29.4.06 The war on terror online
Saudi Arabia-originating hackers took down numerous blogs, many (most?) of which are American conservative. A new word appeared in one publication (also hit by the hackers): Islamohackers. I don’t condone hacking, but this sort of labelling is what causes more conflict (why not, in the past, Sinohackers, or even a label for the many who originate from eastern Europe, both groups which have caused more damage to our servers than these hackers?).
Nevertheless, it is interesting to observe how the war on terror has an online, politically motivated component, with those who support the President being targets of cyberterrorism (a better word, for me). While I know this sort of hacking is nothing new, it is perhaps the first time I have posted while it happens—and note how quickly politically inclined actions are met with political reactions and words. Michelle Malkin is following which blogs have been attacked (link courtesy Randy Thomas). I hope these blogs are speedily recovered—forced censorship of someone’s viewpoints does not silence that person, but makes them come back more vigorously. Posted by Jack Yan, 00:44 Comments:
Hey Jack. Good reporting, I would have to disagree with your choice of label. I don't think it is cyberterrorism because innocent people are being silenced ... not dying. Cyberwarfare maybe?
Hmm, good point, Randy. Not too sure about cyberwarfare, either (for the same reason). Maybe we should keep it simple at hacking.
Update, also courtesy Randy’s blog, Everyday Thoughts Collected: a second attack took place tonight.
Hey Jack, I'm the guy who wrote "Islamohackers" for the Lone Star Times.
Your notion that "this sort of labelling is what causes more conflict" is completely off base. If that notion is true, then shouldn't refraining from labeling prevent conflict? Yet, our restrain didn't prevent the attack; we were struck right out of the blue. No, this "conflict" was not caused by labeling. It was caused by Islamic hackers.
Good point, Matt, and thank you for commenting. Yes, you got me on my choice of words there. What I was trying to say is the prefix of ‘Islamo-’ doesn’t help in that these bastards (I will use that term) don’t represent Islam, just some warped idea of it that dislikes freedom. To me, they are hackers, who caused these bloggers not nearly as much trouble as a bunch of Koreans and a Communist Chinese did on one of our servers a year ago using similar techniques.
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I’m the same guy who believes Americans are Americans, rather than the prefixes used to distinguish one group racially from another—though it shouldn’t be hard to catch me out using ‘African–American’, etc. Call me one of those annoying people who like things organized: if we are to have African–Americans, we should as regularly have Caucasian–Americans; if we are to have Islamohackers, then we should have Sinohackers, Eurohackers, etc., too. I don’t condone what they did and I am glad the LST is back up, and I also believe when caught, these guys will have the fullest prosecution available. I also don’t criticize for a moment your objectivity as a professional journalist. Links to this post:
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