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Post your comments for Hacker collective Anonymous hits US government site here

[ReadandShare]

All the successful hacks all over the world... are they all because of faulty security design or sloppy security implementation? I wonder if any website is truly secure once targeted by a bunch of determined hackers?

[thewazak]

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I wonder if any website is truly secure once targeted by a bunch of determined hackers?

I assume your question was rhetorical ......................
We all know nothing online is really secure - but should be.
We all know banks can be robbed - but they shouldn't be.
And we all know we'll get a long stretch if we do - and get caught.
Just wonder how robbing the Internet should be any different.
Maybe a bank robber should get leniency if done for "political" reasons.

[chosenson]

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I wonder if any website is truly secure once targeted by a bunch of determined hackers?

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I assume your question was rhetorical ...................... We all know nothing online is really secure - but should be. We all know banks can be robbed - but they shouldn't be. And we all know we'll get a long stretch if we do - and get caught. Just wonder how robbing the Internet should be any different. Maybe a bank robber should get leniency if done for "political" reasons.

Do they really think they are going to make any difference? Committing crimes to prove the lawmakers are wrong; what a novel idea. As if someone in government is sitting behind their desk thinking; 'These guys are right, we should change everything to what they want, just because they want us to.'

Yes your honor, I robbed the bank because they were charging me fees that were questionable as I see it. They stole from me, so I stole from them.

They are mad because one of them was stupid enough to STEAL millions of documents; documents he didn't own and had no part in the creation of, then got caught red-handed. Then he took the cowards way out instead of facing the consequences. Sounds kind of like all these children that hide behind their Guy Fawkes masks. Adults, true adults, accept the consequences for their actions. They don't hide. They don't blame others. They don't dream up some elaborate conspiracy theory just to blame another.

Why shouldn't the government throw the book at Swartz? He did it. He was caught. He was Guilty. And he was hurting many innocent people with his actions.

I wonder if any of the script kiddies (AKA anonymous) would like it if someone stole any of their works. That is assuming any of them has ever taken the time to actually create something worthwhile.

Those documents Swartz was stealing represented many hours of long hard work by many people. If the creators/owners of them wanted them released to the general public, they would have done just that.

I agree that our government is far from perfect. But these fools are not going to make any positive changes. If anything, they are going to PISS OFF the wrong person(s) and end up making things worse.

[Moofie]

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I wonder if any website is truly secure once targeted by a bunch of determined hackers? I assume your question was rhetorical ...................... We all know nothing online is really secure - but should be. We all know banks can be robbed - but they shouldn't be. And we all know we'll get a long stretch if we do - and get caught. Just wonder how robbing the Internet should be any different. Maybe a bank robber should get leniency if done for "political" reasons. Do they really think they are going to make any difference? Committing crimes to prove the lawmakers are wrong; what a novel idea. As if someone in government is sitting behind their desk thinking; 'These guys are right, we should change everything to what they want, just because they want us to.' Yes your honor, I robbed the bank because they were charging me fees that were questionable as I see it. They stole from me, so I stole from them. They are mad because one of them was stupid enough to STEAL millions of documents; documents he didn't own and had no part in the creation of, then got caught red-handed. Then he took the cowards way out instead of facing the consequences. Sounds kind of like all these children that hide behind their Guy Fawkes masks. Adults, true adults, accept the consequences for their actions. They don't hide. They don't blame others. They don't dream up some elaborate conspiracy theory just to blame another. Why shouldn't the government throw the book at Swartz? He did it. He was caught. He was Guilty. And he was hurting many innocent people with his actions. I wonder if any of the script kiddies (AKA anonymous) would like it if someone stole any of their works. That is assuming any of them has ever taken the time to actually create something worthwhile. Those documents Swartz was stealing represented many hours of long hard work by many people. If the creators/owners of them wanted them released to the general public, they would have done just that. I agree that our government is far from perfect. But these fools are not going to make any positive changes. If anything, they are going to PISS OFF the wrong person(s) and end up making things worse.

Can you please tell me who he "hurt" doing this? It was a completely nonviolent crime. Did you know that MIT denied to even press charges against him? The basis of his actions were that the documents were based on research partially or completely funded my public monies, and therefore the information should belong to the public.

I don't think Anonymous have a care in the world if anyone took anything they made. Within the hacker community is a general mindset that everything should be open source. Most, if not all of their works, are most likely openly available to whoever would like it.

[chosenson]

Moofie, on 27 January 2013 - 01:09 PM, said:

Can you please tell me who he "hurt" doing this? It was a completely nonviolent crime. Did you know that MIT denied to even press charges against him? The basis of his actions were that the documents were based on research partially or completely funded my public monies, and therefore the information should belong to the public.

I don't think Anonymous have a care in the world if anyone took anything they made. Within the hacker community is a general mindset that everything should be open source. Most, if not all of their works, are most likely openly available to whoever would like it.

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Partially or completely funded by public monies

Who do you think the public is in this case? Not the general public as you may think. Alumnus' corporate entities, certain govt bodies and other philanthropists are the source. They gave the monies freely to aid the education of students attending the institutions; to assist in the creation and evolution of technologies. Not so someone in some other city, country, place, could have the document to learn from, to use, without ever stepping foot in any of the educational institutions. These works are made available, to the students who pay for the right to use them and learn from them.

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Can you please tell me who he "hurt" doing this?

Who did he hurt? MANY. Every person who has a document at JSTOR. I personally know a few of them, and they worked very hard on their papers. They also paid a large amount of money for the right to attend an institution, to learn from others works; to create, to further themselves. They are also upset that someone thought it was their right to steal them and make them public.

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I don't think Anonymous have a care in the world if anyone took anything they made.

Of course they won't care. They can't. All the script kiddies are using freely available open source based software. They don't create any original works. They use other's works; modifying them to suit their needs.

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MIT denied to even press charges against him?

MIT was originally follow SOP when they first caught on to Swartz. Over the years, the number of student 'hacks' has grown. Most of them were done as a learning experience; that's all. These students would be caught, reprimanded internally, and go on their way. It was the fact that Swartz wasn't actually a student at MIT. It was the fact that he hid a pc in a basement room and wired into the network. It was the fact that he was attempting to download all the documents, not a few; not some; ALL! It was the fact that when he suspected he may be caught, he retrieved the laptop and ran. If, he hadn't done so many STUPID things, he may have been let off with a slap on the wrist. MIT had a decision to make, and the ENORMITY of his actions was what pushed MIT to involve outsider enforcement.

Had MIT not involved any outside source, what do you think would have happened at MIT when the news of his activities and their mishandling of such got out? He wasn't stealing directly from MIT, he was stealing from another entity.

Take off your rose colored glasses and really think about things. If it were your school, what would you do? If it was your cache of documents which you were responsible for, what would you do?

If the last two questions don't help, let me ask this; Where do you live? I want to come there and steal everything you own. It will be alright though. I am going to give them away to the public; freely.

PS - I really don't want to know where you live.

This post has been edited by chosenson: 27 January 2013 - 02:07 PM

[gadgetninja]

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I wonder if any website is truly secure once targeted by a bunch of determined hackers? I assume your question was rhetorical ...................... We all know nothing online is really secure - but should be. We all know banks can be robbed - but they shouldn't be. And we all know we'll get a long stretch if we do - and get caught. Just wonder how robbing the Internet should be any different. Maybe a bank robber should get leniency if done for "political" reasons. Do they really think they are going to make any difference? Committing crimes to prove the lawmakers are wrong; what a novel idea. As if someone in government is sitting behind their desk thinking; 'These guys are right, we should change everything to what they want, just because they want us to.' Yes your honor, I robbed the bank because they were charging me fees that were questionable as I see it. They stole from me, so I stole from them. They are mad because one of them was stupid enough to STEAL millions of documents; documents he didn't own and had no part in the creation of, then got caught red-handed. Then he took the cowards way out instead of facing the consequences. Sounds kind of like all these children that hide behind their Guy Fawkes masks. Adults, true adults, accept the consequences for their actions. They don't hide. They don't blame others. They don't dream up some elaborate conspiracy theory just to blame another. Why shouldn't the government throw the book at Swartz? He did it. He was caught. He was Guilty. And he was hurting many innocent people with his actions. I wonder if any of the script kiddies (AKA anonymous) would like it if someone stole any of their works. That is assuming any of them has ever taken the time to actually create something worthwhile. Those documents Swartz was stealing represented many hours of long hard work by many people. If the creators/owners of them wanted them released to the general public, they would have done just that. I agree that our government is far from perfect. But these fools are not going to make any positive changes. If anything, they are going to PISS OFF the wrong person(s) and end up making things worse.

like obama

[sunflowerjane]

Abominable hackers!

[ronin7752]

Sounds like Anonymous is dying. Regrets. They had great potential -- e.g. when they attacked child porn sites -- but aside from a few events like that, they never used it wisely.

Lots of talent. No leadership. Sort of like the U.S.A.

[chrisdutton56]

In their defence Anonymous hides because they would be shut down very quickly. One must always remember that throughout most of Mankind's history, speaking the truth was , and still is, a criminal act. If Anonymous has a fault it is its rather chaotic approach to 'righting wrongs'. Yet, that being said, the Alternative is a sliding slope towards...Order. Order is always very dangerous.In principal I agree more with Anonymous than with the alternative..the IndustrialCompexNorms, shall we call them. What we call a 'conspiracy', it is not really...it is a Decay..or it is an Evolution. We all must choose the path of the Internet, it will develop into the most dangerous and most evolutionary tool mankind has invented so far. It has the potential in generations to come...to enslave billions or liberate billions. Every day we log on, we choose. Choose carefully. There is a larger price here. Much larger. For if it is worth saying, it is worth saying freely.

[waldojim]

ReadandShare, on 27 January 2013 - 10:38 AM, said:

All the successful hacks all over the world... are they all because of faulty security design or sloppy security implementation? I wonder if any website is truly secure once targeted by a bunch of determined hackers?

Neither. They use DDoS attacks to take down a system, then a single brain among the bunch uses known vunlerabilities to gain access. Nothing more, nothing less. They are pansies.

[waldojim]

ronin7752, on 27 January 2013 - 06:48 PM, said:

Sounds like Anonymous is dying. Regrets. They had great potential -- e.g. when they attacked child porn sites -- but aside from a few events like that, they never used it wisely.

Lots of talent. No leadership. Sort of like the U.S.A.

Not hardly. There wasn't an ounce of talent to be had.

[MKZ1945]

Currently there seems to be a double standard regarding stealing. Do it electronically and you have a chance of either getting punished or offered a high paying salary doing the same thing for some business. If you get caught stealing in the physical world, you are probably going to get jail time, especially if you use a weapon of some kind in the process. The weapon is just a tool, just as the computer is for these hackers. Just like robbers in the physical world, they probably figure they won’t get caught, but when the crime is big enough the manhunt becomes more important. It’s too bad it cost Swartz his life, but maybe it will make some people think maybe they are not as infallible as they thought they were. So much talent there went to waste.

[notdatkindacoke]

You are on to something. A trend among the government agencies, is that they strongly prefer to hire folks who are straight out of college so they can mold them. This includes the security admins. You can imagine what happens, when inexperienced young folks are put in charge of security. (Actually, you can read about it in news clips like this one.)