LOIC tool used in the "Anonymous" attacks

[sfouant at shortestpathfirst.net (Stefan Fouant)]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Marshall Eubanks [mailto:tme at multicasttech.com]
> Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2010 10:20 AM
> To: North American Network Operators Group
> Subject: LOIC tool used in the "Anonymous" attacks
> 
> Interesting analysis of the 3 "LOIC" tool variants used in the
> "Anonymous" Operation Payback attacks on Mastercard, Paypal, etc.
> 
> http://www.simpleweb.org/reports/loic-report.pdf
> 
> LOIC makes no attempt to hide the IP addresses of the attackers, making
> it easy to trace them if they are using their own computers.

IMO, LOIC is a very unsophisticated tool.  There are methods the attackers
could have used to obfuscate their IP (while still employing a complete TCP
3-way handshake) if they were a bit more knowledgeable.  Although it's
equivalent to a sophomore year CS project, it has benefit of being "easy to
use" and so lowers the barrier to entry for would-be script kiddies looking
for a fun afternoon.  There is also evidence of its use in the wild outside
of "the hive".  

I think the skill level of these guys is clearly evidenced by one of the
members who forgot to remove the metadata from their most recent "press
release". 

Stefan