Anonymous + general hacktivists 2009-2018 (U.S. Department of State)
It is a clone of this request.
Tracking # |
F-2019-06983 |
Multi Request | Anonymous + general hacktivists 2009-2018 |
Submitted | May 29, 2019 |
Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Emma North-Best
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Documents mentioning or relating to Anonymous (the hacker movement/collective, see below) or hacktivism (defined as hacking as a form of protest and/or activism) generated between 1 January 2009 and 1 January 2019, including but not limited to:
* Internal reports, bulletins, warnings and alerts relating to Anonymous or hacktivism
* Reports from the appropriate IT (Information Technology) or computer offices regarding possible cyber attacks by Anonymous or other hacktivists
* Reports, bulletins, warnings and alerts relating to or mentioning Anonymous or hacktivism sent to or received from any federal law enforcement or intelligence agencies or any fusion center
* Incident reports investigating possible hacking activity falling within the office's jurisdiction and allegedly carried out by members of Anonymous or other hacktivist groups
* Materials generated as a result of any suspected or actual compromise, breach or "dox" (revealing of personal or private information) by Anonymous or other hacktivists
Anonymous has been described by government agencies as a non-hierarchical hacktivist collective, Anonymous uses hacking (and arguably cracking) techniques to register political protest in campaigns known as “#ops.” Best known for their distributed denial of services (DDoS) attacks, past activities have included attacks against the Church of Scientology; Visa, Paypal, and others who withdrew their services from WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange after that group began releasing war documents; #OpTunisia and others purporting to support the Arab Spring; and a campaign that brought down the website of the Westboro Baptist Church. #Ops are usually marked with the release of a video of a reader in a Guy Fawkes mask using a computer generated voice. See attached for additional background information.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Emma Best
From: U.S. Department of State
An acknowledgement letter, stating the request is being processed.
From: U.S. Department of State
A fix is required to perfect the request.
From: U.S. Department of State
A letter stating that the request appeal has been rejected.
From: U.S. Department of State
I am from the Department of State/Bureau of Administration/Office of Information Programs and Services (A/GIS/IPS). I am contacting you regarding your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request of 31 May 2019.
It would be helpful if we had more clarity about your requests for records concerning the group Anonymous, as outlined in your letter. An initial search has produced a burdensome number of documents. We'd like to work with you to define your request more specifically and narrow the scope so you receive the documents you need while not having to sift through thousands of documents which you will only find irrelevant and useless in the end. For example, if we could limit the search to just <.gov> e-mail senders, that should reduce the volume significantly, although it would still be thousands of messages.
Your response will help us fulfill your request thoroughly and expeditiously. If you'd like, we can make an appointment to speak on the phone about your request.
Thank you,
Joseph De Maria
UNCLASSIFIED
From: U.S. Department of State
Please see attachedcorrespondence.
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