The next Wikileaks IT attack on legitimate businesses coming soon

[Oakie]

Talking to a shop assistant today in the process of getting a refund credited to my Visa and I commented that I had made two Visa purchases on Saturday 18th that had not appeared on my Visa by Thursday 23rd. He smiled and said that would be him and his 80000 cohorts who had attacked and 'taken down' Visa and Mastercard last week and they are still recovering.He said "what right did they have to withdraw their financial service to Wikileaks?" As much as I felt my initial response surging from my brain and getting ready to leap from my lips, I choked it off as I just didn't have time to debate the rights and wrongs.

He then said that the next attacks are timed for next week and will be against two "dirty, very dirty" banks, one in the UK and one in USA. Hope they don't fall off their moral high ground as they fu*k things up for these bank's clients as they did for VISA and Mastercard's millions of clients.

Unfortunately their 'White Knight' antics aren't very selective.

So what of it guys? Do two wrongs make a right? (I don't even know if VISA and Mastercard's action in withdrawing their service were legal or not. I guess it'll be covered in the conditions of service?)

[george formby]

This whole saga is really ripping my nightie. I have an interweb cafe & everyday I'm having issues from the network or individual sites which is costing me $$$$$$.
I have a lot of international customers & the time I have spent trying to make them understand that my computers are fine but the network/hotmail/Bank of El Salvador/Yahoo etc sites are being f*&%^#d with beggars belief.
I'm all for freedom of speech but leave my connection alone.:angry:

[BMWST?]

Talking to a shop assistant today in the process of getting a refund credited to my Visa and I commented that I had made two Visa purchases on Saturday 18th that had not appeared on my Visa by Thursday 23rd. He smiled and said that would be him and his 80000 cohorts who had attacked and 'taken down' Visa and Mastercard last week and they are still recovering.He said "what right did they have to withdraw their financial service to Wikileaks?" As much as I felt my initial response surging from my brain and getting ready to leap from my lips, I choked it off as I just didn't have time to debate the rights and wrongs.

He then said that the next attacks are timed for next week and will be against two "dirty, very dirty" banks, one in the UK and one in USA. Hope they don't fall off their moral high ground as they fu*k things up for these bank's clients as they did for VISA and Mastercard's millions of clients.

Unfortunately their 'White Knight' antics aren't very selective.

So what of it guys? Do two wrongs make a right? (I don't even know if VISA and Mastercard's action in withdrawing their service were legal or not. I guess it'll be covered in the conditions of service?)

Oh well they might bugger up there own salary processes

[Oakie]

Oh well they might bugger up there own salary processes

There would be a delicious irony to that.

[Marmoot]

Thanks for the warning.
You deserve two hundred and thirty internetz.

[Squiggles]

Should have offered him a tissue

[Winston001]

Thanks Oakie, was completely unaware of this. I'm not sure how a lowly shop assistant can attack Visa etc unless they somehow do a DNS by flooding the servers with requests.

Morally? Hmm... Its a breach of employment and pretty treacherous to the person who pays your wages. Are Visa etc even going to notice? If they do (because of the problems) are they really going to think twice in future? My guess is Not.

[scissorhands]

Wikileaks didnt start that Visa fight, but they sure hit em where it hurts.

Who really likes banks anyway? I hate the ASB after being dicked around for speaking out to them, 2 check deposits never appeared. Banks are scum.

[Elysium]

Can't wait for all these "wiki leaks" idiots to be rounded up and shot.

[Gremlin]

Thanks Oakie, was completely unaware of this. I'm not sure how a lowly shop assistant can attack Visa etc unless they somehow do a DNS by flooding the servers with requests.
One person cannot take a server down by themselves (well, unless they are the admin and fuck it up...). There either needs to be a lot of individuals, running scripts etc, or using/controlling a lot of other machines.

It also depends on the servers. Some will counter-attack when attacked, so if you say you are server xyz, attacking abc, server xyz will be attacked by abc, while you sit back and enjoy the party. A server's resources are significantly greater than your average pc, both in bandwidth and number crunching.

Basically, there is a lot to DOS (Denial of Service)

[Buyasta]

Wikileaks != Anonymous.

Wikileaks is an organisation dedicated to providing whistleblowers a safe way to leak documents, who sadly happen to have rather a jackass as their spokesman and founder, who seems more interested in media whoring than actually revealing various misdeeds of governments and corporations.

Anonymous (the group performing the DDOS's) is a group of random folks who grew out of the /b board on the forum 4chan. They've been around for quite some time, and have taken action against many people before Visa, Mastercard, etc - for example, Scientologists, and the RIAA and MPAA. They're entirely unrelated to Wikileaks, aside from having a problem with the way various corporations have behaved in the wake of the cable leaks.

For those who are curious as to the exact methods, they are performing a DDOS, but rather than using a botnet of zombies, the tool they use, LOIC (Low-Orbit Ion Cannon) is run voluntarily.

In short, blaming Wikileaks for the actions of Anonymous is completely pointless as they are entirely unrelated.

[Headbanger]

I for one am disgusted with the banks deciding people can't donate to wiki leaks.

May they burn in hell.

Motherfuckers, It is not your fucking role, if you want to be a watchdog then don't let sick cunts buy child porn.

Cunts.

[Virago]

As always, such campaigns attract the same old slimy urban terrorists. Whether the are conducting e-attacks, or throwing rubbish bins through shop windows, they have no interest in who they are actually attacking or who is actually suffering the consequences.

[Oakie]

Wikileaks != Anonymous.

Wikileaks is an organisation dedicated to providing whistleblowers a safe way to leak documents, who sadly happen to have rather a jackass as their spokesman and founder, who seems more interested in media whoring than actually revealing various misdeeds of governments and corporations.

Anonymous (the group performing the DDOS's) is a group of random folks who grew out of the /b board on the forum 4chan. They've been around for quite some time, and have taken action against many people before Visa, Mastercard, etc - for example, Scientologists, and the RIAA and MPAA. They're entirely unrelated to Wikileaks, aside from having a problem with the way various corporations have behaved in the wake of the cable leaks.

For those who are curious as to the exact methods, they are performing a DDOS, but rather than using a botnet of zombies, the tool they use, LOIC (Low-Orbit Ion Cannon) is run voluntarily.

In short, blaming Wikileaks for the actions of Anonymous is completely pointless as they are entirely unrelated.

Interesting. So this 'Anonymous' crowd just look for an excuse to perform their nefarious deeds? I guess the relevant question then is "Has Wikileaks distanced themselves from the attackers actions or do they quietly condone them?" I guess it's unfortunate for Wikileaks then that Mr Assange's first claim to fame was as a hacker some 20 years ago.

[Buyasta]

I for one am disgusted with the banks deciding people can't donate to wiki leaks.

May they burn in hell.

Motherfuckers, It is not your fucking role, if you want to be a watchdog then don't let sick cunts buy child porn.

Cunts.

Yup, this is pretty ridiculous - Wikileaks is not actually illegal in the US, so although I'm sure they were receiving government pressure, they were under no obligation to stop processing payments, they chose to do so on ethical grounds, despite continuing to process payments for the likes of the KKK.
Even more ridiculous was that Bank of America then came out saying they'd refuse to transfer any payment that they believe may eventually be destined for Wikileaks. I'm sure they wouldn't take it that far, but if they followed that statement to the letter, they'd refuse to allow you to close your account and withdraw all your money, if they thought you might ever donate any of that money to Wikileaks.


"Bank of America joins in the actions previously announced by MasterCard, PayPal, Visa Europe and others and will not process transactions of any type that we have reason to believe are intended for WikiLeaks,"

The day your bank decides they should have some say in who you can give your money to is the day you should find a new bank, in my opinion.



Interesting. So this 'Anonymous' crowd just look for an excuse to perform their nefarious deeds? I guess the relevant question then is "Has Wikileaks distanced themselves from the attackers actions or do they quietly condone them?" I guess it's unfortunate for Wikileaks then that Mr Assange's first claim to fame was as a hacker some 20 years ago.

Yup, Anonymous really doesn't have any form of group structure or leadership, and is comprised mostly of people with a very childish mentality - if someone does something they don't like (or in some cases, just expresses an opinion they don't like), they'll attack that person, and their tactics can be a lot more slimy than DDOS's, like publishing names, photos, addresses, phone numbers, etc of people they dislike, and encouraging people to harass them.
Wikileaks did release an official statement to the effect that they had nothing to do with Anonymous, but did not condemn their actions.

What's a great deal more unfortunate for Wikileaks is that by all acounts, Assange is an egocentric control freak.
He's alienated many early members by refusing to take input from others and insisting on doing everything his way - a group of them have since left to form a similar organisation with the stated aim of doing much what Wikileaks does, but without all the drama - so they'll just release information to respected journalists rather than doing the whole media bit with announcing leaks ahead of time, calling press conferences, etc.
Then obviously there's the fiasco with his legal troubles in Sweden, which tends to help greatly in attempts to dismiss, discredit and marginalize Wikileaks... Although the charge of rape does seem a bit ridiculous, based on all the evidence released so far, there definitely seems little question that he is a misogynistic jackass, and whether he is guilty or not matters little in the court of public opinion.
In short, while I'm sure he was integral to getting them this far, they would probably be a lot better off if he'd just step down as the figurehead, and many people, both inside and outside Wikileaks have been calling for him to do so for quite some time now.

[trustme]

The day your bank decides they should have some say in who you can give your money to is the day you should find a new bank, in my opinion.



The bank has no say or control over who you give your money to. They simply say they won't do transactions with Wikileaks.
I'm in business & there are plenty of organisations I refuse to deal with & work for. It is called freedom of choice, something the Wikiwanks seem to believe applies only to them

[marty]

Thanks Oakie, was completely unaware of this. I'm not sure how a lowly shop assistant can attack Visa etc unless they somehow do a DNS by flooding the servers with requests.

Morally? Hmm... Its a breach of employment and pretty treacherous to the person who pays your wages. Are Visa etc even going to notice? If they do (because of the problems) are they really going to think twice in future? My guess is Not.


maybe he does something else in his 16 hours when he's not a lowly shop assistant? Maybe he's Batman!

[Oakie]

maybe he does something else in his 16 hours when he's not a lowly shop assistant? Maybe he's Batman!

Him and 80,000 other people of a similar mind-set he claimed.

[SPman]

As always, such campaigns attract the same old slimy urban terrorists. Whether the are conducting e-attacks, or throwing rubbish bins through shop windows, they have no interest in who they are actually attacking or who is actually suffering the consequences.
Another random statement with no thought involved!

[Buyasta]

The bank has no say or control over who you give your money to. They simply say they won't do transactions with Wikileaks.
I'm in business & there are plenty of organisations I refuse to deal with & work for. It is called freedom of choice, something the Wikiwanks seem to believe applies only to them

So you wouldn't have a problem if your bank decided they don't like your local bike shop, and began refusing any eftpos transactions you tried to make there? Or if they took it a step further and did what Bank of America is doing and declined any transaction they believed might end up going to that bike shop, whether you were trying to use a credit card company, or paypal, or whatever method?

I agree that businesses do have the right to choose who they do business with, but that's a whole different situation - what Mastercard and Visa are doing is refusing to do business with Wikileaks, by preventing Wikileaks from using their payment gateways to receive money. What Bank of America is doing is telling you who you can and cannot do business with, and then denying you access to your own money if they believe you will give it to Wikileaks.

Just as you and I should not and do not have the right to tell a business or bank who they can or cannot do business with, a bank or business should not have the right to tell an individual who they can or cannot do business with, and then withhold their own money from them if they choose to anyway.

You say that the bank has no say or control over who you give your money to... the problem is that that is exactly what they are trying to do.

[BMWST?]

So you wouldn't have a problem if your bank decided they don't like your local bike shop, and began refusing any eftpos transactions you tried to make there? Or if they took it a step further and did what Bank of America is doing and declined any transaction they believed might end up going to that bike shop, whether you were trying to use a credit card company, or paypal, or whatever method?

I agree that businesses do have the right to choose who they do business with, but that's a whole different situation - what Mastercard and Visa are doing is refusing to do business with Wikileaks, by preventing Wikileaks from using their payment gateways to receive money. What Bank of America is doing is telling you who you can and cannot do business with, and then denying you access to your own money if they believe you will give it to Wikileaks.

Just as you and I should not and do not have the right to tell a business or bank who they can or cannot do business with, a bank or business should not have the right to tell an individual who they can or cannot do business with, and then withhold their own money from them if they choose to anyway.

You say that the bank has no say or control over who you give your money to... the problem is that that is exactly what they are trying to do.

and your response is to tell the bank you do not agree withtheir actions and take your money elsewhere.Not attack their sververs and potentially delay processes of people who have nothing to do with wikileaks.
And is the stuff wiki leaks is leaking stuff we didnt already know?

[trustme]

and your response is to tell the bank you do not agree withtheir actions and take your money elsewhere.Not attack their sververs and potentially delay processes of people who have nothing to do with wikileaks.
And is the stuff wiki leaks is leaking stuff we didnt already know?


Exactly , Wikiwanks is all about freedom, they have absolutely no hesitation in attacking the freedom of others who may have a differing opinion . Bunch of naive hypocrites IMHO.

[Virago]

Another random statement with no thought involved!

Another useful contribution...


Exactly , Wikiwanks is all about freedom, they have absolutely no hesitation in attacking the freedom of others who may have a differing opinion . Bunch of naive hypocrites IMHO.

Bingo. Such random attacks on society's infrastructure is quite simply terrorism.

[puddytat]

I think there'll be more shopkeepers worried about the low Xmas period spend of Joe Public due to them tightening thier belts than the Banks being fucked with....Ive seen more shopkeepers terrified by the downturn than anything connected to Wikileaks.
In the Tourism industry we've yet to have had any problems with Visa etc.

[trustme]

I think there'll be more shopkeepers worried about the low Xmas period spend of Joe Public due to them tightening thier belts than the Banks being fucked with....Ive seen more shopkeepers terrified by the downturn than anything connected to Wikileaks.
In the Tourism industry we've yet to have had any problems with Visa etc.

Ultimately Wikiwanks is water cooler tittle tattle, about as world shattering as Y2K.

[mashman]

Exactly , Wikiwanks is all about freedom, they have absolutely no hesitation in attacking the freedom of others who may have a differing opinion . Bunch of naive hypocrites IMHO.

Wikileaks probably learned that trick from watching governments evolve. Global warming for instance. Some would have us believe that it's for own good.

I hope there's more to come... who knows.

[mashman]

Bingo. Such random attacks on society's infrastructure is quite simply terrorism.

Couldn't you just walk to your local branch?

[Buyasta]

and your response is to tell the bank you do not agree withtheir actions and take your money elsewhere.Not attack their sververs and potentially delay processes of people who have nothing to do with wikileaks.
And is the stuff wiki leaks is leaking stuff we didnt already know?

I wasn't in any way defending the actions of Anonymous, they're a bunch of childish morons with a mob mentality who are hurting the cause they profess to be fighting for.

And yes, much of the stuff that Wikileaks is leaking is stuff the public didn't know, and if they suspected, had no proof of.

For example, the US has ordered diplomats to spy on top UN officials, collecting information including DNA, fingerprints, iris scans, credit card numbers, passwords, work schedules, frequent flier account numbers, personal encryption keys, etc.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/28/us-embassy-cables-spying-un

Or that a US contractor in Afghanistan, and funded by US taxpayer money engaged in child prostitution and child sex slavery.
http://humantrafficking.change.org/blog/view/wikileaks_reveals_us_tax_dollars_fund_child_sex_sl avery_in_afghanistan

Or that Pfizer used PI's to find information they could use to blackmail the Nigerian attorney general to avoid paying out for killing children with an experimental Meningitis vaccine.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/09/wikileaks-cables-pfizer-nigeria

Or if you're interested in closer to home:
John Key promised China neither he nor any of his ministers would meet with the Dalai Lama, then the Foreign Affairs minister lied to Parliament about the policy. This also went against a pre-election promise Key had made to meet with the Dalai Lama.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10695237


Exactly , Wikiwanks is all about freedom, they have absolutely no hesitation in attacking the freedom of others who may have a differing opinion . Bunch of naive hypocrites IMHO.

Again, Wikileaks and Anonymous are not the same people... If a few people, who weren't even motorcyclists, decided that the ACC rises were unfair, and decided to attack MP's who'd supported the rise, do you think it would be fair for people to blame motorcyclists for it, completely ignoring those who actually crossed a line?
You may or may not agree with what Wikileaks is doing, but judging them by the actions of an entirely unaffiliated group of childish morons who chose to lash out at anyone who thinks differently from themselves is ridiculous.

[scissorhands]

Any reasonable person would lash out unfairly if treated unfairly for trying to tell the public the truth.

I'm surprised no one has been found dead in their bed or driven into a concrete structure at high speed, Diana

[trustme]

Any reasonable person would lash out unfairly if treated unfairly for trying to tell the public the truth.

I'm surprised no one has been found dead in their bed or driven into a concrete structure at high speed, Diana


That depends entirely on how you obtained that truth

If you have sneeked in through the back door & deal in gossip you have to take what comes. Did the drunk driver kill D or the low life papparazzi & where does Asange fit in the cess pool of life.

' Truth , You can't handle the truth '.

[Virago]

...Did the drunk driver kill D or the low life papparazzi...

I thought it was the man on the grassy knoll...

[Oakie]

Any reasonable person would lash out unfairly if treated unfairly for trying to tell the public the truth.

To be fair, some of the 'truth' they are trying to make public is pretty petty. I mean how important is it fom the world to know that some minor embassy official e-mailed his boss to tell him that the head of whatever department in the country he works in has bad breath?

[p.dath]

There is some mis-information here. The attacks against Visa and Mastercard were against their web sites only. They had no impact on their financial transaction network, and certainly no impact on the settling of transactions.

[sinfull]

I think what has happened with WL releases is great, the anom attacks are just a backlash from supporters toward the "5 families" that are trying to hush WL up by stopping any revenue getting to them !

Sure i think that WL aint gonna stop the certain few controlling the worlds banks, but they forget the fact the the communists are just sitting waiting for the economic collapse of the west, or perhaps they haven't !

Look at Ireland, there are those that say that the collapse of the Tiger was enduced by these few, and there has been a public outcry for the Irish ppl to rally and overthrow their gubbment and take back what is theirs, rather than let the "5 families" (or world banks) take controll !

The 50,000 UFO files that were just released ? Who don't believe this was a distraction, to take the minds of those conspiracists who have been supporting WL , just like the MC rego hike was a smokescreen to hide all the changes made to the acc laws here in NZ ? Or were they just getting in and releasing them before WL did ?

Me, I don't give a fuck ! Just got nothing better to do at 6. 30 in the morning than post on this thread !
Bring on the economic collapse, bring on the climate change, bring on nibiru.

Fuck all you junkies and fuck your short memories !

[Oakie]

There is some mis-information here. The attacks against Visa and Mastercard were against their web sites only. They had no impact on their financial transaction network, and certainly no impact on the settling of transactions.

Hah. The guy who I spoke to who was part of the attack was pretty sure the 6 day delay in my transactions being credited was down to him and his mates. I guess it may not have been a direct attack on the workings of the companies concerned but may have caused indirect delays while IT resources where directed to other places.

[Oakie]

The 50,000 UFO files that were just released ? Who don't believe this was a distraction, to take the minds of those conspiracists who have been supporting WL

Me. Wasn't much of a distraction was it? A 3 minute item on the news about a week ago and has received no coverage since. 'They' would have been pushing it if they were using it as a distraction.

[PrincessBandit]

Can't wait for all these "wiki leaks" idiots to be rounded up and shot.

Whatever happened to the penalty for treason being "hung strung and quartered"?


I thought it was the man on the grassy knoll...

No no no, it was the one armed man!

[Oakie]

Whatever happened to the penalty for treason being "hung strung and quartered"?

"It was rendered obsolete in England by the Forfeiture Act of 1870, which limited the death penalty for treason to hanging alone; although the 1814 Act allowed for the monarch to substitute beheading for hanging."

You did ask!

[sinfull]

I think what has happened with WL releases is great, the anom attacks are just a backlash from supporters toward the "5 families" that are trying to hush WL up by stopping any revenue getting to them !

Sure i think that WL aint gonna stop the certain few controlling the worlds banks, but they forget the fact the the communists are just sitting waiting for the economic collapse of the west, or perhaps they haven't !

Look at Ireland, there are those that say that the collapse of the Tiger was enduced by these few, and there has been a public outcry for the Irish ppl to rally and overthrow their gubbment and take back what is theirs, rather than let the "5 families" (or world banks) take controll !

The 50,000 UFO files that were just released ? Who don't believe this was a distraction, to take the minds of those conspiracists who have been supporting WL , just like the MC rego hike was a smokescreen to hide all the changes made to the acc laws here in NZ ? Or were they just getting in and releasing them before WL did ?

Me, I don't give a fuck ! Just got nothing better to do at 6. 30 in the morning than post on this thread !
Bring on the economic collapse, bring on the climate change, bring on nibiru.

Fuck all you junkies and fuck your short memories ! And my IP address has been Hijacked ! MOFO'S bwahahahaha sucky site for safety ! Guess i'd have to be mental to think i'd have any security in who could take what they want here !

Learn to swim !!!!

Hi mofo !

Bye mofo !

[spacemonkey]

Hah. The guy who I spoke to who was part of the attack was pretty sure the 6 day delay in my transactions being credited was down to him and his mates. I guess it may not have been a direct attack on the workings of the companies concerned but may have caused indirect delays while IT resources where directed to other places.

Then he's an idiot who has no idea what the random software/malware does when he installs it on his machine on purpose. :facepalm:

[puddytat]

Man I sure could use a vacation from this bullshit 3 ring circus sideshow....

[sinfull]

Fret for your figure n fret for your latte n fret for your lawsuit n fret for your hairpiece n fret for your prozac n fret for your pilot n fret for your contract n fret for your car ...

[puddytat]

followed by faultlines that cannot sit still,followed by millions of dumbfounded dipshits....:blink:
Sorry I digress, we'll end up in P.D soon

[sinfull]

followed by faultlines that cannot sit still,followed by millions of dumbfounded dipshits....:blink:
Sorry I digress, we'll end up in P.D soon

Shall i bring my flippers ?

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/E8vmaj75xzE?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/E8vmaj75xzE?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

[sinfull]

Please MOM ...

[Oakie]

Then he's an idiot who has no idea what the random software/malware does when he installs it on his machine on purpose. :facepalm:

I thought he was an idiot too but for different reasons.

[James Deuce]

Wikileaks != Anonymous.

Wikileaks is an organisation dedicated to providing whistleblowers a safe way to leak documents, who sadly happen to have rather a jackass as their spokesman and founder, who seems more interested in media whoring than actually revealing various misdeeds of governments and corporations.

.

No it isn't. It's a news agency, a la AP or Reuters.

[avgas]

One person cannot take a server down by themselves
227377
Sure ya can - I kill networks on a weekly basis :) Most of the time this is completely unintentional.......and down to simple things I have fucked up. But watching the IT guy run around fixing my fuck ups is quite fun.
While a server can have all the brains in the world - most of the networks they sit on are as good as dirt with a Cisco logo on it.

FYI a great little program I have found is RuggedCom RuggedPing:
http://www.ruggedcom.com/software/ruggedping/ruggedping-installer.zip

very handy - but alas if you do it at the wrong place you fuck the network pretty good.
I also don't recommend getting multiple PC's onto 1 server with it

[Gremlin]

Thats why I added a disclaimer. Nothing like working late at night fixing things, then waking up to a shitstorm, and finding some careless sleepy mistake has had far reaching consequences.

Hard to explain to newbies, easy for them to remember after the first time :lol:

[bogan]

reminded me of this lols

<img src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/wikileaks.png" />

are wikileaks and their supporters as open as they force others to be?