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Zimbabwe Gov't Websites Hit By Pro-WikiLeaks DDoS Attack
An anonymous reader writes "Pro-WikiLeaks hacktivists have struck a blow against the-powers-that-be in Zimbabwe, bringing down three government websites through distributed denial-of-service attacks. The attacks appear to be in support of newspapers who published secret cables in the ongoing WikiLeaks saga, to the annoyance of the country's leadership. Grace Mugabe, wife of Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe, was recently reported to be suing a newspaper for $15 million after it published a WikiLeaks cable that claimed she has benefited from illegal diamond trading. The Zimbabwe government's online portal at www.gta.gov.zw and the official ZANU-PF website continue to be offline, and the Finance Ministry's website now displays a message saying it is under maintenance."
I love how Anonymous thinks they are effecting social change by "annoying" Zimbabwe's leaders. These 4channers will get bored, the website will go back up, and life will go on as usual in Zimbabwe.
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Grace Mugabe, wife of Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe, was recently reported to be suing a newspaper for $15 million
Which by the time it gets over with, will be worth a few cents if in the Zimbabwe currency.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
So, she's suing the paper for an amount that's a little over 0.36% of the countries GDP, which, by the way, works out to about $100 per capita in 2009 dollars, according to the CIA World Fact Book. The Mugabes are a pair of the most despicable people on the planet and why they're allowed to stay in charge, probably out of some fear of removing them looking like "white colonial oppression," is shameful.
This is one of those times where I feel a sense of justification for the anonymous attacks. Mugabe should be run out of office sooner than later.
Problem is, this kind of attack against his governments sites will have one effect: It will bolster his insane claims of overseas meddling causing his countries problems. It is a lie, Mugabe is the no1 cause for the problems Zim is having now, but all anonymous have done is lend credibility to his claims of overseas "agents" (yes he has used that term) causing trouble in Zimbabwe.
This will have the effect that his supporter base will grow, and lend him greater power.
Seven Days with Ubuntu Unity
Just to clarify, the GDP of Zimbabwe works out to $100/per capita, not the $15,000,000 target of the suit.
Zimbabwe's infrastructure is probably minimal and informational in nature. A few Linux boxes running a web server. Certainly makes an easier target than Amazon, Paypal etc. where Anon's boasted how it was going to take it down and managed to cause minimal disruption.
Ping flood it from two 56k lines instead of just the one?
Its all going to be fun and games until one of these DDoS attacks or one of the Wikileaks publications leads to murder/genocide. Then all these kiddies will have blood on their hands. Good game.
Anything done that "annoys" Zimbabwe's leaders is well worth the effort in my opinion.
What makes you think they're annoyed? Those people probably don't even know about the attacks or if they do, don't give a shit.
I wouldn't. If I were some thieving despot, I would take comfort in my billions of dollars and young girls that do my sexual bidding.
Website down? Pffft! A mosquito is more annoying.
Anonymous is just pathetic in their self importance.
I guess it just goes to show that you can never underestimate the ability of youth to go and do exceedingly questionable things in their pretentious mindset of moral superiority.
I don't think anyone is arguing that Zimbabwe or similar countries need government change and for that matter change period. Or that some of the things that these so-called WikiLeaks document (if they're credible, which is a question few seem to be asking and none have answered) are bad things. What seems to be the true thrust of arguments in favour of these DDOS attacks, leaks, and other acts of espionage is that the people on the receiving end, essentially deserved.
The ends don't justify the means - and there are much better means to effect social change than a group carpet-bombing websites, or for that matter wikileaks airing out a bunch of dirty laundry.
Its worth remembering that this is the same WikiLeaks that gave out GPS coordinates for US troops. They're not just being anti-American. They're on the other side. I'm not even American, and I say that.
How WikiLeaks Just Set Back Democracy in Zimbabwe Are their anonymous fans trying to compensate for that?
Zim doesn't even qualify as a Banana Republic.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
...that these attacks "in support of Wikileaks" are what they are represented to be? Or is it possible that at least some of them could be false flag attacks designed to make the case later that breaching government secrecy is somehow tantamount to terrorism? Just asking... I really have no idea, but neither do I expect things always to be what they appear.
STFU, dumbass.
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The politicians (and diplomats) are (for a lot of good reasons) taught to act and talk in a very couched, non-confrontational way. The truth is that Robert Mugabe was at one time a good thing for Zimbabwe, and Africa in general. That time passed about 25 years ago. Robert Mugabe has become an ass-hat, a pariah, a blight on Africa, and a disaster for Zimbabwe. When he chased all of those nasty evil, its-not-really-their-land-anyway-even-though-they-paid-for-it-and-have-owned-it-and-worked-it-for-two-or-three-generations white farmers, and gave the land to soldiers he wanted to reward with a nice nest-egg for shooting opponents. Suddenly instead of being a bread basket to Africa, Zimbabwe was in dire need of food and had food shortages and people starving. Good job buckwheat! But its not just white farmers old Bob Mugabe has been oppressing. I (personally) know someone who left Zimbabwe because Mugabe's troops killed his parents, grandparents, and a few of his brothers and sisters. He fled because they did not vote for Mugabe. I've seen pictures of Mugabe's house, paid for with blood diamonds. Its unfortunate, but Zimbabwe, like Haiti, suffers poverty not because its people are not willing to try, not because there are no resources (although in Haiti there aren't many), and not because outside forces haven't bent over backwards to improve the situation of the people there, the biggest obstacle to progress is government leadership, corruption, and a group of people (perhaps all of the people) who see gain for their group or clan as paramount, and never once considers 'the common good?' They never consider that if people are empowered (even people not in their clan), then the wealth those people create will help them too. But they never go for the big picture. They always go for door number one: "Me and my clan living well and to hell with everyone else." Mugabe is a perfect example of this. Haiti? Haiti has a coup every 18 months or so. Every year and a half for the last hundred years or so, Haiti has had a fresh new government. When one group gets tired of the other groups corruption, they burn tires in the street, and shoot the other sides leaders, take power and then oppress the other side, Gangs are in charge. No long term planning occurs in Haiti. External aid usually amounts to about 1 billion US dollars per year. Not just the year of the earthquake, or the year before, or the year before that, but every year for decades. Haiti doesn't get any better, and not because people outside of Haiti haven't tried to fix Haiti. Not for decades. Haitis problems come from within. It likely sounds mean, but I am becoming a proponent of urging both governments and NGO's to quit spoonfeeding Haiti until Haiti has what everyone calls free and fair elections, *AND* the government remains stable for at least 5 years. That's the stick. NGO aid and foreign aid come after that: thats the carrot. Sometimes countries need tough love too. Another example of stupidity in Haiti: A ship, containing hundreds of pallets of medicine able to stop the cholera epidemic: in the port at Port-Au-Prince. Unable to unload supplies for more than 6 weeks because a politician was unwilling to give approval to unload the cargo. Another example: Medicine sitting in the sun on the runway of the airport (slowly going bad due to lack of refrigeration). 20 yards away, a hospital needing that medicine to help the sick and dying. Again, a bureaucrat unwilling to sign a piece of paper because he only wanted the medicine to go to his supporters, and couldn't figure out who was in the hospital: (better to let them all die than help the other side). Haiti and Zimbabwe are fucked up places not because of circumstance, or fortune or luck or disaster. These countries problems are with the people, and greed and stupidity. Fix that first, FIRST!!!, and then you can do the rest.
Plain and simple.
Here is the article she is suing over. http://www.thestandard.co.zw/local/27601-first-lady-gono-in-diamond-scandal-wikileaks.html
It might help if the US got some sort of international support and helped the countries who most people believed needed helping, instead of unilaterally invading the ones with the most natural resources. Just saying.
Especially given the existing presence of the Chinese military (allegedly here 1943'28.99"S 3225'33.06"E) .... though I'd be surprised if actual "help" ever arrives - far too much money just in the blood diamonds, and far too many "very" powerful players.
I'd be a little cautious about buying anything Andrew Cranswick sold me without checking carefully first, especially if it's a cattle station (Moola Bulla) - equally I'd consider giving him a some credit when he denies that he pointed at Ernest "Deadly" Blom in the first place - but then Cranswick is possibly in SA at present, so SA bullbars might be higher on his list of concerns than Zim ones.
Just the legacy of Rhodes makes any change in Zim a very tricky proposition, dig a little into the Fullbright connection for more complexities. The whole thing just turns my stomach.
Don't confuse Slashdot with Wikipedia folks - do your own research, I have neither the time, the ability, or the inclination to prove anything, and everything.