Anonymous + general hacktivists 2009-2018 (New Hampshire State Police)

Emma North-Best filed this request with the New Hampshire State Police of New Hampshire.
Tracking #

2019-RTK-SP-226

Multi Request Anonymous + general hacktivists 2009-2018
Status
Completed

Communications

From: Emma North-Best


To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New Hampshire Right to Know Law, 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 sent to or received from either the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, any fusion center or federal agency relating to or mentioning Anonymous or hacktivism
* 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.

I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the Internet Archive and MuckRock, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance.

As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.

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 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Emma Best

From: New Hampshire State Police

Ms. Best,

I am writing to acknowledge your below request to the NH State Police, for various categories of records related to "Anonymous" or hacktivism between 1/1/09 and 1/1/2019. I estimate that the time reasonable necessary to determine the extent of available records to be approximately 60 days.

David M. Hilts
Legal Counsel
Office of the Commissioner
New Hampshire Department of Safety
33 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03305
W (603) 227-0040
F (603) 271-1033

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. This communication may contain material protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for delivering the e-mail to the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this e-mail in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited and may be subject to criminal prosecution. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by telephone at (603) 227-0040. You will be reimbursed for reasonable costs incurred in notifying us.

From: New Hampshire State Police

Ms. Best,

In regard to the above Right to Know request, please be advised that, due to the ongoing public health state of emergency related to COVID-19 declared on March 13, 2020 at both the state and federal level, we will not be able to continue work on your request until this emergency is over. We will follow up with a date certain within 5 business days after the New Hampshire emergency declaration is no longer in effect.

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this difficult and stressful time.

David M. Hilts
Senior Staff Counsel
Office of the Commissioner
New Hampshire Department of Safety
33 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03305
W (603) 227-0040
F (603) 271-1033

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. This communication may contain material protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for delivering the e-mail to the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this e-mail in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited and may be subject to criminal prosecution. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by telephone at (603) 227-0040. You will be reimbursed for reasonable costs incurred in notifying us.

From: New Hampshire State Police

Ms. Best,

I am writing to ask if you remain interested in the requested records. If I haven't heard from you in two weeks, I will assume that you are not, and I will close your request.

David M. Hilts
Senior Staff Counsel
Office of the Commissioner
New Hampshire Department of Safety
33 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03305
W (603) 227-0040
F (603) 271-1033

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. This communication may contain material protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for delivering the e-mail to the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this e-mail in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited and may be subject to criminal prosecution. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by telephone at (603) 227-0040. You will be reimbursed for reasonable costs incurred in notifying us.

From: Emma North-Best

I am still interested, thank you.

From: New Hampshire State Police

Please find attached the available records responsive to your request. Information has been redacted that was not responsive to your request. In light of the circumstances of the request, there is no copying fee. I apologize for the length of time it has taken to fulfill this request. This request is considered to be closed.

David M. Hilts
Senior Staff Counsel
New Hampshire Department of Safety
33 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03305

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