Of the 177 million records stolen by hackers over the last year, 100 million were taken by hacktivists.
Undeterred, the hacktivists then reconvened on an unsuspecting YouTube video user's comment feed and in another chat room.
BBC: Viewpoint: Preparing for the digital defence of the realm
The error about WMGM cannot be attributed to the hacktivists, either, since they have no interest in pre-Internet technologies.
Hacker collective Anonymous has suffered an embarrassing breach, as one of its popular Twitter feeds is taken over by rival hacktivists.
It had proved popular with Anonymous hacktivists, but many turned against it when its owner said he was considering removing "sensitive information".
He said the attacks by hacktivists were not very common but often netted huge amounts of data when they did penetrate defences.
Was that a calling card for hacktivists, or an attempt to throw investigators off the scent of the real attackers and their motivations?
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The same report also warns that many high-tech attacks described as acts of cyberwar, including the antics of hacktivists, do not merit the label.
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In February, the group fell victim to its own security breach when one of its popular Twitter feeds was taken over briefly by rival hacktivists.
Swartz's suicide has inspired a flurry of online tributes and mobilized Anonymous, the loosely defined collective of so-called "hacktivists" who oppose attempts to limit Internet freedoms.
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Anonymous is more of a nebulous network of hacktivists and online pranksters than an organization, so word of where collective action is going tends to come in small, cacophonous waves.
He warned people to be very wary, adding that some hacktivists keen to support the work of Anonymous had been tricked earlier in the year into installing a booby-trapped attack tool.
However unintentional, Geohot became the poster child for hacktivists and inspired a movement that quickly grew out of control -- if only more of us could be so productive with our boredom.
The UK Cyber Security Strategy, published in 2011, identified criminals, terrorists, foreign intelligence services, foreign militaries and politically motivated "hacktivists" as potential enemies who might choose to attack vulnerabilities in British cyber-defences.
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In contrast to that stolen by hacktivists, about 35% of data pilfered from large companies was taken by organised criminal groups which wanted to sell it or use it to commit another crime.
Law enforcement officials instructed Nominet to disable the domain used for the Und3rgr0und chat site in an attempt to disrupt the hacktivists, having tracked down the source of the site as beyond their jurisdiction.
BBC: Viewpoint: Preparing for the digital defence of the realm
They briefed the Cobra committee (made up on this occasion by on-the-ball, internet-savvy actors playing the prime minister, culture secretary and home secretary) on response strategies to the threat, analysed a simulated Twitter feed to gauge the social media response to the issue, and discussed and debated strategies for managing the attack on a chat site called the Und3rgr0und - the gathering place of choice for Incognito hacktivists.
BBC: Viewpoint: Preparing for the digital defence of the realm
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