Anonymous takes down CIA.gov

[Mid]

Anonymous takes down CIA.gov
Kevin Fogarty
February 10, 2012

Hacktivist collective Anonymous has struck again at the U.S. government, claiming to have taken down cia.gov, the main web site for the Central Intelligence Agency.

The site went down about 3:10 p.m., apparently under a massive distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack.

@YourAnonNews, a primary outlet for news on Anonymous' anti-authoritarian activist wing, announced the operation's success as CIA TANGO DOWN" > at 3:25 Eastern time.

No specific reason for the attack was announced, nor were any specific groups or individuals within Anonymous named as the attackers.

Last month, in what was called the largest collective DDOS attack ever, as many as 5,000 individual members of Anonymous and affiliated groups attacked a host of government sites in retaliation for the raid that took down MegaUpload, the world's largest file-sharing site and, allegedly, largest clearinghouse for copyright-infringing digital content.

It's not the first time Anonymi have taken down the CIA's web site.

In June, as part of a 51-day-long hacking spree, the Anonymous spinoff group LulzSec took down CIA.gov for a couple of hours, citing the same reason it attacked other government and corporate sites: "For the lulz."

The attacks, which included a hack of Senate.gov and of FBI affiliates, raised LulzSec's visibility, but also its infamy, prompting more involvement from federal law enforcement than a group its size could typically command.

No telling yet who among the Anonymi launched the attack or why. Usually a specific operation is announced before an attack or immediately after it.

It's possible the attack was from an affiliated group that operates independently of the core set of Anonymous hackers and decision makers.

As of 4 p.m. Eastern time, CIA.gov was still unavailable.

itworld.com

[Davis Knowlton]

Big deal. It's just an information website about the CIA.

[harrybarracuda]

Big deal. It's just an information website about the CIA.

And they can't protect it from a bunch of nerds.

Class!

[Davis Knowlton]

Big deal. It's just an information website about the CIA.

And they can't protect it from a bunch of nerds.

Class!

Doubt they put much effort into it. It's all publicly available information.

[alwarner]

^that's what I was thinking.

[Davis Knowlton]

Back up in nine hours. What a victory for the hackers!

[harrybarracuda]

Back up in nine hours. What a victory for the hackers!

What an embarrassing public relations win for a bunch of taunting teenagers!

[larvidchr]

What a stupid senseless thing to do, it might end with them getting in a heap of trouble for a silly childish manifestation.

[Davis Knowlton]

Back up in nine hours. What a victory for the hackers!

What an embarrassing public relations win for a bunch of taunting teenagers!

Come on, Harry. That's just ridiculous. Most websites can be hacked without much effort; they are generally just not worth the effort of hacking. A CIA website that contains basic information, any/all of which is available on hundreds of other sites if you just Google it, is a stupid target other than for idiots who think it is a victory or a big deal because it has the words CIA. Bit childish.

[alwarner]

What a stupid senseless thing to do, it might end with them getting in a heap of trouble for a silly childish manifestation.

It's deliberate provocation. They've shut down the Justice Department website along with the FBI and Universal music group. They took down Sony's Playstation Network which must have cost Sony millions. Like DK said this CIA website is for information purposes only. It's to be a proverbial pain in the arse.

[Davis Knowlton]

I just took a look at the CIA website. It's less controversial than 'This Week on Teak Door' - less interesting too.

[Dan]

It's funny seeing the CIA being taken off-line but it's not going to achieve an awful lot, unlike their attacks on commercial sites, such as MasterCard after their cowardly response to wikileaks, which seem much more purposeful.

[harrybarracuda]

Back up in nine hours. What a victory for the hackers!

What an embarrassing public relations win for a bunch of taunting teenagers!

Come on, Harry. That's just ridiculous. Most websites can be hacked without much effort; they are generally just not worth the effort of hacking. A CIA website that contains basic information, any/all of which is available on hundreds of other sites if you just Google it, is a stupid target other than for idiots who think it is a victory or a big deal because it has the words CIA. Bit childish.

Of course it's childish. It's a bunch of kids doing it.

Maybe they should hire someone if they haven't got the skills to do it themselves.

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[larvidchr]

^^ Yes funny to look at, at a safe distance maybe, but not so funny for the parents to some of the pimpled teens who already have had their kids hauled away by computer crime division Police, to late those kids find out just how serious these things are dealt with, some have their whole future ruined by getting criminal records and huge economic damages to pay.

The latest science on the area states that you have to reach about 25 years of age before the human brain is fully capable of connecting the dots between actions and consequences, shame so many young people are lured into this shit by some warped ideas of secret Internet revolutionary heroes.

The State/judicial system - is relentless and never tires, has no empathy and feels no sorrow, has limitless recourses, and in some cases never stops or gives up trying to get the culprits.

More responsible people should rather than applauding these acts make damned sure those kids understands the risks fully, there are other "bodys" who can fight those battles much more competently and without getting in trouble with the law.

[Dan]

It's a bunch of kids doing it.

Exactly. A group of 12-year olds with personality disorders vs the CIA (who, you can be sure, have spent the best part of a fucking fortune trying to protect against events exactly like this). And it's 1-0 to the Asperger's kids. I think it's great.

----

^ I wouldn't worry about it. Most of them are going to be beneath the age of criminal responsibility anyway. And I don't have any problems with this kind of civil disobedience. Obviously knee-jerk reactionaries think any sign of resistance to power makes you into some irredeemably deviant criminal subhuman but this type of thing (criminal law aside) doesn't seem very different from chaining yourself to railings or organizing a sit-in or picketing or any other of the more traditional forms of protest.

[harrybarracuda]

Don't forget it's America though. If they could get them to the US, they'd have them in Guantanamo in a heartbeat, just for a stupid prank.

[FailSafe]

Hacktivist

People who use this word (not referring to Mid, who is quoting the article) should be beaten senseless, imho.