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Web Site Hacks Rise as War Rages in Iraq

An anonymous reader noted a Reuters news story talking about Website Defacement during the war. Apparently protesters and hackers are defacing hundreds of US and UK sites, both corporate and government.

26 of 660 comments (clear)

  1. All False by Arc04 · · Score: 5, Funny

    None of these claims are true.
    Someone has just hacked into /. and defaced index.pl to show this story!!!

    But seriously.....has /. ever been defaced by e-vandals?

    Arc

    1. Re:All False by LokiSteve · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yup.. /. has been hacked
      <br>
      http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=9 8/09/14/1949212&mode=thread

      --
      END OF LINE.
    2. Re:All False by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      "But seriously.....has /. ever been defaced by e-vandals?"

      Yes. Remember that story where a Linux user happily switched to XP?

    3. Re:All False by Jace+of+Fuse! · · Score: 5, Funny

      But seriously.....has /. ever been defaced by e-vandals?

      I think they call those "TROLLS" around here.

      --

      "Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"

      Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
  2. And the point is? by wizardmax · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All this does is make other hackers/crackers/what ever look bad. It will not convert people. It will just piss them off.

    --


    Free speech is getting expensive...
    1. Re:And the point is? by Anonymous+Struct · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't know... 'w3 r 2 l337 4 u' IS a compelling argument, after all. Maybe they ARE too leet for us. Maybe we should listen to them and do what they say....

    2. Re:And the point is? by Xerithane · · Score: 5, Funny

      76% of americans also think Saddam was directly responsible for 9/11. Don't be proud of the failure of free press and democracy.


      No they don't, only 51%. Considering that 11% of Americans can't locate the U.S. on a map, that isn't too bad.

      The U.S. is not a democracy, it is a republic.

      --
      Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
    3. Re:And the point is? by anotherone · · Score: 5, Insightful
      I just heard the 76% number on MSNBC about a half hour before I posted that, and it said "approve of the war", not "agree that iraq is a threat." A search on google revealed several similar numbers: 62%, 70%, 72%, another vote for 72%, 76% (note that it says in no unclear terms that "76% approve of President Bush's decision to attack").

      Perhaps you have a credible source that claims the numbers are lower?

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    4. Re:And the point is? by tres · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's not about the country. It's about being a member of the world community. Iraq is a soverign nation. now that the bush administration has bumbled its way across the ideal of sovereignty, no nation can feel safe.

      The real irony is that Saddam's bumbling invasion of Kuwait--doing the same exact thing bush is now doing--was the beginning of all this. Nations came together against Iraq because Iraq had jeapordized the sovereignty of all nations by simply deciding to invade a weaker neighbor.

      All those UN resolutions that the bush administration points to as justification for their present action were retribution for Iraq's invasion of another sovereign nation.

      Now that's irony.

      While bush destroys decades of partnerships with other nations like France and Germany, trading those allies for countries like Ethiopia, while bush scuttles the last remaining vestige of authority that the United Nations had, the bush administration tells us that they are doing what is best for 'merika and all us 'merikans.

      Now that's irony.

      The "coallition of convenience" is an irony in itself because somehow the bush administration expects us to believe that a bunch of third-world nations hoping for a handout consitutes support of the international community.

      The real President Bush had the support of the world to enforce the sovereignty of nations. Our bush has had to buy a band of nations to make a rubber-stamp "coallition."

      No one was trying to save Saddam or the government of Iraq. They were asking for diplomacy to be given a chance.

      They were asking for the bush administration to utilize the same restraint that we expect all other nations to use.

      --
      Notes From Under *nix: blas.phemo.us
  3. Bias by damiam · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Does anyone else find it offensive that the author draws a distinction between "protesters" and "patriotic" hackers? They seem to imply that protesting the war would be unpatriotic.

    --
    It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
    1. Re:Bias by ParticleGirl · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That's a problem I've seen all over media coverage, as well. I love my country, I support the troops, and I hope that they get home soon and alive. I just wish that the government wouldn't spend their lives so cheaply-- I think that we had not yet come to a point where war was the only answer, and as long as it's not the only answer there are alternatives to be explored. I am anti-war, but I am very patriotic and I definitely support the men and women risking their lives for big issues.

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    2. Re:Bias by Telastyn · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Absolutely. Also notice that certain public figures that are "unpatriotic" are being unduely harassed for such views?

      The pulling of Martin Sheen's visa commerical come to mind.

      The big stink about Rick Nash's comments at the Mavericks game.

      The Dixie Chicks getting their music pulled from radio stations.

      Locally there's a radio DJ who's ranting on about how protesters deserve shot for hurting America's economy (ignoring the fact that the 'war' will cost (b/m)illions of dollars)

      I'd guess that Vietnam protesters probably were also viewed as unpatriotic at the time (as I was not alive for the war, and history likely has biased things)

  4. Other way around? by mrtroy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why is it not the other way around?
    rm -rf all Iraq government sites

    It just doesnt seem like the smartest thing to do, defacing your own national websites. Hey, our troops are fighting for us across the ocean, lets not support them. You voted, your leader chose to go to war, what is your problem?

    Also, hey, our economy is doing poorly, lets deface some corporate sites in a hope they lose millions to lots sales and extra security costs.

    Stupid stupid stupid. If you want to protest a war, have a PEACEFUL protest. Protesting a war by doing illegal and hurtful things is the pot calling the kettle black.

    These people lose all public respect and support by doing stupid, negative things.

    --
    [I can picture a world without war, without hate. I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it]
  5. Re:news sites are all safe by ParticleGirl · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Yeah, I thought that it was really interesting that CNN's website immediately switched to a smaller version of their usual website; fewer stories, fewer pictures, less to load, with links from there at 9:30pm EST Wednesday. Instead of waiting for the slowdown, they anticipated it. I don't think I've ever seen that happen before-- not that there have been so many incidents that have generated that kind of blanket interest since the web became a major news source for the masses. The only one, in fact, that I can think of was Sept. 11th; these measures were definitely not taken then until sites had already started going down.

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  6. Don't infringe on other people's rights please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I don't mind if people protest, but do not deface property and infringe on my rights.


    Yesterday, in Boston, protesters sat down and blocked the Mass Ave Bridge, a major 4 way bridge. They also blocked people from getting to work at the Boston Stock Exchange and government buildings. Why prevent people from getting into work that have nothing to do with the war? Let them earn their living. What if an ambulance or emergency crew need to get over the bridge? Why are you drawing our police away from homeland security issues?



    I have also seen a lot of graffitti- notably defacing of said Mass Ave Bridge with permanent spray paint. I have also seen private business buildings hit with the "no war" graffitti. I think some protesters are just in it to get on TV and know very little about what they're protesting.


    Feel free to protest, but don't infringe on my rights when doing so.

  7. Re:Protestors by Little+Brother · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Umm, perhaps the reason they can't explain why we're truly at war, is because they can't comprehend ANY good reason to launch a massive, unprovoked invasion, against the clear will of the international community and against international law, against a country that poses little threat to the country launching the attack?

    I have to admit I can't explain why we're truly at war either, economicly it will be disasterous, it has ruined the international diplomatic ties the US once had, and it makes the citizens of the Uninted States more at risk to future terrorist attacks and in the worst case senario could start World War III

    No, I can't explain why we're truly at war either, it baffles me. It is the most ill-conceived thing our government has done in my lifetime. Pray tell, why are we REALLY at war?

    It isn't because Iraq has violated UN mandates, Isreal has violated more, and we still support them. It isn't because they have weapons of mass destruction, North Korea has more in that catagory, and we're trying "diplomatic means" to deal with them. It isn't because of Saddam's human rights record, or we'd be at war with China, not granting them favoured trade status. It isn't because the inspections were failing, the inspectors themselves thought the process was working, and shouldn't they know? Come, come, since you're so ready to critisize others for being unable to explain the cause of this war, explain the real reason we are at war, instead of alluding to it in an ambigious manner...

    --

    Little Brother, watching the watchers

  8. Re:news sites are all safe by n3k5 · · Score: 5, Informative
    how many of these hack attacks are exploiting known issues?
    Pretty much all of them. The current political situation doesn't cause hordes of über-crackers to spring up, it's mostly protesters, nationalists and script kiddies fooling around with known exploits. The article doesn't mention a single big, well-known web site -- which tend to have better security -- as a target, most of the attacked sites are simply small fragbait.
    --
    but what do i know, i'm just a model.
  9. What is the logic? by anocelot · · Score: 5, Interesting

    OK. I had a hard time driving around SF yesterday because of people doing more or less the same thing. On the one hand, they are blocking access to cyber places - and on the other they are blocking access to real ones. I was wondering if anyone could explain the logic behind protesting a war that is already started? Does anyone really believe that our government is going to stop and say, "Gee, we better stop this war so that those guys from Berkley will move off the Altimont Expressway..."

    All I can see here is people giving Saddam (or what's left of his regime) fuel for his fight. He can say, "Look, the American people don't believe what their government is doing. Stop surendering and kill kill kill!!!" This would cause more loss of life to american soldiers. So... Can anyone explain what the protesters are hoping to get out of this? (Other than a permanent record...)

    -anocelot

    --
    This tagline brought to you by 1500 monkeys in just under 17 years.
  10. And I remember it happening during the war in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...'Nam a few more years back.

    Of course, I'm also crazy.

  11. Doublethink... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I love the doublethink brought out over the last few years.

    Having War will give Peace
    Disobeying the UN will give it purpose
    Cowardice is the refusal to injure thousands of innocent civilians living in Baghdad opposing a major power's whim.
    Bravery is the ability to order the deaths of 100,000 Iraqis without wincing or bringing up your Caesar salad.
    Apparently, well-fed young men sitting in millions of dollars' worth of military hardware and dropping bombs from 30,000ft on impoverished people who have already had all their arms taken away are exemplars of 'bravery'.

    War on Terrorism... In the words of Terry Jones: "You can wage war against another country, or on a national group within your own country, but you can't wage war on an abstract noun. How do you know when you've won?"

    Geez... The doublespeak is astounding.

    My favourite one was the attack of "Shock and Awe" that the US is parading, or as the CBC puts it "Anger and Confusion". No one is shocked, no one is awed, everyone is angry and everyone is confused in Iraq.

    It's pretty darn hard to be in awe of a nation that is invading you.

    Oh wait... we aren't invading iraq, or occupying iraq. Even though they are raising american colours over Iraqi cities that have been.. umm.. liberated...

    Yeah.. that makes sense.

    Stop playing word games, open your eyes, and you'll see what's happening.

    Or you can just live in doublethink and apathy. That's the way a good patriotic citizen should live I guess.

  12. Re:they don't get it by jlazzaro74 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They have to get louder because they are being drowned out by all the "Go America" bullshit. The media has not given anything near equal voice to anti-war arguments as they have to pro-war rhetoric. The numbers of protestors have been grossely underestimated, and as for the polls that you think tell you 70% are in favor, they are completely fraudulent. I have watched several over the last weeks, and every time the results start to go in the anti-war direction, the questions are changed or the poll is dropped. Besides, any idiot knows you can get any result you want depending on how you phrase the question.

    Example: Do you or would you:
    • A) Support the war against Iraq
    • B) Support the war with UN backing
    • C) Oppose the war

    Now, since a lot of people are holding out for UN approval so we don't look like a bunch of assholes, you're going to have a lot of votes for B. You'll have some votes for A because about 1/3 of Americans are complete idiot hicks who think Saddam and Bin Laden are the same guy. Now when reporting the results, simply mash A and B together and say 70% support the war. It's not true, but it's not completely false either.

    If you think the media is liberal and would naturally want to skew opinions towards anti-war sentiments, I suggest you check out Alterman's book "What Liberal Media"

  13. US isn't spending the lives of soldiers cheaply by sssmashy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I just wish that the government wouldn't spend their lives so cheaply

    Do you think that the US Gov't is spending the lives of its soldiers cheaply? I can't think of any army in history that places so much value on the lives of individual soldiers as today's US Army. To accomplish a given mission, the Army would rather spend millions of dollars on high tech surveillance and "smart" missiles than risk the life of a single US soldier in actual combat.

    The soldiers may be brave and willing, but the Army is so risk-adverse they are willing to do almost anything, at any cost, to avoid American combat casualties.

    I wouldn't be surprised to learn that at the end of the war, more soldiers die from accidents than actual combat. Probably, the Army's mortality rate won't be much higher than it would be for a similar-sized group driving on American highways, or smoking American cigarettes.

  14. That's because 'Patriot' has become deformed by thatguywhoiam · · Score: 5, Insightful
    .. in the minds of many Americans.

    A Patriot is someone who loves their country, and works to help better it.

    A Patriot is not silent on government corruption, illegal wars, or anything else that they think hurts the long-term health of the country.

    A Patriot does criticize. They criticize at times of extreme political unrest. They ask questions when questions need to be asked.

    And yes, a Patriot will perform acts of civil disobedience, when extreme situations warrent it.

    A Patriot does not, under any circumstances, cowtow to the party line and 'fall in' as to not 'cause ripples'. A Patriot stands up and shouts to the fucking ceiling, 'something is wrong', when they feel something is wrong.

    (And you know what's really funny? I'm Canadian. You know, one of those countries that's not 'the greatest nation in the whole world'. Whattajoke that phrase is. The hubris knows no bounds.)

    --
    If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
  15. Re:Heroes by squiggleslash · · Score: 5, Informative
    Point of information: Chirac is a hardline right-winger in charge of a conservative government. There's nothing "left wing" about him or it, and there's nothing left wing about businesses climbing over themselves to wallow in profits dealing first-come first-served either.

    Anti-war does not mean left-wing, as those fine fellows at the Cato Institute will point out.

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  16. Yet Another War Troll by voiceofthewhirlwind · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I love (note sarcasm) how in the very country these anti-war people seek to save, they would be killed, tortured, or raped for the very actions they do to try to save it.

    Do they not see the irony?


    The irony is tired and cliched, and a contains two strawmen to boot (the purpose of the war and the purpose of the 'anti-war people'). This sort of arguement dates at least to the war against Vietnam...

    The fact that your country gives you a right to protest does not give it the right to invade countries that don't.

  17. site at work got hacked by Jett · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The website we run at work was defaced by "Hackers Against War", they exploited a bug in the software we use (php-nuke) to replace all the stories on the front page with an inane antiwar statement and comments in French about their feelings for some girl. The pathetic thing is that our site already had a lot of antiwar articles up on it, so if their true motives were to express an antiwar opinion they failed horribly in that they obscured substantive antiwar commentary with their drivel AND forced us to take the site offline while we fixed things.
    While I'm sure there are some groups out there with genuine political motives, based on this and some other things I've seen I really believe that this is just scriptkiddies looking for something trendy to do.