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Anonymous thinks DDoS should be a legitimate form of protest

by on10 January 2013



Because it’s no different than hitting refresh


Anonymous has posted a rather interesting petition on the White House website, seeking to make DDoS attacks a legal form of protest.

The group claims DDoS attacks are not hacking, but the equivalent of “hitting the refresh button on a webpage.” The petition needs to reach 25,000 signatures in 30 days in order to be reviewed by the White House, which really has nothing better to do this time of year.

Anonymous insists that DDoS are no different than any “occupy” protest. “Instead of a group of people standing outside a building to occupy the area, they are having their computer occupy a website to slow (or deny) service of that particular website for a short time,” claims Anon.

However, this is not entirely true. DDoS attacks are usually carried out by botnets, not actual users visiting websites and hitting the refresh buttons. Also, last time I checked infecting computers with malware and creating your own personal botnet is illegal in practically every country on the planet.

Street protests usually involve thousands of people willing to give up plenty of time and brave the weather and police in riot gear to get their point across. The same can’t be said of DDoS attacks, as they can be launched by a single bloke with a grudge. The real equivalent would be sending out tens of thousands of zombies to wreak havoc on the streets while sipping Jolt Cola in mum’s basement.

More here.

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