Just so you know - the Internet has now changed forever.
I posted this on my blog at galipeau.blogspot.com but I think that this is a very important discussion point for LiFTERS this week.
Think about this - it is important.
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Regular channels, including the media and 90% of the bloggers who blog about bloggers, didn't notice the IRC activities and the 'sudden' arrival of a group of Internet activists known as Anonymous and their coordinated attack against Scientology.
This isn't the standard BBS call to action al la alt.2600, 'c4n sUm1 h31p m3 w1tH h4x0RiNg mY sk00lz c0mPz?' - this is serious.
Here's a few links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCbKv9yiLiQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrkchXCzY70
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-063clxiB8I
The Economist claims that,
'it [Anonymous] is promoting cyberwarfare techniques normally associated with extortionists, spies and terrorists.'
No it's not. Here's why:
The economy of the developed world is moving from focusing on producing goods (Ex. cars, houses, food, and computers) to being based on the exchange of information. This shift may be compared to the transition from feudalism to capitalism where the power shifted away from the landed aristocracy to the newly enriched bourgeoisie. Recently, the power shifted from the owners of productive capital (i.e. factories) to those of informational capital.
Already we have seen a strong shift away from productive capital, as speculative investments are able to wreck havoc on national economies (such as Mexico’s 1994 crisis, Southeast Asian financial crisis, the sub-mortgage debacle last year). Each day over 3.1 trillion dollars is traded in international currency markets. Capital was the overwhelming power of the state.
Now, the economy has entered a new stage and a new class has gained power. The new class of "info-bourgeoisie" are targets as hackers fight over the 'technopower' that has arisen from the imbalance of information ownership. Thus the recent 'corporatization' of the Internet' and the public efforts to move to a post-capitalist and socialistic economic model?
Although they have only recently raised their public head, Anonymous, the g00ns - as well as many other backchannel groups - have been around for a long time and have been active for several years. They are very good at what they do and better at exploiting what they want you to notice them doing.
Some of these groups, as reported in the broad media, ARE a self-mobilizing collection of scriptkiddies (whitehat operators) but more [certainly more than you want to know about] are individually funded by corporate, government and military 'onint', 'intint or 'nn' programs.
This is not new - this is not the beginning - this is not a conspiracy theory - this is real and it is certainly is not the end.
Traditionally, following the storyline of Frank Abagnale Jr., who was hired by the Ant-Fraud section of the US FBI, the US, French and Israeli military has been the best employers and trainers of online intelligence agents to 'search' the Internet and 'gather' darkchannel information. The creation of 'honeypots' has been public for several years and the skill of these institutionalized hackers in extraordinary.
But as new money rolled in, self-proclaimed "ethical" hackers now work on blackhat operations for private and semi-public figures/organizations all over the world.
Sound like a Bond movie? No. Darknet is very real. There are a reported 5000-8000 DDoS every day. Repeat: EVERY DAY.
Hackers are move beyond their previous limitations (broad gender based, deeper politicized, and more concern for recruitment and teaching) and have now become hacktivists. They work with non-technologically based and technology-borrowing social movements in the struggle for global justice.
Humanitarian organizations need to get more involved with technologically based social movements or face difficulty continuing to maintain their power base to the new technopower elite.
Smart people can do the research and see where I am going with this; the Internet has changed and Anonymous (and groups like them) are now public. Their call to action on February 10th will be successful and this meme will not pass.
They are Anonymous
They are Legion
They do not forget
They do not forgive
Expect them