Anonymous hacker group: Two jailed for cyber attacks

Anonymous hacker group: Two jailed for cyber attacks

www.bbc.co.uk

Two men who carried out cyber attacks for the Anonymous hacking group have been jailed.

Christopher Weatherhead, 22, of Northampton, and Ashley Rhodes, 28, of Camberwell, London, were jailed for 18 months and seven months respectively.

The two men carried out distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attacks which paralyse computer systems by flooding them with online requests.

The ones they attacked included payment site PayPal, costing it £3.5m.

Co-defendant Peter Gibson, of Hartlepool, was given a six-month sentence, suspended for two years.

Another defendant, Jake Birchall,

(visit the link for the full news article)

Not sure where people stand on this issue, so let the debate begin. Not much of a price to pay for being an active member of Anon.

We all think they're heroes when they attack someone/thing we don't like, but when you can't pay your bills/withdraw cash because they've taken the system down we all get a bit miffed. Should they have got harsher sentences?


www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Think the sentence was reasonable, they may have found things a lot of worse if they'd been from the States

And in all honesty, Paypal is a pretty vile organization and there's just no need for it to exist.

I'm just staggered that PayPal say it was 3.5 million and they didn't get years for it.

Maybe that's because they didn't personally gain from it. I don't know if Anon. hackers have ever accepted cash to 'do a job' but I get the impression they're just loose cannons with the ability to carry out such attacks and are idealogically motivated to do so.

I think anon is just a bunch of stupid tools, but 18 months for being stupid is fine by me.

There was an article in the guardian today arguing that DDoS doesn't do anyone any harm and should be a legitimate form of protest.

www.guardian.co.uk...

I find his explanation of a DDoS attack to be particularly interesting.

A reported 10,000 protesters around the world took to the internet with a protest method known as DDoS (distributed denial of service) – the functional equivalent of repeatedly hitting the refresh button on a computer. With enough people refreshing enough times, the site is flooded with traffic, slowed, or even temporarily knocked offline. No damage is done to the site or its backing computer system; and when the protest is over, the site resumes business as usual.

This is not "hacking". It is protest, and it is speech.

True, customers of the site are temporarily inconvenienced, but democracy is often messy and inconvenient. Moreover, the voice of your fellow citizen should always be worth slowing down to hear for a moment. Exposure to new or differing views enriches us all. Such was the case with the 2010 PayPal DDoS protest.

Does anyone a bit more clued up on this type of thing agree or disagree with that, is it really just a harmless form of protest?

I genuinely don't know and wouldn't mind being educated.

Originally posted by RandyBragg
I think anon is just a bunch of stupid tools, but 18 months for being stupid is fine by me.

I totally disagree...i believe Anonymous are a bunch of useful tools.....They have my full backing.

Originally posted by Zcustosmorum
Think the sentence was reasonable, they may have found things a lot of worse if they'd been from the States

And in all honesty, Paypal is a pretty vile organization and there's just no need for it to exist.

I find it very convenient, safe, and helpful.
So they should be allowed to exist

I think less time, but more probation.

give em 6 months and then 5 years probation...no computers.
That would send a far more threatening message to the community than in and out in under 2, then back to their favorite pastime.

but in typing that, it seems exceptionally cruel...still, that is purposefully causing damage...so, maybe it is appropriate. Sort of torn really...ultimately you want to give them a punishment that will curb their desire to ever do it again, and at the same time get others a bit more hesitant, but balance that with not ruining their life.

reply to post by bates


I too am quite ignorant on these things. Just how much damage do they do? What proof was offered that the alleged damage amounted to the figures the victims gave? etc. etc. Is that why a 3.5 million cost wasn't worthy of a harsher sentence? Did they offer little or no proof? Or were people simply inconvenienced?

Holy cow. 18 months? "Hackers"?

All you have to do to help out in a DDoS attack, is download a program called LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon), input an IP, and hit enter.

Usually 10's or 100's of people need to be involved for it to take any effect. They're just making an example of these kids.

Wait a minute, if they are "Anonymous" then how do we know that these are the right guys?

Jus' Sayin'



spez

reply to post by bates


That's an interesting quote from the article.

I admit that I am not aware of what a DDoS attack what and it's affects.

From what's stated in that quote it does make it sound like the online version of a normal protest.

DDoS should be a valid weapon of protesting!
If they are not going to listen to the public the public should be able to 'turn off' government.
Anon fights for YOU! Just saying.

Originally posted by Aquarius2150
DDoS should be a valid weapon of protesting!
If they are not going to listen to the public the public should be able to 'turn off' government.
Anon fights for YOU! Just saying.

^^^^^^What this guy has to say^^^^^^^^^ Wake up Sheeeple......Governments around the Globe are not above the law....we will be heard....we do not Forgive.... We do not Forget...We are Legion.......Anonymous....

Here is the thing , just because someone subscribes to the beliefs of the Anonymous collective doesn't mean they are right..

That's the problem with a dis-ambiguous group like that, any script kiddie that bang together a perl script or run a port sniffer can say "Im Anonymous, expect me!" and many people will automatically think , "that person has to be in the right"

Here is what I know for a fact and its fairly binary..If you break the law and you get caught then you are going to do the time.

Also the person that stated a DDoS needs many people is wrong.

Originally posted by Labrat3162


Not sure where people stand on this issue, so let the debate begin. Not much of a price to pay for being an active member of Anon.

We all think they're heroes when they attack someone/thing we don't like, but when you can't pay your bills/withdraw cash because they've taken the system down we all get a bit miffed. Should they have got harsher sentences?


www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

No, don't believe in jail unless you rape, repeatedly, or murder. Or are elected in a position of trust and abuse the good will of your employer/citizens and conduct crimes against humanity, or are bankers and corporate heads who are conspiring to enslave or harm people.

All the rest is best done through some monitoring and public works.

reply to post by Kram09


Picture PayPals website like a mailbox. You send them a letter, they send one back. A ddos attack is essentially flooding there mailbox with junk mail so that they are unable to sort through it fast enough to send and receive legitimate mail.

I highly doubt that they caused 3.5 million in damages by themselves and agree with an above poster that this is just making an example out of the few who were caught.

I have mixed feelings on the practice. In some ways it does seem like a legitimate form of protest, in other ways it doesn't. I think the punishment is a bit harsh personally. Young people are stupid and do stupid things. I certainly have.

I get irritated with media and others calling Anonymous Anon. It's overly familiar and the vast majority of people (myself included but less so than most it seems) have no idea what they're talking about.

Exactly. Who are Anon.? Is anyone who commits such an act automatically a member of Anon.? Or is it if you wish to lay claim to be a member you simply have to commit such an act? Do Anon. actually exist?

And what damage did they actually do? What proof has to be offered in a case like this?

If I broke the law in the real world and cost someone 3.5 Million I'd get a tougher sentence and during the trial proof would have to be offered of the costs incurred by my actions! Surely?

I don't get this whole Anon thing and cyber laws. Why do the govts. of diff. countries treat offenders so differently? As someone said before in the US the offender would have got a lot more.

Originally posted by Soloprotocol

Originally posted by Aquarius2150
DDoS should be a valid weapon of protesting!
If they are not going to listen to the public the public should be able to 'turn off' government.
Anon fights for YOU! Just saying.

^^^^^^What this guy has to say^^^^^^^^^ Wake up Sheeeple......Governments around the Globe are not above the law....we will be heard....we do not Forgive.... We do not Forget...We are Legion.......Anonymous....

That was embarrassing and made me cringe.