You may have already heard of Anonymous, Lulzsec and other online so called “hacktivists” that seemingly cause havoc on large organisation that they have moral issues with.

With a new mission called Operation AntiSec, all the above Hacktivist groups, and others, are engaged in trying to outdo others by taking down prominent online assets of organisations that they have issues with

Target of the Xmas period for Anonymous: Stratfor.

Strafor is a global intelligence provider based in Austin Texas who came to prominence in the late 90’s after covering the war in .

The lunatics have taken over the asylum:

So you would have thought that being secure online was second nature for such a company, you know, ensuring that credit card details of members was locked under high end encryption, and passwords were not created with such simple terms as the name of the company or other lazy choices?

Well no, it would appear that one of the globe’s most respected authorities on all things security, does not encrypt passwords, and apparently allows the most basic of hacking tools to enter their databases and retrieve information such as credit card details and password to email accounts.

So how is their website currently looking weeks after the attack:

“As you may know, an unauthorized party illegally obtained and disclosed personally identifiable information and related credit card data of some of our subscribers.

We are currently investigating this unfortunate event and are working diligently to prevent it from ever happening again. As a result, we have delayed restoring our website until we can perform a thorough security review. Stay tuned for our relaunch.

In the meantime, our main concern is the impact on our customers. As a result, we have provided paid subscribers with identity protection coverage from CSID, a leading provider of global identity protection, at our expense for 12 months.”

Robin Hood tactics may cost charities money:

Now I personally like the fact that a group such as Anonymous expose huge organisations as to how crap they actually are in many areas, but reports of taking money off client credit cards and placing this into charities sounds like a funny prank.

If time is money then it would seem that the charities affected will have to cough up, with very little chance of compensation, and this may end up being quite costly for the charities affected, in all honesty, I am unsure this is morally acceptable.

So who was affected in UK and US defence positions after this hacking expose:

It appears that from the US there were some 173 individuals who are serving in Afghanistan who had details published about their affiliations with Stratfor along with information about the vice-president Dan Quayle and former secretary of state Henry Kissinger.

The UK had some 221 people affected including military officials and 242 NATO staff, as well as advisor’s to Britain’s Joint Intelligence Organisation, who are a group who report on sensitive information directly to the Prime minister David Cameron.

So who was affected in total?

The data that was obtained also contained around 850,000 email addresses and passwords to people who had subscribed to the site, as well as 19,000 email addresses which belonged to US military personnel.

As ell as email and password data, 75,000 subscribers has their credit card numbers and addresses revealed.

All in all quite a bonanza of data easily scraped from an unsecured database run by a high end security agency, are you worried?

Recent work:

Anonymous have also been involved in other politically motivated attacks on companies and states that they feel need exposing as cruel or against their own perceived ideals of right and wrong.

So last Summer, we have had the widespread targeting of companies who have made Wikileaks’ life difficult, so Paypal received a DDoS attack last year in a targeted attack aimed at stopping the processing company from being able to run its website, after the blocked payments for donations from Wikileaks via tehir system.

And in recent times, Syria’s Ministry of Defence has been hit with a defacement of their website after the anonymous hackers took the side of protesters of the bloody crackdown imposed on them by government and military officials in the country

So what do you think of these “hacktivist” group(s)?

Useful highlighters of issues that need addressing?

Or, pesky nuisances that need to think more clearly about the way they do things for fear of causing more problems than they perhaps hope to highlight and solve?

With the US launch of Google TV last October, the service and device was expected to be available in the UK late last year also, however the updated schedule now for the UK arrival is within 6 months, so some time in late winter or early spring of 2012 seems to be the best guess.

How does Google TV (GTV) work?

Google TV works on the set top box principle which is connected to your TV and internet, this then allows users with an internet connection access to a multitude of services from traditional TV networks right through to catch up services online from video hosting sites such as YouTube which Google obviously own, and in the UK this will include online catch up services such as iPlayer and ITV player.

Smartphone or voice activation acts as remote control if desired:

Once connected, users are able to switch between watching content on the traditional TV and Internet with one click, access to services such as TV guides will also be controlled by a remote control, and this can come in the form of a voice activated command or a smartphone with a Google TV application running on it that turns the device into a smart remote control.

This is distinctly different from watching TV on your computer obviously.

The Edinburgh film festival seems likely to be the venue that will hear of the news in more detail, when Eric Schmidt the executive chairman of Google will address the crowd.

HD YouTube service to be available:

It is highly likely that with broadband speeds increasing on average each year, Google will include a special HD version of YouTube that can be accessed via GTV (Google TV) boxes, whether this will be true HD or more likely a highly compressed version remains to be seen.

Android O/S will be the software behind the Google set top box and Chrome will be the browser of choice to browse the Internet, there will also be access to applications for download that may offer services such as previews, TV guides and perhaps even greater connectivity with live shows.

It seems likely that the new Google TV developers platform will pave the way for much more integration of applications to the user experience and will tie in nicely if all goes to plan for the UK arrival.

Content issues in the US – Will the UK have the same problems:

The US film, music and TV industry is not particularly known for looking forward in current digital times especially if it’s power is under threat. And while the US do produce some excellent examples of TV dramas (HBO) and have a plethora of high production value news, comedy and drama networks and production houses and access to a huge film industry, the disappointing fact for Google is that US networks have not been particularly keen to jump on board this new technology.

Why? Most likely for fear of losing control of an unknown distribution model compared to the traditional current models that are both trusted and measurable avenues for content distribution and monetisation, with associated advertising revenues that shareholders and account teams keep close tabs on.

The UK industry is quite a different beast. Known for its more diverse output, and resting on publicly funded institutions like the BBC and Channel 4, the TV industry in the UK is lead by innovation for the people much more than the largely corporate US TV industry which is lead more by profit and margins. This unfortunately for most American citizens leads to fairly sub standard viewing experience and a hell of a lot of ad breaks unless you opt for paid services such as HBO which are in another league and almost lead the way in quality production values, casting and creativity globally.

Contacts already signed in the UK:

It appears that signed contracts with both Channel 4 and 5 and inherent access to BBC iPlayer and ITV player (two free to access services developed to watch TV online) will be major draws for people when it comes to choosing Google TV.

Schmidt has spoken more openly about the opportunities that the UK television industry seems to be presenting to Google:

“I have always been a profound optimist about the potential for technology to improve people’s lives – though I am also a realist and understand it can be immensely disruptive in the process. So I look forward to discussing the opportunities and challenges ahead for the TV industry in Edinburgh.”

Google’s recent acquisition of Motorola and Sage TV could mean new technology for the UK:

With Google taking over Motorola mobility earlier this week, the options to manufacture a new set top box have increased, so there could be a new rethink to how Google deliver there IPTV services.

So all things considered, what are your thoughts on Google TV, an unnecessary box in the corner of the room, or a new revolution bringing a potentially more connected TV viewing experience to the masses?

Limited Beta initially:

The service will initially be open to a few invites on a beta release to iron out potential issues if you want an invite go to this link here:

Pre-registering seems the best option and the one to bring you the quickest results in getting a working account.

Once you are accepted and things are working as they should, you will be able to access 15 million songs, these will all be totally free with advertisements making up the revenue on the basic accounts, subscription services will start at $5 a month with no ads, and a $10 a month option will include streaming to mobile and slightly higher quality audio by virtue of larger bit rates being offered while streaming the audio files.

Native spotify application is fantastic

Users in the US will no doubt be unaware in the main that the fantastic native application for Mac and Windows is a seriously well designed bit of kit and users will no doubt enjoy the experience of getting knee deep in the beats with their new found toy!

Let us know what you think when your in, we are sure you will love it!