know, Zu may be a dog on the internet."

To which I replied "I am not allowed on the couch!"

Thank you, it's been a while I had a laugh at a joke that was funny in its awfulness. Worked for me :).

[Wzrd1]

Re: "For all we know, Zu may be a dog on the internet."

Dogs aren't allowed, but my cat sure gets around online when I go to the can.

[joeW]

Thunderstruck

Well, I'm convinced. No other reason that guy would have been listening to such an obscure song.

Not like it's the best known single from one of the biggest-selling bands of all fucking time, or anything.

[H.I.T.S]

Re: Thunderstruck

It's a tough call that one, but I'd be more inclined to go with 'High Way To Hell' as the most well known.

It crops up in lots of films, but still a very good choice. And what about:

Who Made Who

You Shook Me All Night Long

[channel extended]

Re: Thunderstruck

I would go for 'Big Balls". No not that way.

[Hero Protagonist]

Re: Thunderstruck

"Not like it's the best known single from one of the biggest-selling bands of all fucking time, or anything."

I'm not a big AC/DC fan, but I've heard plenty of their songs over the years and can honestly say that I've never heard that one.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Thunderstruck

I've come across it used by sports teams as well which might give it an edge on being well known even if people don't know who it's by or what it's called.

[Shirtlords.com]

Krebs was off his rocker to have said that.

He must have had a really bad virus at the time.

[Anonymous Coward]

Surely a true hacker would've picked an AC/DC track with rock drumming god Phil Rudd playing on it, not the second-rate replacement they're currently using.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm still not convinced. There's plenty of other points that Krebs ignored.

What about the fact that earlier on Thadeus claimed (or rather, boasted) that he was behind the hack? Look at @deuszu tweets from August 23 about the Ashley Madison Sharp printer, for one example. He claims to have defaced it, and that "I still have control" (implying he/she is the original hacker).

Also, clearly Thadeus, @amlolzz, and am.peen.es are related. Whoever they are, they're certainly motivated to disseminate information from the leaked data (@amlolzz pored through 100,000 emails to prove Noel Bideeman had affairs and hired escorts). Doesn't make them guilty, but makes them noteworthy.

[lukewarmdog]

Understanding

"starting from a point of understanding the primary cultures helps."

Starting from a point of understanding the first post would help me, I feel.

So far I have:

Anonymous is like cake. Some of it is eggs, some of it is flour.

You can't make cake without breaking eggs.

Sometimes cake is beetroot, sometimes carrot, but. always. cake.

Time for dinner I feel.

[earl grey]

Re: Understanding

The cake is a lie.

[theblackhand]

The $500,000 reward...

Is it an actual $500,000 reward or is it $20 for the reward and $480,000 notes that could be a reward if they ever come back to ALM?

[Anonymous Coward]

Uh?

Trial by journalism is a rotten way of doing business. But I am confused about a factual statement in the article.

It says "The image below was grabbed on 4 August 2012". It is of a web browser showing a "replication server" page and with several other tabs. But if I follow the link to it on Krebs's site then I see a Twitter-generated page with "6:40 a.m. - 19 Jul 2015" written on it. The link on Krebs's page is https://twitter.com/deuszu/status/622763065746915329

I am obviously even more dim witted than normal, so can someone sit me down and gently explain the 4 August 2012 thing.

[Matt Bryant]

The solution (according to Obambi) is "heartbreakingly" simple!

Who cares if deuspoo is really an just an Anonyputz or a skiddie? He uses a computer, therefore if he he isn't a criminal already it's only a matter of time before he/she goes on a mad hacking spree! Simply ban all legally-owned computers and it will end hacking. Seriously, I don't know why you computer-owners are moaning, surely it would be a good thing to end all hacking and e-crimes?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nowhere in the article does he state he know who did it. Nowhere in the article does he place blame on Zu, It actually says "But one thing is clear: If Zu wasn’t involved in the hack, he almost certainly knows who was". That is no assigning blame.

[Bob Dole (tm)]

When I first read Krebs story on this my immediate reaction was "That's pretty thin."

I understand some people really want to grab a bit of fame and the best way to do that is to "get in front of the story" so to speak. However Krebs got so far in front of this story I feel like he failed to notice the story took a left turn a mile back.

Even if it ultimately turns out to be Zu's work, I think Krebs should have looked for a bit more condemning evidence before naming someone. If I were Zu I'd hire legal to look into possible libel. Heck, I'd look into it even if I did do it just to throw people off track.

[mrjohn]

I think we can conclude the hacker was Angus

[thomas k]

Zu may be a dog on the internet

So, good-looking and well-endowed as well?