Re: Hackers become more militant

[Brooks Isoldi <bjisoldi () ACSU BUFFALO EDU>]

So is this author going to give something other than the fluff we all
already know about and rehashing of old news for the umpteenth time?  For
instance, did the author do any real investigating to possibly find out what
the reasons for the hacking might be, if reasons other than pre-pubescent
childishness exist?

> > The cyber raids are seen as a reflection of the growing militancy of
> > disgruntled Web users who have organized into groups with a
> > para-military structure.

    Para-military structure....really?  The BoyScouts were meant to be a
para-military organization.  They have a well defined chain of command both
inside and out of the individual troops; and I have seen even that fall to
pieces.  I'd like to see some evidence of hacking groups with para-military
organization, aside from timing of multiple hacks.  Id like to know what
qualifies this author to make such statements and what research he has done
into the actual organization and structure of hacking groups.  From what I
have seen, there are very few organizations with a solid enough structure
that they could even remotely be considered para-military.  The Hong Kong
Blonds might be one, although I don't know anything about them that I can
call reliable information.  Groups like GlobalHell (who if they weren't
busted and dismantled <hahahaha>-sorry i had to- im sure would be the focus
of this article) were HARDLY para-military.  They were merely a bunch of
kids (the leader was using his mom's computer which had his mom's important
information on it- once again <HAHAHAHA>).  It was fine and even amusing for
a while in the beginning, but now I'm just tired of journalists covering
cybercrime using big words they dont necessarily understand.  If the author
meant "groups with much more well defined organization and chain-of-command
structure than what has previously been observed" than just say that!  Stop
trying to scare people into no longer imagining the "girlfriendless, all
black clothes wearing boy with bags under his eyes, messy rooms and no life"
as the crackers of the world and now imagining "rough and tough guys with
special salutes for their superiors, uniforms and an M-16 in one hand and a
mouse in the other".  Because thats what popped into my mind when I read
that.  It's articles like these that prompted my mother who uses the
internet maybe an hour and a half a day on a dialup to come to me,
frightened as all hell, willing to pay out the ass for a firewall for her
windows 95 computer telling me she wanted more security for her computer.
Of course it doesn't help that on the Mcafee Firewall box in stores it
mentions the fact that it protects computers using dialups.  Whoopdee-Doo!
Id like to see an article with real facts about hacking groups...Yeah I
know, the article needs to be readable for people without the skills
necessary to understand the details.  It's just that lately, articles like
these that report on recent cybercrime events have become less and less
reliable, informative, accurate and more and more apparent that the author
has merely done what high school kids do when they have a paper to write;
A) Go back to other articles and rehash, B) Inject fluff into the paper so
as to take up space when they cant think of what to write, C) Rehash,
Rehash, Rehash.  Reading them have become a waste of time.

Brooks Isoldi
The Intelligence Network
http://www.intellnet.org
877-581-3724  [Voicemail/Fax]

"When in the Course of human Events, it
becomes necessary for one People to
dissolve the Political Bands which have
connected them with another..."
      -Declaration of Independence (1776)

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Walker" <jwalker () HWCN ORG>
To: <ISN () SECURITYFOCUS COM>
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2001 3:06 AM
Subject: [ISN] Hackers become more militant


> The Net, Issue #23
>
> http://www.themestream.com/articles/311573
>
> Click on:
>
> 1. Current Events and News
>
> Hackers become more militant
>
> Brent Lawson
> The Hamilton Spectator
>
> The attacks from the silence of cyberspace struck with military
> precision. A total of 26 government Web sites in three countries were
> hacked into and defaced at virtually the same time.
>
> Then, hackers hit software giant Microsoft Corp., shutting down access
> for millions of users in North America.
>
> This week's well organized attacks were a reminder that cyberspace
> remains a battleground on many fronts, with groups eager to claim credit
> for what they view as political action rather than cyber vandalism.
>
> The Web invasions occurred almost exactly one year after attacks on such
> high profile sites as Amazon.com, Yahoo and eBay which cost millions of
> dollars and prompted widespread fears about Internet security.
>
> The success of the recent strikes suggests the world's most powerful
> sites remain vulnerable to determined computer hackers.
>
> Last week, a 16-year-old from Montreal known as Mafiaboy pleaded guilty
> to 56 charges of mischief in connection with some of those attacks.
>
> But this week's forays on to government sites in the United States,
> United Kingdom and Australia were hardly the work of a few isolated
> hackers.
>
> The cyber raids are seen as a reflection of the growing militancy of
> disgruntled Web users who have organized into groups with a
> para-military structure.
>
> Cyber security expert John Walker of Hamilton-based CSS Internet News
> said such groups claim to possess a clear purpose.
>
> More... http://www.themestream.com/articles/311573
>
>
>
>
> Please feel free to pass this great resource along to others.
>
> John Walker, Publisher, The Net
> mailto:jwalker () hwcn org
> More at: http://www.bestnet.org/~jwalker/thenet.htm
>
> ISN is hosted by SecurityFocus.com
> ---
> To unsubscribe email LISTSERV () SecurityFocus com with a message body of
> "SIGNOFF ISN".

ISN is hosted by SecurityFocus.com
---
To unsubscribe email LISTSERV () SecurityFocus com with a message body of
"SIGNOFF ISN".