Anonymous Operations and Techniques revealed by Former CabinCr3w and Anonymous Members

After the online uproar over my inviting Hector Monsegur (aka Sabu) to speak at Suits and Spooks NYC, I offered to provide a second panel to any Anonymous leaders (meaning individuals who actually planned and led an Op) who wanted to participate. I'm happy to announce that two really interesting folks came forward and took me up on my offer.

VizFoSho is a Database Analyst for a private company, and is a former member of Anonymous and CabinCr3w. After the arrest of two of CabinCr3w members and the end of the group, Viz helped launch the Rustle League as one of its core members. He worked on various Ops while with Anonymous, and led a few of his own. Viz is the creator of Op Equip, which is a registered nonprofit that puts computers with educational software into the hands of those residing in impoverished communities. One of his last acts as a member of Anonymous was an attempt to clean up the YourAnonNews twitter account, working with a small team of people who never got their YAN mugs. 

Flanvel is an independent internet and security researcher who is a former Anonymous member. During his time as a member, he helped create videos, media, and write press releases. From 2010 throughout 2013, he was an active member and worked on several worldwide operations. He was also a contributor to @Anon_Central. An account documented in GHCQ's program called LOVELY HORSE to monitor and index public discussion by hackers on Twitter and other social media. Since his disbandment with the group, Flanvel has worked identifying software vulnerabilities and creating exploits as well as creating several software products such as a crawler to identify, index, and crawl Tor network hidden services.

This has never been done before at any security conference. Anons are a secretive group, by necessity, but security conference organizers frequently shy away from controversy because it might offend their sponsors. RSA, for example, hired Hector to speak last year and then changed their mind due to fears about possible blowback. Sponsorship dollars are hard to get because there's over a thousand security events each year. For example, Suits and Spooks has seen a consistent drop in sponsorships over the past year or so because we're a very small, specialty event. In fact, we lost a media sponsor (CSFI) because of my invitation to Hector to speak. I've been warned by someone at another company that has supported our events in the past that the negative comments about my inviting Hector speak could be hurting the Suits and Spooks brand. That person clearly has no idea what our brand is.

My goal has always been to invite speakers from the IC, law enforcement, and the private sector who can shed light on hard challenges (especially first-hand experiences) and engage in discussion with our attendees to find answers. In order for that process to work, you have to include "bad actors" who are willing to share first-hand info. What most conferences offer instead are security researchers who have "studied" Anonymous. That's fine but it's not nearly as valuable as having an Anon operator speak.

The bottom line is that I have never and will never edit my choice of speakers for political correctness or to cater to my sponsors. I'll shutter this event first.

I hope that those of you who support my approach will either register and attend or encourage others to do so. I'm offering 50% off the normal registration fee of $598 (now only $299) until Monday June 8th. Registration includes all sessions plus two lunches and two breakfasts. Attendees will also receive an awesome t-shirt designed by Norse Corp., one of our sponsors.

REGISTER NOW