(Via Slashdot) dismorphic writes "Angered by the growing number of Internet scams, online 'vigilantes' have started to take justice into their own hands by hacking into suspected fraud sites and defacing them. These hackers have targeted fake websites set up to resemble the sites of banks or financial institutions in recent weeks, and have inserted new pages or messages. Some say 'Warning - This was a Scam Site,' or 'This Bank Was Fraudulent and Is Now Removed.'" So maybe it's not a posse of horsemen, but it's still kinda cool that someone is taking care of those who would defraud the public. More Here - http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050525/323/fjrgo.html I was wondering what you guys think about this? Should the police form a specialized group of hackers that take on websites such as this? Should these people be left to do the thing there doing?
We're stil waiting, and I think thats the point, just as in the real world when people don't see justice being done, they take matters into their own hands. Whether it's right or wrong is another matter, but if the authorities don't want to see this kind of thing then they will have to prove they are takling the problem head on.
technically this is terrorism i suppose but still, i think its great that someone has the balls to do something about the problem. much respect to the white hat hackers i say
I dont think its terrorism. Its just like the united states attacking sadam. Your attacking a terrorist, one thats stealing money from other people, so i dont think it could be called terrorism.
They arent terrorists because they dont terrorise innocent people. They fight for innocent people taking the "law" into their own hands so they are vigilanty. Because there is no "law" on the interweb then im all for it - as long as they dont abuse their powers and they do it with some hard evidence. Ie they dont end up script kiddys who all need to be shot.
Well knowing it's only a matter of time before my mom falls for one of these things... good. I mean good anyways, but especially for that reason.
actually, it IS terrorism. terrorism is when a person is not happy with their government (their actions, or their policies, or their status) and commits a crime (not just to innocent people, innocence is relative). in this case, the hackers are not happy with the GOVERNMENT's lack of action, so they commit CRIMES (hacking, defacing websites). thats pretty much a textbook example of terrorism actually.
Sounds like there needs to be a revolution of these people. If you try to spam someone or decieve someone out of there money, this should happen. They need to get shut down!
So if the aren't happy with someone else's government, it's not terrorism? Terrorism isn't just aimed at your own government, it can be targeted towards an occupying force, a religious group, an ethnic group, you name it. This is not a textbook example. There is no "terror" being generated. Who is frightened? Who is in terror? Are the website owners worried about leaving their houses, do they have to ask themselves if they will live through the day? Terrorism is about creating fear and havoc, about paralyzing a society or social group. Defacing a website really doesn't do any of these things. Not everything needs to be labeled as terrorism these days; there is a big difference between this and random car bombs in downtown London.
yes ok captain obvious, but i said terrorism was because of the dissatisfaction with their government because in that situation thats what it was. never did i say terrorism is ONLY an attack on your own countries government... youre reading too hard dude. terrorism doesnt just have to be about leaving your house... when old people go to that website and read the defaced version thats the terrorism and fear right there. just because YOU probably dont get worried when you see a defaced website you cant speak for the whole world. many people (mostly old) crap themselves when they see something on the internet. yeh youre right. you can only be a terrorist if you are muslim i suppose... what if the hackers defaced the website in the name of 'allah' or wrote jihad all over the page, would you call that terrorism? for those who dont get the point im trying to make: all im saying is that its natural for us to instantly go into complete denial and say THAT IS NOT TERRORISM just because the people commiting the crimes are on our side.(see above posts) in actual fact yodasarmpit is right. they are freedom fighters. and i agree in what they do. but that does not change what they are doing. i dare say that if people like divinesin etc grew up in palestine or *random war-torn place* they would be saying the iraqi 'insurgents' arent terrorists... and they are just freedom fighters too... DISCLAIMER: now dont all get mad at me cos im not trying to piss you off. and its so homolicious when someone cant make a point without other people get emotional and ****.
god you're so wrong, everything you say is rubbish, i HATE YOU! sorry, that post just seemed like you really wanted someone to disagree with you, so I thought I would get it out of the way. I do actually sort of disagree with you though, it seems more like vigilantism to me - people disagree with the actions of a person or group, and rather than seek legal recourse to "fix" something they see as "wrong", they take the law in their own hands by committing a crime to solve the problem or highlight it. AH
1) I'm not emotional about this, I am merely pointing out that Internet vandalism isn't equatable to terrorism. 2) The people who committed this aren't on our side, they are bored hackers who think they are doing something cool. It is in fact lame and childish, as all vandalism is. Old people aren't terrorized by a vandalized website, give them some credit. If they vandalized Microsoft's web page would thousands of people go into a hysterical panic? After all, there are some that would say that MS is as bad if not worse then the 419 scams. 3) I specifically mentioned random car bombs in London. I never said anything about Muslims; I was pointing out that the IRA, ETA and other groups that thrived of the chaos of the 1970's and 1980's used these tactics. These guys aren't freedom fighters either, stop trying to make these people out to be something they aren't. These Internet scams are just petty thieves out to make a buck. They pale in comparison to other crimes committed, and these hackers are just the flip side of the petty thief coin. Again, just because their target is an annoyance to a lot of people doesn't make them heroic or terrorists.Do you really think that website vandalism is going to do any good what so ever? If they really wanted to do some good, they should track down the IP addresses to a physical address. This is as effective as a kid spray painting "Bucking Fush" on a wall. A chuckle at "those kids". But terrorists? Please.
no i dont want anyone to disagree with me, i would have thought youd agree with me actually you are terrorising the scammers, and the people that visit their websites... i already went through that
You nailed it on the head. Just because something someone does is illegal does not mean they're a terrorist. I'm quite sick of everyone being labled a terrorist in today's society. These hackers are vigilantes as the article states, not terrorists. The hackers are not using force or violence, they're defacing property. Until they start sending mail bombs to phishing website operators I don't see any terrorists in this bunch of vigilantes. You can argue semantics all you want but not everyone is a terrorist, get over it.