Stratfor Hacked

[Hehehe]

I just realized I've been a member of CFC for some 6 years and this is the first thread I've started. Anyway, as the title suggests, Stratfor has been hacked.

What is Stratfor?
According to themselves

STRATFOR is a subscription-based provider of geopolitical analysis. Individual and corporate subscribers gain a thorough understanding of international affairs, including what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what will happen next.

Unlike traditional news outlets, STRATFOR uses a unique, intelligence-based approach to gathering information via rigorous open-source monitoring and a global network of human sources. Analysts then evaluate events looking through the objective lens of geopolitics. Our goal is simple: to make the complexity of the world understandable to an intelligent readership, without ideology, agenda or national bias.

I've been reading Stratfor articles for several years and in my opinion the geopolitical weeklies are almost always at least an interesting read. The provide insight as to what is happening and why.

What did the hackers do?
Apparently they stole some 200GB worth of emails, credit card information (which was not encrypted, shame on Stratfor) and destroyed Stratfor's servers. All in all it was pretty embarrassing for a company that also does security analyses.

Who's responsible?
Anonymous has been blamed for this attack, and some members of anonymous have confirmed it while some have denied it. I received an anonymous-styled email in my email account that was associated with Stratfor (luckily it was my junk mail and not my real email account). I'd post the message but it appears I've accidentally deleted it. Anyway, it contained a link to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" and used terms like "****hurt"

Anyway, because of the hacking Stratfor is now temporarily offering their articles to everyone free of charge. So, if you're interested, now is a good time to check it out.

Link to Stratfor
Link to Stratfor's geopolitical diaries
BBC article

EDIT: I almost forgot

Among the organizations listed as Stratfor clients: Bank of America, the Defense Department, Doctors Without Borders, Lockheed Martin, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the United Nations.

 

[Winner]

I was going to say "good riddance", but I see it still functions, which is a shame.

 

[Hehehe]

I was going to say "good riddance", but I see it still functions, which is a shame.

Why hate Stratfor? Besides, the site has been down for the last 2-3 weeks.

 

[Winner]

Why hate Stratfor? Besides, the site has been down for the last 2-3 weeks.

Because their boss is an idiot.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Because their boss is an idiot.

No love for The Next 100 Years ?
It's a really fun book
Just don't make the mistake to read it while sober.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Username of threadstarter is a nice touch.

Stratfor Hacked
Hehehe

 

[classical_hero]

I have never heard of this corporation before.

 

[Winner]

No love for The Next 100 Years ?
It's a really fun book
Just don't make the mistake to read it while sober.

I know roughly what it says One day I'll read it just for the giggles.

 

[peter grimes]

Yesterday Quinn Norton, a reporter writing for Wired, was interviewed on my local radio station. The interview focuses on her 3-part series for Wired about Anonymous, but there is some discussion of the StratFor hack:
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2012/jan/12/backstory-anonymous/

Here's a link to the Wired article:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/11/anonymous-101/all/

 

[Hehehe]

No love for The Next 100 Years ?
It's a really fun book
Just don't make the mistake to read it while sober.

You'd think Friedman would be smart enough to realize that most of his predictions are going to miss.

Anyway, Stratfor's analyses on geopolitics are a good read for those who are interested.

Username of threadstarter is a nice touch.

Stratfor Hacked
Hehehe

Hadn't thought of that

 

[asbestos]

Friedman's stuff is interesting, but he makes so many factual historical errors that I often cringe when going through it.

 

[warpus]

I remember using stratfor.org right after 9/11

The site provided excellent geopolitical analysis. They stopped offering free access to their articles so I stopped visiting their site.

 

[Monsterzuma]

You'd think Friedman would be smart enough to realize that most of his predictions are going to miss.

I think that guy randomly threw darts at a map thinking "who will be the three superpowers in the next 100 years". one of the darts landed on a major country and he thought "nah, not controversial enough, my book won't sell; let's throw again". Then one landed on Poland.

 

[Skwink]

This happened a while ago. Anyways, this was a real ass move from Anon, as they stole form those credit cards to give to charity, which probably lost the charities some money when the transactions were reversed. And the worst part is they stole from regular people. Not even corporations or anything, just people.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

I think that guy randomly threw darts at a map thinking "who will be the three superpowers in the next 100 years". one of the darts landed on a major country and he thought "nah, not controversial enough, my book won't sell; let's throw again". Then one landed on Poland.

I think a lot of his predictions are very believable:

Germany and Japan challenge the USA in a world war and lose.
Social and economical collapse in Russia.
Collapse and fragmentation of China.
Europe declines in power.
America rises in power.

They just come 100 years too late.
I heard him say in an interview 'histoy repeats itself'.
Well, sometimes it does, but not quite like that.