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It's a shot across the bow, propaganda, and reconnaissance all in one. If they find soft targets, anonymous will attack them, and it makes Russia look bad.

dylan604 5y ago
Again, what's the point of making Russia look bad? Do you think that having a down gov't website makes them look any more "bad" than attacking another country with their military? All this is doing is causing some Russian IT group of people to do extra work. These IT people may not even be supporting Putin's decision.
- robbedpeter 5y ago
  Counter argument: why not? Why allow any Russian to feel comfortable while this is happening? Why not inflict as much inconvenience as possible on Russian state apparatus? Many Russians are complicit. They are not entitled to comfort nor stability while their leadership commit atrocities. Revolution could take down Putin from within if he overextends his resources - unlikely, but possible, and that possibility increases if regular Russians start to feel antagonistic to Putin and the consequences of his actions.
  - dylan604 5y ago
    I can definitely appreciate that sentiment, but this level of "attack" is just a Tuesday for Western businesses from attacks from Russian operatives. It wouldn't be a far stretch for Putin to declare these actual attacks on Russia since they are not private business but gov't networks. If they trace these attacks back to NATO countries, it could then be used as casus belli
    - robbedpeter 5y ago
      Given that a non-trivial percentage of Russian failure modes involve nuclear Armageddon, I don't think we'll see much cyber war on Russian infrastructure beyond the vandalism and petty mischief. Anonymous hackers probably don't want to start ww3, and there are likely embedded agents keeping an eye on participants to prevent overreach. It's ironic to think that Russian infrastructure is being actively protected by western intelligence to carefully manage the pressures and escalation. Or maybe optimistic... I think it's established fact that power, water, gas, and communications are fragile and subject to disruption at a moments notice more or less worldwide. Rigorous projections show 90%+ casualty rate in dense urban regions if power gets shut down during winter months. Even without nukes or bullets, cyber war could kill billions.

dylan604 5y ago

Again, what's the point of making Russia look bad? Do you think that having a down gov't website makes them look any more "bad" than attacking another country with their military? All this is doing is causing some Russian IT group of people to do extra work. These IT people may not even be supporting Putin's decision.

robbedpeter 5y ago
Counter argument: why not? Why allow any Russian to feel comfortable while this is happening? Why not inflict as much inconvenience as possible on Russian state apparatus? Many Russians are complicit. They are not entitled to comfort nor stability while their leadership commit atrocities. Revolution could take down Putin from within if he overextends his resources - unlikely, but possible, and that possibility increases if regular Russians start to feel antagonistic to Putin and the consequences of his actions.
- dylan604 5y ago
  I can definitely appreciate that sentiment, but this level of "attack" is just a Tuesday for Western businesses from attacks from Russian operatives. It wouldn't be a far stretch for Putin to declare these actual attacks on Russia since they are not private business but gov't networks. If they trace these attacks back to NATO countries, it could then be used as casus belli
  - robbedpeter 5y ago
    Given that a non-trivial percentage of Russian failure modes involve nuclear Armageddon, I don't think we'll see much cyber war on Russian infrastructure beyond the vandalism and petty mischief. Anonymous hackers probably don't want to start ww3, and there are likely embedded agents keeping an eye on participants to prevent overreach. It's ironic to think that Russian infrastructure is being actively protected by western intelligence to carefully manage the pressures and escalation. Or maybe optimistic... I think it's established fact that power, water, gas, and communications are fragile and subject to disruption at a moments notice more or less worldwide. Rigorous projections show 90%+ casualty rate in dense urban regions if power gets shut down during winter months. Even without nukes or bullets, cyber war could kill billions.