5 ms·

This smells to me like a hastily conjured rationalization for a series of attention-seeking acts wrought by a small group of disenfranchised industry workers wh

This smells to me like a hastily conjured rationalization for a series of attention-seeking acts wrought by a small group of disenfranchised industry workers who have something to say, but they're just not articulate enough to voice it so they blow shit up instead.

saulrh 15y ago
They can voice it perfectly well. The problem is that they can't be heard in the mass media without some large event to draw attention. The last month has been their big event, and now they have the attention they needed. They had a good plan and it was executed perfectly. [Edit: by "good plan" I mean that their plan had a good chance of success, not that it was beneficial. That part is still up for debate.]
- diminoten 15y ago
  No, they cannot voice it perfectly well, if they have to resort to stealing user information to get their message across. Their plan was not good, insofar as it caused pain for a great many people. What they did was not okay, and should not be lauded as a positive thing for the Internet at large. The problem is that their antics are even being considered as anything other than the terroristic (in the real sense of the word, not the post 9/11 hyped up nonmeaning it tends to carry today) acts that they are. If someone broke into a hospital and flung all of the patient records out onto the street, we wouldn't be having this discussion; they'd absolutely be considered criminals. So what if the glass they broke to get into the hospital wasn't shatter-proof? Sure, the hospital security would be improved, but there are a great many ways to go about fixing the problem without compromising the privacy if hundreds of thousands of people.
  - saulrh 15y ago
    People have been trying for years to get the point across that we need to have better security. None of them have managed it. If anything, security is getting worse because cracking tools are becoming more sophisticated. Someone had to get word out, what people were doing to raise publicity wasn't working, there was a way to get attention, and LulzSec did it. Bad as what they did is, they successfully raised media awareness of the fact that those patient records were in a clearly-labeled manila folder taped to the front door.
    - bad_user 15y ago
      None of them have managed it. I'm glad they didn't -- this way I can still have some privacy. cracking tools are becoming more sophisticated IMHO, it's easier to break into someone's home than into someone's server. The result more predictable too, as you can find tools that can crack open doors, windows, anything. And if all else fails, you can just watch the house until somebody makes an error, like leaving the window open by themselves (although experts don't have to do this). Real security can only be achieved through serious investments into state of the art alarms, safe-deposit boxes and by being a paranoid. Another way to do it would be to plant GPS devices in each and every human and track each movement into a centralized database, while good thieves will find ways to block that signal anyway; and that's how all of the proposals for a more "secure" Internet sounds to me - basically punishing honest citizens in the name of security.
    - diminoten 15y ago
      They succeeded in exactly the same way that the IRA succeeds in bringing attention to their cause when they blow up a school.
hugh3 15y ago
a small group of disenfranchised industry workers Do you really think they're industry workers? I'd peg most of them as high school kids. Probably with the occasional creepy thirty-something thrown in for good measure.
- gabaix 15y ago
  exactly. high schools have a strong envy for anarchy - trying stuff for fun. I think most readers here went through that phase and forgot about it. Flirting with the borders is fun. We were not realizing the consequence of our acts.
mhitza 15y ago
For a moment I'd taught I was the only one to notice. If we would ignore them, they would just fade away.
- ilikepi 15y ago
  If by "we", you mean everyone on the planet, including the blackhats who benefit indirectly by utilizing the results of LulzSec's exploits, then...maybe. This is not realistic, however.

saulrh 15y ago

They can voice it perfectly well. The problem is that they can't be heard in the mass media without some large event to draw attention. The last month has been their big event, and now they have the attention they needed. They had a good plan and it was executed perfectly. [Edit: by "good plan" I mean that their plan had a good chance of success, not that it was beneficial. That part is still up for debate.]

diminoten 15y ago
No, they cannot voice it perfectly well, if they have to resort to stealing user information to get their message across. Their plan was not good, insofar as it caused pain for a great many people. What they did was not okay, and should not be lauded as a positive thing for the Internet at large. The problem is that their antics are even being considered as anything other than the terroristic (in the real sense of the word, not the post 9/11 hyped up nonmeaning it tends to carry today) acts that they are. If someone broke into a hospital and flung all of the patient records out onto the street, we wouldn't be having this discussion; they'd absolutely be considered criminals. So what if the glass they broke to get into the hospital wasn't shatter-proof? Sure, the hospital security would be improved, but there are a great many ways to go about fixing the problem without compromising the privacy if hundreds of thousands of people.
- saulrh 15y ago
  People have been trying for years to get the point across that we need to have better security. None of them have managed it. If anything, security is getting worse because cracking tools are becoming more sophisticated. Someone had to get word out, what people were doing to raise publicity wasn't working, there was a way to get attention, and LulzSec did it. Bad as what they did is, they successfully raised media awareness of the fact that those patient records were in a clearly-labeled manila folder taped to the front door.
  - bad_user 15y ago
    None of them have managed it. I'm glad they didn't -- this way I can still have some privacy. cracking tools are becoming more sophisticated IMHO, it's easier to break into someone's home than into someone's server. The result more predictable too, as you can find tools that can crack open doors, windows, anything. And if all else fails, you can just watch the house until somebody makes an error, like leaving the window open by themselves (although experts don't have to do this). Real security can only be achieved through serious investments into state of the art alarms, safe-deposit boxes and by being a paranoid. Another way to do it would be to plant GPS devices in each and every human and track each movement into a centralized database, while good thieves will find ways to block that signal anyway; and that's how all of the proposals for a more "secure" Internet sounds to me - basically punishing honest citizens in the name of security.
  - diminoten 15y ago
    They succeeded in exactly the same way that the IRA succeeds in bringing attention to their cause when they blow up a school.

hugh3 15y ago

a small group of disenfranchised industry workers Do you really think they're industry workers? I'd peg most of them as high school kids. Probably with the occasional creepy thirty-something thrown in for good measure.

gabaix 15y ago
exactly. high schools have a strong envy for anarchy - trying stuff for fun. I think most readers here went through that phase and forgot about it. Flirting with the borders is fun. We were not realizing the consequence of our acts.

mhitza 15y ago

For a moment I'd taught I was the only one to notice. If we would ignore them, they would just fade away.

ilikepi 15y ago
If by "we", you mean everyone on the planet, including the blackhats who benefit indirectly by utilizing the results of LulzSec's exploits, then...maybe. This is not realistic, however.