Hacked off
Hacktivist group Anonymous has defended the use of web attacks as a legitimate way of protesting and criticised UK authorities for arresting 5 of its members.
Yesterday three men between the ages of 15 and 26 were arrested in connection with DDoS attacks in support of WikiLeaks. Anonymous has responded by declaring the raid "a serious declaration of war" by the UK government against its group.
In an open letter (naturally,) Anonymous said: "We understand you are planning to charge these fellow anons with offences under the 1990 Computer Misuse Act, which prohibits impairing the operation of a computer or the readability of data.
"Anonymous believes, however, that pursuing this direction is a sad mistake on your behalf. Not only does it reveal the fact that you do not seem to understand the present-day political and technological reality, we also take this as a serious declaration of war from yourself, the UK government, to us, Anonymous, the people."
The group argued that DDoS attacks should not be confused with malicious hacking, but regarded instead as ‘a new way of voicing civil protest,' as it believes the traditional forms of protest ‘have slowly turned into nothing but an empty, ritualised gesture of discontent'.
However, the Computer Misruse Act of 1990 makes it clear that DDoS attacks are illegal and carry a maximum fine of £5,000 and even up to 10 years in prison. Unsurprisingly, Anonymous does not agree with the law or the punishment.
The group said: "We want you to realize just how ridiculous these sentences are, especially given the exact nature of a DDoS attack and its lack of permanent damage to the target website."
Having stated that DDoS attacks are akin to ‘attending a peaceful demonstration,' Anonymous noted that similar attacks have been carried out on Wikileaks but the attackers in that case are not being hunted down and said ‘we know exactly who was responsible' for targeting the whistleblowing website.
Consequenly the group said it is ‘unfair and hypocritical' to try and put its 5 members to trial without doing the same to the WikiLeaks attackers. "We can therefore only assume that these arrests are politically motivated, and were being carried out under pressure from the US government," it added.
The group also warned: "Anonymous cannot, and will not, stand idle while this injustice is being done."
