Anonymous + general hacktivists 2009-2018 (Department of Transportation)
It is a clone of this request.
| Tracking # |
2019-307 |
| Multi Request | Anonymous + general hacktivists 2009-2018 |
| Submitted | May 29, 2019 |
| Due | June 27, 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: Department of Transportation
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InitialAcknowledgementLetter_19_Jun_2019_05_05_42
From: Department of Transportation
January 20, 2023
Emma Best
MuckRock News
411A Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA 02144-2516
Sent via email to requests@muckrock.com
RE: Freedom Of Information Act - Status Update
Tracking Number - OST-2019-0307
Dear Ms. Best,
My name is David Grossman and I have been assigned to process your FOIA request, dated May 30, 2019. You requested information, involving the Anonymous/hacktivism movement. Specifically, you requested the following information:
* 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
The purpose of this email is to provide you a status update. Currently, I am reviewing this FOIA request and will be contacting you soon, to discuss this FOIA request further. I apologize the for the length of time it has taken to respond to your FOIA request. I will do my best to try and get this processed as soon as possible.
If you wish to no longer pursue this FOIA request, please let me know immediately. Otherwise, I will continue to process and contact you with any additional questions or concerns I may have. I look forward to working with you. And again I offer you my apologies for the delay in the processing of this request.
Sincerely,
David Grossman
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Transportation
****Warning****
The attached information may be confidential. It is intended only for the addressee(s) identified above. If you are not the addresse(s), or an employee or agent of the addressee(s), please note that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please destroy and/or permanently delete the information and notify the sendor of the error.
From: Department of Transportation
Hello Ms. Best
I hope all is well with you. After reviewing your request, I have discovered that the documents I have found are extremely voluminous. At this time, based on how many documents I have acquired-I estimate at least 100,000 pages or more, this will take several months to review and process.
Would you be willing to narrow the scope of your request to the last 3 years (excluding 2020-2023)? That would mean I conduct a search from 2016 to 2019. I have attached your FOIA request for your reference. We could also narrow it down to any complaints, involving US DOT from 2016-2019.
Ultimately, however we approach this request, if we can narrow it in some way, this will reduce the amount of time it will take for me to process this request.
Please let me know how you would like to proceed. Also, if you decide that you wish to no longer pursue this request, please respond to this email to request to withdraw your FOIA request.
Thanks,
David Grossman
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Transportation
****Warning****
The attached information may be confidential. It is intended only for the addressee(s) identified above. If you are not the addresse(s), or an employee or agent of the addressee(s), please note that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please destroy and/or permanently delete the information and notify the sendor of the error.
From: Emma North-Best
No thank you, I have no interest in reducing the scope of the request. Its been 3 and a half years since I filed it, so there doesn't seem to be a point in negotiating the scope down for a faster response given how slow your base response speed is. I may as well wait another decade.
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