"Bisexual money-grubber with Asperger's": How to troll Anonymous

[nsane.forums]

The "psych profile" on Kayla

A "leaked" FBI psychological profile of the Anonymous leadership has been making the rounds online for the last few weeks; it popped up again today at "Anon Central." The document purportedly profiles the six "leaders" of Anonymous, even ranking them at times, but its psych profiles would seem to fit every negative stereotype of hackers—right down to the "possible Aspergers syndrome," "amorality," and "social ineptness."

Oh, and did we mention the "bisexuality" and the greed?

The eight-page document allegedly comes from the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit at Quantico. It claims to have been written in August 2011 at some point between the arrest of Anonymous spokesperson Topiary in the UK and the arrest of "16 year old girl" (but probably a boy... or two) Kayla. The analysis says it is based on Twitter accounts and IRC chat logs, even though the document recognizes that certain screen names may be used by more than one person. Still, "as an aggregate, the data presented and assessed gives the BSU some confidence in the data presented here."

Is the "leaked" FBI report genuine? It looks decent enough on the surface, but such things are simple to forge. I spoke with the FBI about the document; they were unwilling to offer any comment on its provenance, but they could not say it's a hoax, either. Caveat lector.

Multiple points in the document ring false. It has occasional typos, for one thing. It uses single quotes on some pages and double quotes on others. The section called "Anonymous Collective Background" comes from Wikipedia. The doc seems ignorant of obvious facts, such as the link between the "JoePie91" screen name and Dutchman Sven Slootweg. Nearly all factual information in the document has already been made public. And most of the "character traits" read suspiciously like trolls ("bisexual," "pseudo-intellectual," "monetarily driven," "Aspergers syndrome").

Let's run down the list of the six named Anons, all of whom are familiar names from our own research into the group (and most of whom were involved in the HBGary hacks earlier this year) before considering who might have authored such a document. Anonymous, here's a master class on how to get trolled.

Sabu

Since Topiary's arrest, Sabu has become more of a spokesperson for Anonymous. The report suggests that he "has character traits of a professional adult individual who puts on the guise of a 'script kiddie' in language (netspeak) but functions within his normal day-to-day life within the business community without casting any clues to his other online activities."

Key findings:

• Likely married and employed in the technology sector
• Has amoral tendencies and sees the world from a nihilistic perspective
• Shows narcissistic tendencies
• Spelling correction on chat logs shows compulsive behaviors
• Prideful and likely easily prone to reaction through manipulation
• Lives out rich fantasy life online (feeling important and empowered)

According to his "slang and diction," he's an American male, and probably between 29 and 35 years old. (Our favorite part? Spelling corrections as compulsive behavior. We call that "editing.")
Kayla
Kayla claimed to be a key player in the HBGary hacks earlier this year. The report notes Kayla's claim to be a girl but says that "intelligence gathered places the sex of the UNSUB [unknown subject] as male," and two males apparently linked with the Kayla screen name have in fact been arrested recently.
Kayla is:

• Possibly bisexual
• Likely abuse as a child
• Likely inferiority complex due to childhood trauma
• amoral personality traits
• Attention seeking personality seeking father figure approval
• Possible persistent drug use

The report suggests that Kayla can be "easily pushed to anger" and that this should be used by investigators "as frequently as possible to make him react and thus potentially slip up in anger."

The report says that Kayla is a male, age 22-27, who lives in Middle America—but the actual arrests were of a 20- and 24-year-old in the UK.

Topiary

The report says it was compiled shortly after the arrest of one Jake Davis in the UK's Shetland Islands this summer. Investigators believe Davis to be "Topiary," and after his arrest he was transferred to London for an initial court hearing. At that hearing, he carried a book "on revolutionary scientists and made sure that the press could see this as a means to show his point of view and defiance of the common laws."

Unlike the other top leaders profiled in the report, Davis is said to be an idealistic "true believer" and an altruist. Other Anons have used him as "cannon fodder," however, in their chaotic war on authority.

Davis is said to be "socially inept and withdrawn" and has "possible Aspergers syndrome."

JoePie91

JoePie91 is said to be "third in command" of the main Anonymous cell, though the report recognizes there may be others. He's "intelligent and well spoken" and "makes relevant arguments in correct grammatical syntax"—the bar for being a genius Anon is not apparently high, according to the report.

His words and grammar suggest that he may be an EU resident, and is likely a college student. Though he claims to operate in support role rather than actually breaking the law, the report suggests he also possesses "amoral character traits and personal beliefs."

Tflow

Tflow, assumed to be a 22-26 year old male living in the US, "shows a more mercenary approach to the LulzSec and Anonymous campaigns." The report speculates that his motivations are financial, and that he may in fact be a paid hacker for Anonymous.

Key traits:

• Pseudo-intellectual that lacks true educational background
• Monetarily driven
• Likely has a criminal history
• Has cognitive dissonance over hactivism and activism

Since he allegedly runs many of the technical operations for Anonymous, the report suggests he "may be the linchpin to attack." It also believes that he may be "easily turned against the group due to his cognitive dissonance over hacktivism as well as he [sic] desires for monetary gain."
"Out of control"
As for Anonymous itself, the report concludes with an apocalyptic assessment of the movement that suggests it cannot long endure.

• The movement is out of control and there seems to be no real coherent motivation
• The leaders have begun to hide themselves a bit more due to arrests that have been made
• The reliance on technology will eventually be their downfall
• Their interpersonal relationships are weak points, as such they should be leveraged
• Their increasing attacks on infrastructure will eventually lead to serious results that could in fact lead to deaths

After such deaths, the report concludes that Anon activity may taper off "as the members realize that by outing individuals, actual physical actions can occur that cause great damage."

The document reads like a more fully-fleshed out version of HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr's plan to map the Anonymous leadership—a plan that didn't turn out so well for him. But Barr was fingering people like "Owen" and others whom the new report ignores, and indeed many of Barr's so-called "top leaders" apparently weren't.

Advanced trolling?

The "leak" was promoted on the Anon_Central website and Twitter feed, but former Anonymous spokesperson Barrett Brown believes the whole thing is a fake.

Brown tells me that the report seems "off" based on his own associations with the people mentioned in the piece, including the fact that JoePie91 doesn't hide his identity. The goal seems to be "making Sabu and other figures look bad," he says, though in a "ham-fisted way."

We think it's a work of fiction, but an entertaining read nonetheless, one that even features "CIs" (informants) and IRC channels crawling with federal agents (a persistent Anon fantasy). But it took a fair bit of time to put together, and the question remains: who is trolling whom? Are Anons punking the world by putting their own stereotypes into the mouths of FBI agents? Are Anon's enemies just heckling the group? Or—what might be scariest of all—could the FBI possibly be producing material of this caliber?

Brown's best guess is that it was written by someone with an axe to grind. Of course, this being Anonymous, "there are just too many of these people out there to keep count," he says.

Bottom line: the trolls have become the trollees.

Further reading

• The document (static.arstechnica.net)

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