London Teen Charged in Connection with Massive Spamhaus DDoS Attacks

[RTGHM]

More arrests for DDOS attacks please. In a world where the internet becomes so increasingly relevant to every day life, one person deciding to forcefully bend it to their will is not acceptable. Spamhaus tries to bend the internet to their will, but no one forces people to use them. A DDOS attack is designed to remove choice and force peoply to comply. It is extremely childish.

I'm going to have to disagree with your statement here. Sure DDOS attacks are mostly childish, however you have to remember at one point in time they were ruled (I believe it was Germany) as a legal form of protest - now it's been misused and is no longer declared that, however in my mind I believe it can be used as a form of protest. Now law enforcement tries to regulate it, however I believe if it's for a good cause, then it shouldn't be illegal. For example, I wouldn't get mad if the NSA went offline as a form of protest against PRISM.

 

[Flapadar]

I'm going to have to disagree with your statement here. Sure DDOS attacks are mostly childish, however you have to remember at one point in time they were ruled (I believe it was Germany) as a legal form of protest - now it's been misused and is no longer declared that, however in my mind I believe it can be used as a form of protest. Now law enforcement tries to regulate it, however I believe if it's for a good cause, then it shouldn't be illegal. For example, I wouldn't get mad if the NSA went offline as a form of protest against PRISM.

My problem with that is - how many intermediary networks might be affected by such an attack? For example, Seth's attack this thread is about knocked LINX out for a while.



It's no good calling it protesting if there's tonnes of collateral damage. 

 

[RTGHM]

My problem with that is - how many intermediary networks might be affected by such an attack? For example, Seth's attack this thread is about knocked LINX out for a few minutes. 



It's no good calling it protesting if there's tonnes of collateral damage. 

I don't believe collateral damage is a big issue to be quite honest.

 

[Flapadar]

I don't believe collateral damage is a big issue to be quite honest.

Once you are part of the collateral damage you might think differently... 

Unless of course, you like being woken up at 4AM by a "everything's down" alert, just because someone thought one of your clients was worth "protesting" against? I think you'd be a minority there though. 

 

[RTGHM]

Once you are part of the collateral damage you might think differently... 

Unless of course, you like being woken up at 4AM by a "everything's down" alert, just because someone thought one of your clients was worth "protesting" against? I think you'd be a minority there though. 

Sure, I don't mind, that's just assuming the denial of service attack is large enough to pass through the filters I have in place.

We use OVH, Voxility to filter out unwanted trash.

 

[jarland]

I'm going to have to disagree with your statement here. Sure DDOS attacks are mostly childish, however you have to remember at one point in time they were ruled (I believe it was Germany) as a legal form of protest - now it's been misused and is no longer declared that, however in my mind I believe it can be used as a form of protest. Now law enforcement tries to regulate it, however I believe if it's for a good cause, then it shouldn't be illegal. For example, I wouldn't get mad if the NSA went offline as a form of protest against PRISM.

You can call it that if you want (and I recognize that you note the difference between misuse and what you see as appropriate use) but when you take away choices you're not protesting anymore, you're declaring war on that entity. Shutting off the electric grid, cutting cables, these could be forms of protest too if you wanted to call direct action against someone that forces them into a certain state without any choice from them or the consumers a protest. It does nothing to make it look any better. That's nothing like any protest I've ever been a part of or ever will be.


I mean a car bomb can be a protest, doesn't make it right and shouldn't be compared to a peaceful protest by any means. Non peaceful protest is, in my opinion, in opposition of a civilized culture. Because you disagree with someone is no reason to call it a right to force them to stop what they do.


If you feel so strongly about something that someone else is doing that you think you have a right to employ forceful tactics to stop them, we've had a word for that for centuries and its called war. We're just at a very unfortunate time in history where a kid with his mommy's credit card can do it. That it's easy and cheap doesn't make it right. That it has no body count is pretty much the only positive thing I can say about it, but still not enough to justify it.

 

[drmike]

DDoS had a run as a protest method.  It was alright at the onset.  Now though, it's too disruptive, too often in disruptions and more common than someone threatening to come over and punch you in the mouth.

What is going to happen inevitably and should have already is infrastructure like these major networks, peer exchanges, etc. are going to fall under government regulation as  controlled critical infrastructure.  I mean much of it already is, was funded by, given government handouts for, monitored by, etc.

As much as I hate regulations, the internet really - the means of accessing it - is a utility.

As with most internet things, we have remained in the early Wild West stage far too long.

I'm all for protesting, activism, etc. DDoS does little big picture and collateral damage is way too messy.  No one has died from network mass failing, yet.   Hopefully no one ever does.   Protesting and activism are out in the street as the meat, not as a bunch of noisy bits flapping in the intertubes.  Posting to Twatter or Facecrook really is just about as useless.

 

[Aldryic C'boas]

I don't believe collateral damage is a big issue to be quite honest.

I don't like listening to your ignorance.  I'm going to protest by beating your face with a ceramic bat.  Don't worry about losing your teeth - it's just collateral damage, you don't mind.

You're the kind of tool that badly needs an ass whipping to build humility and perspective.  Maybe then you won't be so quick to judge something 'acceptable' so long as you're not affected.

 

[RTGHM]

I don't like listening to your ignorance.  I'm going to protest by beating your face with a ceramic bat.  Don't worry about losing your teeth - it's just collateral damage, you don't mind.

You're the kind of tool that badly needs an ass whipping to build humility and perspective.  Maybe then you won't be so quick to judge something 'acceptable' so long as you're not affected.

The amount of times I've been ddosed is unreal, the amount of times I've had death threats against me is unreal.

Do you really think I even care anymore?

 

[drmike]

Ald with the harsh papa ruler on some knuckles.

I don't think @RTGHM is in the riff raff group.   In my younger years I would have likely shortsighted in view continued to gaze upon DDoS as an interesting disruptive force for hacktivism.

It's like the person that decides to run down the road from the police, ahem innocently ignoring the lights somehow and barrels into or has the officer barrel into some poor traveler on the road.

Or it's the youngster who goes with his buddy to buy some pot and in the process the buddy gets robbed, shot and dies.

In both experiences, the fellow wasn't meaning death upon someone, but such did occur in his proximity and due to his actions.

My fear is and will eventually be proven / outcome that DDoS on a network or direct target is going to result in perhaps (ideally) unintentional loss of life.

I felt the same way about Stuxnet and other malwares intending on nesting inside controllers and apparatus.  Perhaps the malware could cause centrifuges to wobble out of control and cause heavens forbid a nuclear event.

Once we know things are possible and proof of concept has been launched, it's the permanent opening of Pandora's horrible box.  The genie no longer fits in the bottle and the ill intentions of such awareness lead to more horrors, misues and threats of virtual harm, which eventually will impact real life.

Collateral damage is unforgivable.   Scary ass military term. 

 

[raindog308]

The idea that DDOS is a digital analog to a "sit in" is rather sketchy at best.  Regardless, sit ins and street protests are obsolete.

100 years ago, placards in the street was the only way to get your voice heard.

Today If you have a gripe or don't like something, you can speak on a platform in which billions can hear your voice: the Internet.  Put up a web site and you can speak as long and as eloquently as you wish.

Blocking traffic, marching with signs, etc. is just saying "I DEMAND YOU LISTEN TO ME" and you don't get to do that.

 

[RTGHM]

Ald with the harsh papa ruler on some knuckles.

I don't think @RTGHM is in the riff raff group.   In my younger years I would have likely shortsighted in view continued to gaze upon DDoS as an interesting disruptive force for hacktivism.

It's like the person that decides to run down the road from the police, ahem innocently ignoring the lights somehow and barrels into or has the officer barrel into some poor traveler on the road.

Or it's the youngster who goes with his buddy to buy some pot and in the process the buddy gets robbed, shot and dies.

In both experiences, the fellow wasn't meaning death upon someone, but such did occur in his proximity and due to his actions.

My fear is and will eventually be proven / outcome that DDoS on a network or direct target is going to result in perhaps (ideally) unintentional loss of life.

I felt the same way about Stuxnet and other malwares intending on nesting inside controllers and apparatus.  Perhaps the malware could cause centrifuges to wobble out of control and cause heavens forbid a nuclear event.

Once we know things are possible and proof of concept has been launched, it's the permanent opening of Pandora's horrible box.  The genie no longer fits in the bottle and the ill intentions of such awareness lead to more horrors, misues and threats of virtual harm, which eventually will impact real life.

Collateral damage is unforgivable.   Scary ass military term. 

Well if you think DDOS attacks will end life, swatters will.

Swatters dispatch SWAT teams ready for shoot, kill without thinking.