Anonymous hacks Senate website

[Skwink]

Sure, you are free to spray paint it. You just aren't free after you spray paint the Library of Congress.

Hey, you're still free till you get caught!

 

[civ_king]

They didn't vandalize it, though, did they?

They did the equivalent of stealing books from a restricted section of the Library of Congress

How is it an act of war? Who has died as a result of these actions? What belligerent nation state is declaring war on the united states?

And if they are spies, who are they spying for?

Espionage doesn't make sense in this case, really. If they were really spying, why would they do this for all the internet to see?

I still think that you are for whatever reason just buggered that there are computer hackers out there who are smarter than our government.

This is a new game, the rules have changed, our definitions are inadequate

 

[CaptainF]

This is a new game, the rules have changed, our definitions are inadequate

It's certainly inadequate to characterize a bunch of nerds as terrorists and spies.

 

[civ_king]

It's certainly inadequate to characterize a bunch of nerds as terrorists and spies.

If a bunch of nerds stole data from Lockheed Martin on a classified project are they spies ?

 

[bhsup]

How is it an act of war?

They attacked the Senate. That's 1/2 of 1 of the 3 branches of the federal government.

Who has died as a result of these actions?

A declaration of war is an act of war and nobody dies there... since when is death a necessity for something to be an act of war?

What belligerent nation state is declaring war on the united states?

Since when does war have to be waged only against nation states?

And if they are spies, who are they spying for?

Maybe no spying, I just threw that one possibility out. Regardless of their intent, they attacked our Senate.

I still think that you are for whatever reason just buggered that there are computer hackers out there who are smarter than our government.

You are, of course, free to think what you want. Your thinking something doesn't mean those thoughts have any basis in reality, though. I simply don't understand why people think things like this are cool or edgy or awesome or whatever. It's none of the above. It's at best a criminal act when aimed at a person or business, and it's an act of war against our nation when aimed at our government institutions, and should be treated as such.

 

[CaptainF]

If a bunch of nerds stole data from Lockheed Martin on a classified project are they spies ?

Is that what they did here?

No, they just trollololed and you guys are eating it up.

 

[Zelig]

Like most hacking memes, this one is also not true.

It's possible to making hack attempts essentially untraceable to any particular individual.

Think along the lines of writing a script to take advantage of an exploit, loading it to a phone, then having the phone execute the script from someone's pocket when it's in range of public wifi.

Viewing it as an attack upon the republic, i.e. an act of war, opens up military options. Though it would make more sense to find and arrest them and charge them with something like espionage or something. Treat them like spies.... cyberspies.

What if they're 12 year-olds from Kansas?

 

[LucyDuke]

They did the equivalent of stealing books from a restricted section of the Library of Congress

Taking the books, photocopying them, putting the books back, and leaving with the photocopies.

So no, they didn't vandalize or remove anything.

I'm not defending what happened, let's just describe it accurately, shall we?

 

[bhsup]

What if they're 12 year-olds from Kansas?

Obviously that changes things. But what if they're 30 year-olds from Spain?

 

[Ajidica]

Obviously that changes things. But what if they're 30 year-olds from Spain?

Then, in such a case, we have no authority there. We would have to let the Spanish Authorities deal with it or send the case to the International Court of Justice which is spending its time dealing with sordid little dictators and mass murderers. I'm sure they have better things to do which are more critical to humanity.

 

[Zelig]

Obviously that changes things. But what if they're 30 year-olds from Spain?

Make them remain in Spain for the rest of their lives.

 

[Hygro]

They just need to treat hacking secure websites the same as robbing banks and the same punishments to match.

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

They could be Chinese.

 

[Skwink]

What if they're 12 year-olds from Kansas?

"Sorry son, you're going to GITMO!!!"

 

[civ_king]

Taking the books, photocopying them, putting the books back, and leaving with the photocopies.

So no, they didn't vandalize or remove anything.

I'm not defending what happened, let's just describe it accurately, shall we?

And if the information in those books is classified?

 

[LucyDuke]

That would make it vandalism?

 

[Maniacal]

They just need to treat hacking secure websites the same as robbing banks and the same punishments to match.

Obviously they weren't secure if they were hacked.

 

[civ_king]

Obviously they weren't secure if they were hacked.

You are aware that it is effectively impossible to make something hack proof right? The whole point of security is to make it difficult enough that it isn't appealing to hack it. Same principle at a bank, the point is to make it hard enough that it isn't worth it.

 

[Zelig]

You are aware that it is effectively impossible to make something hack proof right? The whole point of security is to make it difficult enough that it isn't appealing to hack it. Same principle at a bank, the point is to make it hard enough that it isn't worth it.

Sure, but "difficult enough" in computer security terms can easily be made to be "difficult enough that nobody has time to crack it over the lifespan of the security solution".

Other than 0-day exploits, the vast majority of hacks occur because someone on the security team did something wrong.
(Or alternatively, because the security staff wasn't getting paid enough. You'd see fewer security breaches if security departments were better staffed and funded, rather than treated as a business expense to be minimized.)

 

[civ_king]

Sure, but "difficult enough" in computer security terms can easily be made to be "difficult enough that nobody has time to crack it over the lifespan of the security solution".

Other than 0-day exploits, the vast majority of hacks occur because someone on the security team did something wrong.
(Or alternatively, because the security staff wasn't getting paid enough. You'd see fewer security breaches if security departments were better staffed and funded, rather than treated as a business expense to be minimized.)

Trained security experts can't see everything in thousands of lines of code