6 ms·

Anonymous sends a press release, but the author doesn't clear his metadata...

108 points by iuguy 16y ago

ZeroMinx 16y ago
This "press release" is also quite confused; "Amazon, which was until recently WikiLeaks' DNS provider"
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
delinquentme 16y ago
um. why would you even post this to your website?
- jamesaguilar 16y ago
  I don't understand the question. Why not post it?
  - catshirt 16y ago
    presumably he meant in fear of retaliation.
- lefstathiou 16y ago
  i'm not sure that he did now that his name is out
johnnytee 16y ago
Not sure if this is the same guy but here's a website by that name http://www.alextapanaris.com/ http://www.alextapanaris.com/ and there are few pastebin entries by someone with this name http://pastebin.com/re2DZb6m http://pastebin.com/re2DZb6m.
- catshirt 16y ago
  hahaha, this is actually remarkable especially given your word choice. take a closer look at http://pastebin.com/re2DZb6m http://pastebin.com/re2DZb6m
  - theklub 16y ago
    Wow this may have been a genius move then, when it ends up on BBC and his name is everywhere.
    - adolph 16y ago
      Very truly there should be a reality TV show about this.
- JSig 16y ago
  Well, looks like this guy took his contact info down: http://www.alextapanaris.com/cms/about http://www.alextapanaris.com/cms/about versus http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:PPhOZgLXlo4J:www.alextapanaris.com/cms/about+http://www.alextapanaris.com/cms/about&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:PPhOZgL...
  - w1ntermute 16y ago
    Screenshot of contact info: http://i.imgur.com/khfIH.png http://i.imgur.com/khfIH.png Alex Tapanaris Tel.: +30 69 72 46 49 07 E-mail: info@alextapanaris.com MSN: t4pan@hotmail.com Graduated from Teesside University with a degree in Computer Games Art. Proficient in: * Autodesk 3D Studio Max * Autodesk Maya * Adobe Photoshop * Pixologic ZBrush * Adobe Premiere
Swizec 16y ago
What a bunch of leet haxorz. They can track people down from a still on a youtube video. They can validate boobs as fake or real based on meta data in jpegs. They are legion, they do not forgive and they do not forget and they will order pizza to your home until you stop hurting cats. But they can't clear metadata in a word editor ...
- ianl 16y ago
  It could just be a fake name, I know thats hard to fathom and all.
- pierrefar 16y ago
  Of course the counter is that the meta data is faked. Although I think it's not faked and a silly oversight.
  - jacquesm 16y ago
    If it is then props to him but I think the chances of that are slight to non-existent. One of the very good reasons why you should think twice before 'anonymously' harassing people online is that you are almost never as anonymous as you think you are. We had a guy harassing a woman on ww.com for months on end, all it took was the one time he forgot to check the headers of the proxy that he used to do it again. Being anonymous is hard work, the more you do it the bigger the chances of slipping up. Slipping up once is enough, assuming the other side is awake and watching.
    - fwdbureau 16y ago
      Non-existent, indeed, unless he also changed all the advanced metadata inside the pdf, and give them the same fake name: http://img.skitch.com/20101211-rwkgk3i7e5jq477ayyxudff883.jpg http://img.skitch.com/20101211-rwkgk3i7e5jq477ayyxudff883.jp...
      - pierrefar 16y ago
        If you fake it in OpenOffice then the meta data is carried through to th PDF. As far as I know, the default meta data in OO is what your operating system username is but is changeable.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
sagarun 16y ago
what is this press release is all about?
borism 16y ago
Anonymous can have non-anonymous members as well. Just a suggestion.
- nivertech 16y ago
  In Project Mayhem, we have no names. Now, you listen to me. This is a man and he has a name, and it's Robert Paulsen, OK? - Robert Paulsen. - He's a man and he's dead now because of us. Do you understand that? I understand. In death, a member of Project Mayhem has a name. [all chanting] His name is Robert Paulsen. -- Fight Club
jacquesm 16y ago
Great choice of format too for a press release. Guess that's what you get when you want to add fancy graphics, instead of just the text. I hope Paul Rankin is on a flat-rate plan, the last time someone posted a phone number of an anonymous member (even with the last digit removed) that website was down for days.
Clarity1992 16y ago
Possibly as a result of consuming too much conspiracy/crime fiction where both the bad guys and good guys love to put little word puzzles into their work, my first thought as to determining if this is a fake name or not is to run "Alex Tapanaris" through an anagram finder. Which I ahem leave as an exercise to the reader.
- AlexC04 16y ago
  If you found something to do with the letters "Pa Rat I" that fits then I know what the rest of them were for...
  - Clarity1992 16y ago
    I see where you're running with that, and with a slight adjustment we get 'Anal Rape Taxis'. OMG, someone call Jack Bauer, this goes all the way to the top.
- throwaway34 16y ago
  Anal Axe Rapist. Or, Penis à la Ax Art.
- dmoney 16y ago
  Nasal Pirate Ax
URSpider94 16y ago
The press release claimed that Anonymous didn't try to DDoS Amazon because it would be "in bad taste." That doesn't sound like the Anonymous that I know.
- InclinedPlane 16y ago
  Anonymous did try to DDoS amazon, it had no effect.
gcb 16y ago
It's probably someone the author doesn't like And remember the internet it's not your personal army
ck2 16y ago
Strip any PDF of it's meta (and digital signature) http://www.becyhome.de/becypdfmetaedit/description_eng.htm http://www.becyhome.de/becypdfmetaedit/description_eng.htm
trotsky 16y ago
A group famous for an ongoing DDOS attack and previous hacking incidents sends me a pdf document. I: a) Open it -or- b) wtf are you crazy? I'm not saying there was anything in it, but I sure hope people don't open things like that up with reader.
- Raphael 16y ago
  Google Chrome sandboxes PDF.
- Estragon 16y ago
  I use xpdf for all PDF's, anyway. I only ever pull out reader for documents which clearly actually use its javascript features.
  - lallysingh 16y ago
    Be careful, xpdf has a few known problems: http://freshmeat.net/articles/debian-new-xpdf-packages-fix-several-vulnerabilities http://freshmeat.net/articles/debian-new-xpdf-packages-fix-s...
    - Estragon 16y ago
      Thanks for the pointer.
noglorp 16y ago
!Anon != Anon.
lukeschlather 16y ago
I can't quite tell, but it looks like anonymous might be working hard to do some coverup. Witness timestamps: http://pastebin.com/re2DZb6m http://pastebin.com/re2DZb6m http://praetorianprefect.com/archives/2010/12/anonymous-releases-very-unanonymous-press-release/ http://praetorianprefect.com/archives/2010/12/anonymous-rele... http://paulrankin.tumblr.com/post/2166282743/anonymous-has-supposedly-released-a-press-release http://paulrankin.tumblr.com/post/2166282743/anonymous-has-s... Clearly two out of three links are trolling, but I'm not quite sure which ones (or all of them.)
petercooper 16y ago
Since Anonymous is both "everyone" and no-one in particular, couldn't anyone issue releases or do things in their name and it'd be as "official" as anything else? This strikes me as a problem and leaves them open to a miscommunication campaign. Even Wikileaks, which used to be quite shadowy, ended up with Assange as an identifiable and consistent spokesman.
carbocation 16y ago
This should be retitled as "Anon successfully trolls Paul Rankin." Alex Tapanaris assuredly is not the one who wrote that document. http://pastebin.com/5dBdu3qk http://pastebin.com/5dBdu3qk If that link no longer works by the time you see this, it's one of hundreds of links where people posting as him describe in detail the degrading sexual acts they would like done to him. The metadata has almost certainly been Admiral Ackbarred.
- crocowhile 16y ago
  I don't get it. What am I supposed to see there that proves this was trolling?
  - kristofferR 16y ago
    The name is used by the 4chan folks (many of them are "anonymous") as an internal joke. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+site:pastebin.com+ALEX+TAPANARIS&sa=X&ei=mM8DTeK3KYel4Ab86_zeCg&ved=0CAIQqAQwBg http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+site:pastebin.com+...
    - vito 16y ago
      Those were all created today. It seems more likely that they're mocking him.
      - wintersdaylight 16y ago
        The cached contact page for Tapanaris shows he uses a nick "t4pan" http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:PPhOZgLXlo4J:www.alextapanaris.com/cms/about+http://www.alextapanaris.com/cms/about&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:PPhOZgL... After some googling: t4paN 01-29-2008 11:33 AM "4chan will get them, don't worry." http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=781716 http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=781716 Looking like he is associated with anon to me and that it isn't a false flag
puredemo 16y ago
He is a hell of a 3d artist though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkB-kQ9ovVU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkB-kQ9ovVU

108 points by iuguy 16y ago

ZeroMinx 16y ago

This "press release" is also quite confused; "Amazon, which was until recently WikiLeaks' DNS provider"

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

delinquentme 16y ago

um. why would you even post this to your website?

jamesaguilar 16y ago
I don't understand the question. Why not post it?
- catshirt 16y ago
  presumably he meant in fear of retaliation.
lefstathiou 16y ago
i'm not sure that he did now that his name is out

johnnytee 16y ago

Not sure if this is the same guy but here's a website by that name http://www.alextapanaris.com/ http://www.alextapanaris.com/ and there are few pastebin entries by someone with this name http://pastebin.com/re2DZb6m http://pastebin.com/re2DZb6m.

catshirt 16y ago
hahaha, this is actually remarkable especially given your word choice. take a closer look at http://pastebin.com/re2DZb6m http://pastebin.com/re2DZb6m
- theklub 16y ago
  Wow this may have been a genius move then, when it ends up on BBC and his name is everywhere.
  - adolph 16y ago
    Very truly there should be a reality TV show about this.
JSig 16y ago
Well, looks like this guy took his contact info down: http://www.alextapanaris.com/cms/about http://www.alextapanaris.com/cms/about versus http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:PPhOZgLXlo4J:www.alextapanaris.com/cms/about+http://www.alextapanaris.com/cms/about&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:PPhOZgL...
- w1ntermute 16y ago
  Screenshot of contact info: http://i.imgur.com/khfIH.png http://i.imgur.com/khfIH.png Alex Tapanaris Tel.: +30 69 72 46 49 07 E-mail: info@alextapanaris.com MSN: t4pan@hotmail.com Graduated from Teesside University with a degree in Computer Games Art. Proficient in: * Autodesk 3D Studio Max * Autodesk Maya * Adobe Photoshop * Pixologic ZBrush * Adobe Premiere

Swizec 16y ago

What a bunch of leet haxorz. They can track people down from a still on a youtube video. They can validate boobs as fake or real based on meta data in jpegs. They are legion, they do not forgive and they do not forget and they will order pizza to your home until you stop hurting cats. But they can't clear metadata in a word editor ...

ianl 16y ago
It could just be a fake name, I know thats hard to fathom and all.
pierrefar 16y ago
Of course the counter is that the meta data is faked. Although I think it's not faked and a silly oversight.
- jacquesm 16y ago
  If it is then props to him but I think the chances of that are slight to non-existent. One of the very good reasons why you should think twice before 'anonymously' harassing people online is that you are almost never as anonymous as you think you are. We had a guy harassing a woman on ww.com for months on end, all it took was the one time he forgot to check the headers of the proxy that he used to do it again. Being anonymous is hard work, the more you do it the bigger the chances of slipping up. Slipping up once is enough, assuming the other side is awake and watching.
  - fwdbureau 16y ago
    Non-existent, indeed, unless he also changed all the advanced metadata inside the pdf, and give them the same fake name: http://img.skitch.com/20101211-rwkgk3i7e5jq477ayyxudff883.jpg http://img.skitch.com/20101211-rwkgk3i7e5jq477ayyxudff883.jp...
    - pierrefar 16y ago
      If you fake it in OpenOffice then the meta data is carried through to th PDF. As far as I know, the default meta data in OO is what your operating system username is but is changeable.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

sagarun 16y ago

what is this press release is all about?

borism 16y ago

Anonymous can have non-anonymous members as well. Just a suggestion.

nivertech 16y ago
In Project Mayhem, we have no names. Now, you listen to me. This is a man and he has a name, and it's Robert Paulsen, OK? - Robert Paulsen. - He's a man and he's dead now because of us. Do you understand that? I understand. In death, a member of Project Mayhem has a name. [all chanting] His name is Robert Paulsen. -- Fight Club

jacquesm 16y ago

Great choice of format too for a press release. Guess that's what you get when you want to add fancy graphics, instead of just the text. I hope Paul Rankin is on a flat-rate plan, the last time someone posted a phone number of an anonymous member (even with the last digit removed) that website was down for days.

Clarity1992 16y ago

Possibly as a result of consuming too much conspiracy/crime fiction where both the bad guys and good guys love to put little word puzzles into their work, my first thought as to determining if this is a fake name or not is to run "Alex Tapanaris" through an anagram finder. Which I ahem leave as an exercise to the reader.

AlexC04 16y ago
If you found something to do with the letters "Pa Rat I" that fits then I know what the rest of them were for...
- Clarity1992 16y ago
  I see where you're running with that, and with a slight adjustment we get 'Anal Rape Taxis'. OMG, someone call Jack Bauer, this goes all the way to the top.
throwaway34 16y ago
Anal Axe Rapist. Or, Penis à la Ax Art.
dmoney 16y ago
Nasal Pirate Ax

URSpider94 16y ago

The press release claimed that Anonymous didn't try to DDoS Amazon because it would be "in bad taste." That doesn't sound like the Anonymous that I know.

InclinedPlane 16y ago
Anonymous did try to DDoS amazon, it had no effect.

gcb 16y ago

It's probably someone the author doesn't like And remember the internet it's not your personal army

ck2 16y ago

Strip any PDF of it's meta (and digital signature) http://www.becyhome.de/becypdfmetaedit/description_eng.htm http://www.becyhome.de/becypdfmetaedit/description_eng.htm

trotsky 16y ago

A group famous for an ongoing DDOS attack and previous hacking incidents sends me a pdf document. I: a) Open it -or- b) wtf are you crazy? I'm not saying there was anything in it, but I sure hope people don't open things like that up with reader.

Raphael 16y ago
Google Chrome sandboxes PDF.
Estragon 16y ago
I use xpdf for all PDF's, anyway. I only ever pull out reader for documents which clearly actually use its javascript features.
- lallysingh 16y ago
  Be careful, xpdf has a few known problems: http://freshmeat.net/articles/debian-new-xpdf-packages-fix-several-vulnerabilities http://freshmeat.net/articles/debian-new-xpdf-packages-fix-s...
  - Estragon 16y ago
    Thanks for the pointer.

noglorp 16y ago

!Anon != Anon.

lukeschlather 16y ago

I can't quite tell, but it looks like anonymous might be working hard to do some coverup. Witness timestamps: http://pastebin.com/re2DZb6m http://pastebin.com/re2DZb6m http://praetorianprefect.com/archives/2010/12/anonymous-releases-very-unanonymous-press-release/ http://praetorianprefect.com/archives/2010/12/anonymous-rele... http://paulrankin.tumblr.com/post/2166282743/anonymous-has-supposedly-released-a-press-release http://paulrankin.tumblr.com/post/2166282743/anonymous-has-s... Clearly two out of three links are trolling, but I'm not quite sure which ones (or all of them.)

petercooper 16y ago

Since Anonymous is both "everyone" and no-one in particular, couldn't anyone issue releases or do things in their name and it'd be as "official" as anything else? This strikes me as a problem and leaves them open to a miscommunication campaign. Even Wikileaks, which used to be quite shadowy, ended up with Assange as an identifiable and consistent spokesman.

carbocation 16y ago

This should be retitled as "Anon successfully trolls Paul Rankin." Alex Tapanaris assuredly is not the one who wrote that document. http://pastebin.com/5dBdu3qk http://pastebin.com/5dBdu3qk If that link no longer works by the time you see this, it's one of hundreds of links where people posting as him describe in detail the degrading sexual acts they would like done to him. The metadata has almost certainly been Admiral Ackbarred.

crocowhile 16y ago
I don't get it. What am I supposed to see there that proves this was trolling?
- kristofferR 16y ago
  The name is used by the 4chan folks (many of them are "anonymous") as an internal joke. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+site:pastebin.com+ALEX+TAPANARIS&sa=X&ei=mM8DTeK3KYel4Ab86_zeCg&ved=0CAIQqAQwBg http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+site:pastebin.com+...
  - vito 16y ago
    Those were all created today. It seems more likely that they're mocking him.
    - wintersdaylight 16y ago
      The cached contact page for Tapanaris shows he uses a nick "t4pan" http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:PPhOZgLXlo4J:www.alextapanaris.com/cms/about+http://www.alextapanaris.com/cms/about&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:PPhOZgL... After some googling: t4paN 01-29-2008 11:33 AM "4chan will get them, don't worry." http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=781716 http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=781716 Looking like he is associated with anon to me and that it isn't a false flag

puredemo 16y ago

He is a hell of a 3d artist though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkB-kQ9ovVU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkB-kQ9ovVU