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'Anonymous' WikiLeaks Proponents Not So Anonymous
Giovane Moura writes "For a number of days the websites of MasterCard, Visa, PayPal and others are attacked by a group of WikiLeaks supporters (hacktivists). Although the group calls itself 'Anonymous,' researchers at the DACS group of the University of Twente (UT), the Netherlands, discovered that these hacktivists are easy traceable (PDF), and therefore anything but anonymous. The LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon) software, which is used by the hacktivists, was analyzed by UT researchers, who concluded that the attacks generated by this tool are relatively simple and unveil the identity of the attacker. If hacktivists use this tool directly from their own machines, instead of via anonymization networks such as Tor, the Internet address of the attacker is included in every Internet message being transmitted. In the tools no sophisticated techniques are used, such as IP-spoofing, in which the source address of others is used, or reflected attacks, in which attacks go via third party systems.
"These entities have a right to conduct their business however they want without undue criminal interference."
You're wrong.
They have the right do conduct their business however they want. But they also have to accept the negative consequences of their lousy business decisions.
I for one, want to see some financial damage to these companies, and if a few of them goes bankrupt, even better.
Sorry if you work for one of them and risk losing your job if this happens. Too bad, Captain. Maybe you should've picked somebody more ethical to work for.