Almost 17,000 e-mails and passwords were released by the Connexion Hack Team, which they stated to have acquired randomly.  The group did not release information indicating from which sites they obtained their list.

Dear Internetz, We are the Connexion Hack Team. We are here to say that we are releasing approx. 16,959 emails and passwords. These are random and do not ask which website they came from. If you want to see if your email is there press CTRL+F on Windows and search for your email. If it is, well to bad, pick another email from the list. If it isn’t then you are one lucky bastard. We want everyone to know that we mean business here. Have fun!

They have also urged the public to follow their Twitter account, which they intend to use as their public face.  The group announced that they are in need of a new member and whoever hacks their site will become part of the team.  Their site is already up with these words to welcome you on Official Hack Our Site:

Connexion_Lulz Connexion Hack Team What do you think of this idea? We need a new member on the team, so our idea is the person who hacks our website… Gets to be on the team.

Following their tweets, you can see that Connexion is paying homage to LulzSec by picking up where they left off.  When a LulzSec member did an interview with New Scientist Magazine, along with their letter to all the hackers to unite, hackers seem to have taken that to heart, and continue what they have started when news surfaced that authorities are close to catching the people behind these allegedly malicious acts.

The release of the list of e-mails and passwords has already caused problems for a lot of people when their social sites were vandalized or personal information made public.  The hackers’ point of view is this: if you were chosen it means you should change your password.  Yes, it does make sense in a way.  They are letting people know how easy it is to acquire personal information—they are telling the world to be more vigilant with our accounts.

They may be doing this for our own good but I can’t help but think—what are they getting from this?  Is there really a point to this or is this just an elaborate act to distract us from something else?  They say that they are fighting for the oppressed but their actions are also a form of oppression.  These acts are done to show power, to prove to the people who are in control that they are not in control.

They believe hacking is the only thing that can grab the attention of the masses.  You now have our undivided attention.  Now tell us, what do you really want?  Government corruption and conspiracies have been around for ages, what makes you think that using the Internet will stop it?  Anything on the Internet can be fabricated.  As hackers, you should know this.  Some people may believe in your cause but with evidence obtained through hacking, I doubt that everyone would buy it.

Earlier this week, authorities have arrested some members of the alleged Anonymous hacker collective.  This should be good news, but if you think about it, could this be just part of their dastardly plan?

If anyone thinks or suspects that their e-mail or password has been compromised or they just want to make sure they’re safe: check ShouldIChangeMyPassword.com.  Even if your account hasn’t been compromised, it would be better if you change your password.  It’s best to prevent this type of incident from happening rather than experiencing it after the fact.