"Anonymous OS Live" released, hacker group denies affiliation

[Leeky]

In a bizarre and unexpected move, Anonymous has supposedly released its own Ubuntu-based operating system on Sourceforge, titled Anonymous OS Live. According to the description, it uses Ubuntu 11.10 with MATE desktop and features various hacking related packages for testing the security of web pages and other educational purposes.

The packages include Parolapass Password Generator, Find Host IP, Anonymous HOIC, Slowloris, Torshammer, Sqlmap, Sql Poison, Admin Finder, John the Ripper, Tor, and some other Linux regulars, like the Xchat IRC client and Pidgin.

The hacker group has also set up a Tumblr page to provide news and updates for their new Linux distribution. At the time of writing, it has over 37,000 downloads with 43 recommended comments and 38 dislikes.

Considering the nature of the group, it's unclear who developed the software, but official Anonymous channels are declaring it a fake, including one warning from their Twitter account saying, "seeing lots of news about just-released purported 'Anonymous OS.' BE CAREFUL! Remember the Zeus Trojan incident w/Slowloris recently!"

Another Anonymous-affiliated site, operationantisec.com, also recommended against downloading the new OS. "We are writing this piece of news just to inform the adventurous ones NOT to download this Live CD ISO image and test it, or even worse, install it on their machines!"

They continued, "download Anonymous-OS 0.1? Hell no, stay away from it! Download Backtrack 5 R2 instead, if you really want to test the security of web sites."

Anonymous OS’ developers countered saying, "please people, in our world, in Linux and opensource world, there is no virus […] if any user believes that Anonymous-OS is wrapped in trojans or backdoored OS by any Law enforcement Company or Hacker please don't download it! But don't mislead the world that Linux is dangerous and has trojans!"

Given the way Anonymous functions it could be nearly impossible to ascertain which is true, but it's probably be best to steer clear of the OS until more details surface.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/47813-anonymous-os-live-released-hacker-group-denies-affiliation.html

 

[Tygerstrike]

Finally we see some glimmer of support from these guys!! If they didnt make it then them warning everyone is not only a coragous act but damn right noble of them. Finally we see them looking out for the little guy. This is what ppl NEED to see. Not news blips how Anon crashed some website or DDoS. But the definative Robin Hood nature of a group like Anon is what ppl want to believe in.

 

[tkeys356]

Actually not a bad OS. Not a keeper though.

 

[Guest]

omg!!! anonymous! im one of them lol!

 

[Darkshadoe]

I'm kinda partial to the USGovntOS...it comes with a free camera

 

[Guest]

These guys are so awesome!

 

[Lurker101]

Makes you wonder what nasty suprises are under the hood. I'll be avoiding this like the plague.

 

[NTAPRO]

Nice screenshots

 

[Mindwraith]

A standard half-baked OS with mask icons everywhere. very lame.

 

[Zeromus]

Still not as good as backtrack.

 

[Justgivemeaname]

Given what Anonymous is famous for, hacking, it would be foolish to trust this OS. Either Anonymous is lying and they did develop and are distributing this OS, which would most likely mean they are trying to expand their bot net for a future attack, or Anonymous is being honest and whoever actually did develop this OS wants to have the infamy of being associated with Anonymous in the form of the OS, or they are trying to prove their worth by building their own bot net through this distro. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the US government trying to track hackers or anyone who is knowledgeble with computers in order to keep records on who knows enough that they would find an OS designed around "security testing" useful. Either way, I grabbed the ISO just for my collection. It may earn its hard drive space in the future. Granted, I had the entire process of downloading, converting, and transferring sandboxed. As much as I find the rebellion that Anonymous is leading against infringing on the right to free speech in America inspiring, I'd rather not have my system used in a bot net to attack a federal establishment.

 

[shaft80]

can we really trust an anonymous source.......hmmm..really 37000 downloads says otherwise. it is the age of great lies we live in. anyway i would try it on an offline machine and be suspicious of anything from it that asks me to connect to the internet. and after tinkering abit i would format the machine afterwards.

 

[Leeky]

Here's my personal thoughts:

1. Never trust any open source package or OS that does not make available the source code for everyone to view -- there are exceptions, but these tend to be reputable software companies with a track record of proven products
2. The Anonymous images are kinda cool -- though I'd rather use them on something more trustworthy.
3. I love how this boots up to a passworded login prompt. Kudos to those who figure out what the password is. :haha:
4. Since Anonymous is a headless, leaderless organization of semi-like minded people, we have no idea who made this.
5. The fact Anonymous' main channels of communication are denouncing this says a lot about the project.

Personally, I'll be mounting it in a secure environment in order to grab the various images, and then I'll probably make sure they're safe, then use them with another Linux distro, as I do like how it looks.

I'd go with the official Anonymous channels though, Backtrack 5 R2 is a safer bet for the kind of usage this is released for. That said, any Linux OS is suitable, once the correct packages and configuration changes have been made.

Just a shame its not a legitimate product of Anonymous, unfortunately, but I'm sure thousands of people are about to find out the hard way should it be proven to contain nasties.

 

[ottersbox88]

I'm kinda partial to the USGovntOS...it comes with a free camera

lmao yepper's and backtrack too look into it