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Anonymous claims hack on security think tank

A series of tweets claim that Anonymous has hacked Stratfor's e-mail and client list, including snagging credit card numbers. Stratfor's site is "undergoing maintenance."

Natalie Weinstein Former Senior Editor / News
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Natalie Weinstein
Stratfor's site is down for now. Screenshot by CNET

Anonymous is claiming to have stolen 200GB worth of data, including e-mails and clients' credit card information, from a U.S.-based security think tank, the Associated Press reported today.

The hacking group also used Twitter to post a link to a list of clients apparently belonging to think tank Stratfor Global Intelligence.

"Not so private and secret anymore?" read one of numerous tweets from AnonymousIRC, a Twitter account linked to Anonymous.

This morning Stratfor's site was down. A notice reads: "Site is currently undergoing maintenance."

Anonymous also tweeted that it has "enough targets lined up to extend the fun fun fun of LulzXmas throught the entire next week." Lulz is a reference to a related hacking group known as Lulz Security

Stratfor apparently said in an e-mail to members that it had suspended its servers and e-mail following a hack.

"We have reason to believe that the names of our corporate subscribers have been posted on other web sites," said the e-mail, which was obtained by the Associated Press via subscribers. "We are diligently investigating the extent to which subscriber information may have been obtained."

Anonymous claims it was able to steal the credit card data because it was unencrypted.

"If Stratfor would give a s--- about their subscriber info they wouldn't store CC/CCV numbers in cleartext, with corresponding addresses," according to one tweet.

Stratfor's long list of clients includes the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and Miami Police Department, the AP reported.