One of the more cringe-worthy stories to come out of the Wikileaks-Anonymous-DDOS plotline in the last few weeks is the lack of security practiced by just about everyone involved. Authorities found the name of a designer named Alex Tapanaris embedded in a PDF press release purporting to come from the hacker group Anonymous. His site was later inaccessible and he was said to have been arrested.
Several other people were arrested, said to be allied to Anonymous, in the Netherlands. Their identities may have been ascertained because the LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon) software used for the retaliatory DDOS attacks carried user information with it.
In Holland, two teenagers, a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old, have been arrested. The first, from The Hague, was said to have been involved in Operation Payback. The second, Martijn Gonlag of Hoogezand-Sappemeer, was arrested for an attack, possibly related, on the Dutch attorney general’s website.
The back-and-forth DDOS attacks from supporters, opponents and random extras, has created an environment of compromised security on each side. Perhaps this will point up how much those who believe themselves bulletproof have to learn. But just like any other fight, the instant people stop talking and start attacking each other, the discourse coarsens precipitously, and often permanently.
Here are the DDOS attacks so far by target.
- Wikileaks
- Visa and Mastercard
- Amazon
- PayPal
- Wikileaks
- Gawker (if this is related to the other, it’s oblique, but it’s often hard to tell which way the battle lines are pointing)
PandaLabs Blog has a good timeline of these attacks.
Some here at ReadWriteWeb have made the case that DDOS attacks are really a type of civil disobedience. Others see it as the beginning of a war. (I hold with those who favor fire.)
If there’s anyone smart out there in either camp – pro-Wikileaks or anti-Wikileaks, pro-DDOS or anti-DDOS – they’d best do something to stop this before it gains such momentum that no one person can have an effect on it. Anyone who doesn’t will bear responsibility for what it becomes.
Now, what is that quote about war and truth?
“Among the calamities of war may be jointly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates and credulity encourages.”
Yeah. That’s the one.
Other sources: OpenTopic, Softpedia, BoingBoing
