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The gunshot analogy fails hard. LulzSec pre-empted at least half of it, by stressing how harm occurs quietly all the time. Data gets stolen or destroyed and we
by dexen 15y ago
The gunshot analogy fails hard. LulzSec pre-empted at least half of it, by stressing how harm occurs quietly all the time. Data gets stolen or destroyed and we just don't know it.
Unlike gunshot wound, where a person lands in a hospital, or morgue, or goes missing, data can be, and indeed is, copied quietly. Of gunshots, people are informed most of the time; of security breaches, barely ever. Cops investigate most gunshots, but do they know of most security breaches?
The big hope is the press will at last start paying attention to (in)security of our data. Thus the headline-grabbing tactics.
The other half is that corporations don't shoot people, people shoot people. And to the wit, people don't store 200.000 bank accounts on a web server, corporations do. You can -- and should -- hold corporations to a somewhat higher standard when it comes to affording decent protection for customers. It's no coincidence LulzSec weren't after granny-loves-her-cat blogs, but after commercial services.
- rgbrgb 15y agoCorporations most definitely shoot people... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- hugh3 15y agoThis is what I mean when I say that bad conversation drives out good.
- dazmax 15y agoExcept they didn't say that they are doing this to bring attention to security issues. They are doing it because they can, and because it brings them some entertainment – that's the point the gunshot analogy was addressing. They only bring up all the silent malicious hacking that happens as an argument that we shouldn't care so much about what they're doing.
- natural219 15y agoNone of this addresses the DDoS attacks. I agree with you in regards to the SQL injections / URL parameters, but your post fails hard to defend Lulzsec's DDoSing of anybody.
- dexen 15y agoOn the XX century internet, that was true. But! On today's internet, consumer needs certain services on-line 24/7, and is hit hard if they are down. One's stock quotes, bank account, credit/debit card processor, ticket booth, office suite, and last but clearly not least, the daily fix of WoW. Hell, a lot of people can't even read or write any email without the WWW interface. Being vulnerable to DDoS is just as unexcusable for some business internet services as being vulnerable to SQL injection; only diffirence is the protection applies at different layer.
- natural219 15y agoOkay, but the gunshot analogy applies here. If I want to, I can hire 24/7 bodyguards to prevent my being shot. If I'm a potentially high-profile target, then yes, you would expect me to spend resources to hire extra protection. Most of the targets in this case are not critical services like bank accounts or ticket booths -- those companies DO spend the extra money on protection (more servers, in this case). Let me ask; do you run a web business? Any website? Is it vulnurable to DDoS?
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- drivingmenuts 15y agoWell, maybe people will start shooting hackers. I volunteer Lulz to be first against the wall.
- laughinghan 15y agoTo rephrase what dazmax said: They're under no delusions they're not evil. They're saying, "there are a lot of evil people around, and yeah, we're one of them, but who cares? There are a lot of evil people around, and in terms of damage, we're probably doing far less than anyone else and happen to be doing some good by bringing attention to how weak these security systems are. You're spending so much effort chasing us and condemning else; not that we don't deserve it, but you should be spending at least as much, in fact, far more on the people doing far more damage and not announcing it and not doing any good at all." They're right too. I'm not saying what they're doing is good, or even necessary like some vigilante stories portray, but they're right that we should be devoting just as much attention and effort denouncing and trying to catch the doubtless countless people, who like they, tried some simple attacks and discovered that most security systems are almost trivial to breach, and are taking real advantage of it, not just putting it on the internet and watching the lulz unfold.