[LINK] Anonymous Guy Fawkes Thingy: Was Anonymous 'hive' strikes back in hacking war

[Tom Koltai]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: link-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au 
> [mailto:link-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au] On Behalf Of Kim Holburn
> Sent: Tuesday, 8 February 2011 6:05 PM
> To: Link list
> Subject: [LINK] Anonymous 'hive' strikes back in hacking war
> 
> 
> I noticed a comment in this article that while the FBI and 
> British Police and others were making arrests for the 
> Anonymous pro-wikileaks DDoS of Mastercard, Visa and Paypal 
> no-one was looking for the anti-wikileaks DDoS attackers on 
> wikileaks and their DNS registrar.
> 
> 
> http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2376861,00.asp
> > On Thursday, the FBI said it executed more than 40 search warrants 
>
> Then today:
> 
> http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/08/3132952.htm
> 
> > Anonymous 'hive' strikes back in hacking war
> > 
> 
> http://www.techspot.com/news/42308-anonymous-hacks-security-co
> mpany-hbgary-for-working-with-fbi.html
> 
> > 
> http://static.techspot.com/fileshost/newspics3>
/2011/anonymous_hbgary_h
> > acked.jpg
> > 


Ouch!!!
Last Saturday I was at a birthday bash for a youngish Compsci student.
(The son of a colleague.)
My views on Government were aired and I was asked what I thought about a
university libertarian movement.
I responded that I thought it was a great plan if there was a clear
manifesto that would benefit the student body in some manner.
The discussion then turned to Guy Fawkes masks, where they could be
purchased and for how much.

I understand the Vietnam protestors that couldn't see the sense of being
shot for another country's sake, but I just don't GROK the Anonymous,
Guy Fawkes thingy at all.
When I asked for clarification, the response that I received from the
table (about fifteen students a couple of post grads and some old farts)
was, that there was too much interference in their lifestyles from those
in control (I believe that included Vice Chancellors, Government and any
regulatory authority.)

I expressed a certain level of dismay and suggested that they could wait
thirty forty years before starting the revolution.
At the time I was joking, but on further cogitation, mayhap I was only
half joking.

For educated third and fourth year uni students to be quite so cavalier
about their support for the actions of Anonymous, to me seems as if we
have lost the PR "do no evil" war.

In typical student fashion, I was bombarded from all sides with reasons
why Anonymous was cool. 
Discussions about increased regulatory interference because of the
actions of Anonymous appeared to have no sway with this audience.
Then again it might have been peer compounded beer bravado.

Am I missing something? 
In my day, we would organise a sit-in, paint some slogans on placards
and go home after several hours of D&M philosophy 101 followed by
several calming "smokes", convinced that we had changed the world.

It just strikes me that the very adoption of the Guy Fawkes mask is a
slightly unhealthy syndrome that would appear to be seriously the
beginning of a worldwide political movement that appears to laud
anarchy. 
Whilst there are few politicians that I would consider to be "friends of
the voters", a political system based on everyone wearing a Guyfawkes
mask would appear to me to have serious overtones of clannism (as in
KKK).

The escalation we are currently observing on the Net, would appear to be
headed for an IT Armageddon, fuelled by journalists that need to write
about controversial subject matter to be able to sell advertising that
the next generation are ignoring anyway (which of course is stuffing up
the recovery of our economy).

Possibly the methodology to diffuse the impending IT Armageddon might be
for authorities, journalists and media to ignore anonymous.