Anonymous releases more Stratfor data

In a statement on Pastebin.com late Thursday, members of Anonymous calling themselves "AntiSec" posted links to what the group said were 75,000 names, addresses, credit card numbers and passwords for Stratfor customers.

The group also posted links to what it said were 860,000 user names, email addresses and passwords for people who have registered on Stratfor's website, which remained offline on Friday nearly a week after coming under attack.

Anonymous said 50,000 of the email addresses ended in .mil and .gov used by the US government.

"We call upon all allied battleships, all armies from darkness, to use and abuse these password lists and credit card information to wreak unholy havok (sic) upon the systems and personal email accounts of these rich and powerful oppressors," Anonymous said.

Anonymous also warned in the statement on Pastebin that it will be "attacking multiple law enforcement targets from coast to coast" on New Year's Eve.

Stratfor, in a statement on its Facebook page, said it "regrets the latest disclosure of information obtained illegally from the company's data systems."

"We want to assure our customers and friends this was not a new cyber attack but was instead a release of information obtained during the previous security breach," it said.

"The latest disclosure included credit card information of paid subscribers and many email addresses of those who receive Stratfors free services," the company said.

Anonymous earlier this week published what it said was Stratfor's client list, which included members of the US armed services, law enforcement agencies, top security contractors and major technology firms.

Anonymous also posted images claiming to show receipts from donations made by the hackers to various charities using stolen credit card data.

Anonymous has said it was able to obtain the information in part because Stratfor did not encrypt it, which could prove a major source of embarrassment to the global intelligence firm.

Stratfor chief executive George Friedman has said the Austin, Texas-based company will not relaunch its website "until a thorough review and adjustment by outside experts can be completed."

With the website down, Stratfor has been communicating using its Facebook page and sending its political and security analysis products to members by email.

Stratfor has also offered to provide members with one free year of identify theft protection services.

Anonymous has been involved in scores of hacking exploits including retaliatory attacks last year on companies perceived to be enemies of the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

Anonymous has said the latest attacks are in retaliation for the prosecution of Bradley Manning, the US Army private accused of leaking more than 700,000 US documents to WikiLeaks in one of the most serious intelligence breaches in US history.

(c) 2011 AFP