Bill O'Reilly responded with his usual reserve and humility, demanding long jail terms for the "criminals" responsible, including any news organizations that published the content of Palin's emails.

In response to O'Reilly's absolutism and judgementalism, another hacker or team of hackers violated www.billoreilly.com, going so far as to release the passwords of hundreds of O'Reilly.com's users.

While some hackers may have good intentions, their actions are by and large little more than adolescent pranks. Calling this kind of vandalism "hacktivism"---as if it were a form of activism---gives too much credit to a new generation of vandals. Moreover, it's one thing to damage someone's mailbox with a baseball bat; it's quite another to release the private details of someone's email account to the world, or to publish passwords that could leave hundreds of people's bank accounts vulnerable.

Some cyberpunks at Wikileaks.com are actually proud of publishing the "names, email addresses, passwords, and home town of 20 (O'Reilly.com) subscribers." They should have their own private information published, preferably at a site like O'Reilly.com that has a thousand times their audience.

At zdnet.com, blogger Dancho Danchev claims that "Hacking is supposed to be about intellectual exploration"; in another entry, Danchev suggests that "Wikileak’s vision of a little less secrecy, and a little bit more transparency, ultimately better serves the world..." What a crock. Hacking is more like playing a video game than an intellectual exploration, and private emails and passwords are intended to be secret, not transparent.

Welcome to the Wild, Wild Web.

Newsprism

The Democratic Voice of Burma is once again under DDoS. This one has been seen before, and it’s unfortunate that it’s happening again. I’ve been digging for information and hope to have some to share soon. At present I don’t have anything I can share.

The second bit of political hacking are reports that defacements have shut down Iranian clerics’ Web sites. I don’t see any DDoS activity around this yet but we are seeing some defacements, some apparently on sites that run buggy OSS codebases, so it’s not surprising that they got owned.

http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/advocacy-20-guide-tools-for-digital-advocacy/geo-bombing-youtube-google-earth/

The Advocacy 2.0 Guide (Tools for Digital Advocacy) describes some of the best techniques and tools that digital activists - and others who wish to learn from this subject - can use as part of their online advocacy campaigns. While our previous guide (Blog for a Cause!) focused on the effective use of blogs as an advocacy tool, this guide will explore creative uses of other web 2.0 applications.

Our goal is to:

* Aggregate web 2.0 tools for advocacy
* Provide detailed instructions on how to use them
* Highlight successful experiences of web 2.0 activism by local digital activists around the world.
* Inspire other activists to adopt these strategies in ways that serve their specific goals and needs.

From “Geo-bombing” to “multi-blogging” and Twitter to “mash-ups”, we explore the field of digital advocacy, helping activists reach out to audiences they may never have reached before.

We are releasing the first of a series of Advocacy 2.0 Guides that will show you how to use the web 2.0 as an advocacy tool.

http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/advocacy-20-guide-tools-for-digital-advocacy/geo-bombing-youtube-google-earth/

Clandestine FM radio broadcast today in Beijing by Reporters Without Borders, hours before Olympic opening ceremony
Reporters Without Borders: August 8, 2008

Members of Reporters Without Borders today broadcast "Radio Without Borders," China's only independent FM radio station, in Beijing just hours before the start of the Olympic Games opening ceremony. In a programme lasting 20 minutes, Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard and Chinese human rights activists called on the Chinese government to respect free speech.

"The Chinese authorities refused to issue visas to ten of our members but this has not stopped us from making ourselves heard in Beijing by means of a clandestine radio broadcast using miniaturised FM transmitters and antennas," Ménard said. "Reporters Without Borders devised and carried out this protest in a spirit of resistance against state control of the media."

The press freedom organisation added: "This is the first non-state radio station to have broadcast in China since the Communist Party took power in 1949. Only international Chinese-language radio stations broadcasting on the short wave would be able to break this news and information monopoly, but they are jammed by the authorities."

The Radio Without Borders broadcast began at 08:08 local time on 08/08/08 on 104.4 FM, exactly 12 hours before the start of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. The programme, in English, French and Mandarin, was heard in on 104.4 FM in different districts of the Chinese capital.

In his introduction, Ménard described the broadcast as a "gesture of defiance towards the Chinese authorities, who are still keeping dozens and dozens of journalists and Internet users in prison." Addressing the authorities, Ménard said: "Despite everything, there are people who are going to be able to speak out about things you don't want the public to hear, in the very heart of Beijing. Regardless of the measures you take, you will not get rid of free speech."

Ménard then urged the Chinese authorities to release prisoners of conscience and stop jamming the frequencies used by international radio stations broadcasting in Chinese. "You banned us from going to Beijing, you expelled us from China. But despite all that, we are here, making our voice heard peacefully, in a completely non-violent fashion. It is a way of saying censorship just won't work."

The broadcast included interviews with Chinese human rights activists who have found refuge abroad. A former journalist talked about the censorship and self-censorship that is imposed on her colleagues still in China. A human rights activist described the crackdown on Chinese activists in the run-up to the Olympics.

A former political prisoner described the appalling conditions in which he was held. "External pressure is essential to improve the situation of political prisoners," Yang Jianli said. Finally the director of Boxun, a US-based, Chinese-language website that is still blocked in China, talked about what motivates the site's volunteer contributors inside China who, despite the risks, post reports on the social and political situation.

Listen the programme on http://www.rsf.org/ or http://olympicgames.rsfblog.org/

The current state of cyber security is abysmal, the lack of confidence in the US political process has been strained and this election has played the social *ism cards, such as terrorism, racism, sexism, ageism, and lipstick on a pigism, more than any other in recent history. You know it is getting ugly when a Republican political strategist like Karl Rove states that the Republicans have "gone too far" (here), this is like Ted Bundy telling Joseph Francis, the creator of "Girls Gone Wild", that he mistreats women.

The conditions are ripe for digital election manipulation in multiple forms, this is not to say that voter manipulation is new, nor is hactivism (here), what is new is the impact it may have on a US presidential election. So what has changed and why now?

1. Information integrity: First and foremost there has been a sea change in how information is shared, manipulated, and redirected. Traditional media is now facing extinction against a flood of new media outlets, from blogs to social media to social networking, information flow is fast and pervasive. The problem with an information rich environment is the quality of the information is dramatically reduced. In the frenzy to quickly post a story fact-checking may be haphazard, if done at all, and something may propagate from rumor on a blog to discussion on chat rooms to the front page of a global media's online edition in a matter of hours. Imagine this "information" sharing during the critical moments of a campaign - it would have a material impact on when, how, and even if some citizens vote.

2. Counterfeit reality: Photoshop and similar technologies have dramatically expanded the ability for people to manipulate images, in many cases to the point that it becomes nearly impossible, without sophisticated methods, to determine the validity of such images. Just like in years past there has been no shortage of political Photoshop, for the most part these have been more for humorous purposes, but it wouldn't be difficult to imagine counterfeit reality being used to demean a candidate, misrepresent a situation, or create an international incident (here)

3. Vote manipulation: The most significant  impact hackers may have on a political election is manipulation of the actual votes themselves. There have been many stories of security problems related to electronic voting machines and at the end of 2007 California Secretary of State, Debra Bowen, withdrew approval for multiple electronic voting machines citing significant security concerns (here). Although some may argue that the impact would be isolated since the theory is that these voting systems would only be deployed in an air-gap network, the reality is that electronic media is generally transferred, correlated and eventually archived and throughout this process additional attack vectors become available.

None of this is new; propaganda, voter fraud, data modification, counterfeit reality, and all manner of manipulation have been used for centuries, what has changed is that the electronic medium introduces levels of speed, pervasiveness and quality of fraudulent material that is very difficult to replicate in traditional mediums. I have no doubt that we will see a significant electronic "incident" occur during either this or an upcoming presidential election.

<update 9/19/2008: Although not terribly relevant, apparently Bill "Papa Bear" O'Reilly, the Fox News savior of the downtrodden and misaligned conservative right and Stephen Colbert inspiration, has been hacked for making disparaging comments about Palin being hacked (here) - ha!>

| digg story

Thai government tries to shut down 400 websites
Oliver Luft
The Guardian: September 3, 2008

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/sep/03/digitalmedia.thailand

Thailand's Information and Communications Technology Ministry sought court orders yesterday to shut down about 400 websites and advised internet service providers to block 1,200 sites it considers a danger to national security or disturbing social order.

ICT minister Mun Patanotai said the department had advised ISPs to immediately block these websites, which it claimed were detected between March and August this year, and had sought court actions against them under article 20 of Thailand's Computer Crime Act.

The Bangkok Post reported yesterday that the ministry claimed the sites "disturbed the peaceful social order and morality of the people, and/or which were considered detrimental to national security".

This move to shut down online dissent follows the Thai authorities' declaration of a state of emergency yesterday as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to demand the government's resignation.

Thai prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, announced sweeping curbs to civil liberties to maintain calm, after which the ICT Ministry said it had detected more than 1,200 websites that violated the Computer Crime Act.

In addition, a Thai court issued three orders to shut down about 400 websites, 344 of which, it claimed, carried material that was contemptuous of the country's royal family. The other blocked websites included two with religious content, one video sex game and five sites deemed to carry obscene content.

The ICT ministry, the Bangkok Post reported, also sought help from the police to "bring all the violators to trial".

Samak gave the army power to restore order on the streets of Bangkok yesterday after fighting started between his supporters and those demanding he quit.

One demonstrator was killed and dozens were injured during the worst violence seen since anti-government campaigns began in May.

The present crisis started just over a week ago as members of the People's Alliance for Democracy took over government buildings in an attempt to try to force the Thai government to stand down.*

Those who can.. each teach!

Yes, it's all Free School this week at the Rampart and it's been a good one so far with a highly motivated atmosphere towards 'self' schooling that seems to be bringing education out of the isolated and YouTube-passive era. Come along and take part this week and contribute towards it where you can, it will be nice to see you!

Full programme listings with start times are below.

--- LONDON FREE SCHOOL WEEK ---------

A week of free workshops, discussions and skill-shares open to all around the themes of;
Creative Arts, Science & Technology, Food, Language, Education and Activism

Modern mainstream British education is full of hierarchy, inequality and commercialism. London Freeschool aims to provide an alternative!

The freeschool stems from the idea that education should be community controlled, free and open to all. As communities we need to reclaim knowledge in order to develop self-reliance. No more ‘doctor knows best’ ideology - we can all learn from each other!

Anyone can come along to as many sessions as they like, no booking, no limits

Where? Rampart Social Centre, 15-17 Rampart Street (off Commercial Road), Whitechapel, E1 2LA
When? 1-7th September 2008

For more info check the website http://londonfreeschool.wordpress.com
or email deschooling_society@lists.riseup.net

+++ WEDNESDAY 3rd ++++++++++++++++

12:00 German

13:00 Lunch

14:00 Quilling & Origami
Origami involves paper folding to create all sorts of shape (flowers, animals etc). Some books will be available to get you started. Quilling or paper filigree involves creating patterns and pictures from strips of paper that have been turned into coils. Find out how to create designs that can be used to  decorate greetings cards and bookmarks amongst other things. It's simple and fun to do and quilling can quickly produce really lovely results.

14:00 Cartomancy
Lenormand, gypsie, kipper, sibilla, tarot

14:30 Special Diets: Diabetes
What is diabetes? Who is at risk? What we can do now to reduce our risk?
Guidance on diet for diabetics

15:00 Fooling

15:00 Cooking Without Gas or Eleccy
Open discussion on methods of cooking without gas or electricity. The group could then plan practical workshops in the future on various methods talked about.

16:00 Adapting Recipes

16:00 Cooking

16:00 Low power computing, thin clients and linux
An explanation towards the setup of the tents full of computers that were at this year's Camp for Climate Action. Under the banner 'Be the Media', the complex of tents provided internet access for people uploading their own reports, blogs, photos etc and included two studio spaces, one for a camp radio  project and one for TV. The IT provision included a suite of eighteen laptops which consumed under 400 watts in total. Internet connectivity added another 10 to 50 watts. A typical desktop will consume more like 150 watts. Instead we used old low-spec laptops running as 'thin clients'. Computer hardware is very
environmentally damaging. Thin clients can remain in service longer and ultimately produce less surplus computer hardware than normal PC workstations. Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) is an add-on package for Linux that allows you to connect lots of low-powered computers (thin client terminals) to a Linux server. Applications run on the server and accept input and display their output on the thin client display. This enables the use of very low power, low specification machines to boot and connect via a network to a powerful central server.

16:00 Bike Maintenance

18:00 Dinner

19:00 Getting Rid of Education: Communities for Learning
No ones needs to be educated. We all learn all the time. What people need are resources and support to help them get where they want to go. What does this sort of an organisation look like and how can you start one? Come and find out!
Leslie Barson (Safran) home educated her two children and founded and runs The Otherwise Club, a community centre for families choosing not to send their children to school, in NW London since 1993.

20:30 TBA film related to education

+++ THURSDAY 4th ++++++++++++++++

12:00 Lugandan

13:00 Lunch

14:00 Food Buying Group

14:00 Cartomancy
Lenormand, gypsie, kipper, sibilla, tarot

14:00 Roof Gardening

14:30 Fats, Salt & Sugar
The good, the bad and ugly. Everything you wanted to know. How much we should be eating. The heath risks of eating too much or not enough. Good fat vs Bad Fat

16:00 Adapting Recipes

16:00 Cooking

16:00 Bike Maintenance

17:00 Herbal Skillshare
At LARC. Herbal Skillshare run by women from the London Anarcha-feminist Kolective open to all genders, children welcome. An exciting discussion about the anarcha-feminist motivations for D.I.Y. Herbalism, followed by, making a few herbal remedies, herbal tea drinking and general skillsharing. Please bring one or more jars and some olive oil if you can.

18:00 Dinner

19:00 Workshop of Nothing - Foucault

19:00 Screenings on permaculture

+++ FRIDAY 5th ++++++++++++++++

12:00 British Sign Language
After the workshop everyone should be able to ask others what their name is and communicate their own name without speaking or writing. A very useful skill to communicate silently without non-signers understanding or hearing.

13:00 Lunch

14:00 Gender & Autonomous Spaces
Autonomous spaces are not immune from the kind of casual sexism that is still common in the wider culture but the problem is rarely discussed. One solution has been to set up women only spaces but many people feel that these avoid the problem rather than addressing it. This workshop will be about exploring how people feel about questions of gender and sexuality in the context of radical activism and how we can find ways to address the issues.

14:00 Gender & Autonomous Spaces
1st Floor. Autonomous spaces are not free from the casual sexism that pervades  the wider culture but people are often not willing to address it. This workshop  will be about exploring our responses to it and how we can go about dealing with it.

14:00 Cartomancy
Lenormand, gypsie, kipper, sibilla, tarot

14:30 Balance of Good Health
Using the eatwell plate and 5 a day to explore what we should be eating for good health.

16:00 Adapting Recipes

16:00 Cooking

16:00 Basics of genetics

16:00 Philosophy of Free & Open Source and Internet Anonymity
In this discussion we will cover the philosophy of Free & Open Source software, and why it matters. We'll also cover who writes these programs, why, and how they get paid (there is in fact a great deal of money tied up in Free Software). We'll then look at a few commonly used Free Software programs and web services, including Linux, Wordpress and OpenOffice. We will also talk about the fundamentals of computer security and anonymity, and why people might consider using them. We'll talk about how 'TOR' works to ensure your activities on the the internet are untracable, and how to set it up on your computer.

18:00 Dinner

19:00 Anti GMO film screening

19:00 Hacktivism & Technological activism - Scientology + anonymity

+++ SATURDAY 6th ++++++++++++++++

09:00 Food Not Bombs Workshop
Skipping in the morning then cooking from around 11am then serving food in a close location and, the best bit: Cleaning!!! :)

12:00 Spanish

13:00 Lunch

14:00 Musical Instruments
Creating musical instruments from anything people can find & practicing using them for a performance at the benefit party.

14:30 Eating Raw
An introduction to eating raw. What foods can/can't eat raw. Supplements for a raw diet

16:00 Adapting Recipes

16:00 Cooking

18:00 Dinner

19:00 Benefit party for London FreeSchool!!

+++ SUNDAY 7th ++++++++++++++++

12:00 Film screenings all day

13:00 Lunch

14:00 Flower stick making & practice skillshare

14:00 Workshop of Nothing

14:00 Roof Gardening

14:30 Blood Type Diet
Practical guidance in making the changes to your diet, and the different blood types and other factors that influence what foods are good or wrong for us.

16:00 Adapting Recipes

16:00 Cooking

18:00 Dinner

19:00 London FreeSchool: What Next?

+++ MONDAY 8th ++++++++++++++++

17:00 Workshop of Nothing

((Phew!!))

--- Events elsewhere: ---------

THURSDAY 4th SEPTEMBER

MOVIMIENTOS AT THE SALMON AND COMPASS
“Música Mestiza. Documentary films. Latin Culture”
Thursday 4th September

Films upstairs from 7pm including

Los Paraguayos by Marcelo Martinessi (Brazil - Paraguay, 2006)
‘Los Paragauyos’ takes us on an audiovisual journey showing us the Guarani nation and contemporary Paraguay: historians, anthropologists, writers and artists’ attempt to untie the knots of a reality full of contrasts.

Ahendu nde sapukai (Oigo tu grito) by Pablo Lamar (Argentina - Paraguay, 2008)
This film by up and coming Paraguayan director Pablo Lamar, is a must see for those interested in contemporary Latin American short film, received much praise in Cannes film festival earlier this year.

+ A film on the effects of Soy Expansion in Paraguay
http://www.lasojamata.org/en/node/94

+ Special guest speakers and other short film presentations

Music Downstairs

All the freshest old school and contemporary dancefloor Latin beats with Movimientos DJs Cal Jader, Pablo N, Clem George, live percussion & special guests

7pm-2am
Entry: Donations before 9pm / £3 after

at the Salmon and Compass, 58 Penton Street (Corner of Chapel Market), N1 9PZ
(Angel tube/Northern Line)
___________________________________

THURSDAY 4th SEPTEMBER, 7pm to 9pm

'Greening Latin America'
at Bolivar Hall: Embassy Of Venezuela
54 Grafton Way W1 5AJ

Speakers:
Roberto Perez, Cuban permaculturalist who launches his British tour .
Dr Diana Raby, Lecturer at the Institute of Latin American Studies (University of Liverpool)
Nestor Lopez, from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Dr Derek Wall, Green Party Principal Speaker

'This meeting will show case the progress being made in Latin America with an emphasis on Cuba and Venezuela in dealing with climate change, biodiversity and range of environmental issues. It will examine the lessons in terms of politics and environmental policy that both the Green Movement and the wider left in Britain can learn from the Latin American experience.'
___________________________________

SATURDAY 6th SEPTEMBER

Big London Climate Camp Gathering: this Saturday 6th Sept

Whilst the hay bales and marquees may have been packed away, the Climate Camp will be returning to London on 6th September! There won't be rocket stoves and Kent sunsets but the passion for positive change will be back as we plan our next move.

Where should our movement go next? What would be an amazing action to do here in London? How would we do it?  These are the questions we will answer together on Saturday 6th September.

So, what's the plan?

We will look at what we have achieved, share our ideas for the future and get planning. and then we will celebrate. This year's was the biggest Climate Camp yet, we covered the gates of Kingsnorth with banners and flooded the media with  our stories. So we will definitely be celebrating.

Plan and discuss___

Where?
Synergy Centre, 220 Farmers Road, London SE5 0TW
Nearest tube: Oval
Map: http://tinyurl.com/5uspf7

When?
Saturday 6th September
10am-6pm

Any food?
Some people are already bringing food, but we will need more. Bring freegan/vegan food.

Celebrate___

7pm til late. This will be in the same venue as above. There'll be music, drinking and merriment.
Whether you were at the camp or just saw it on the telly this is your opportunity to come along and get involved in the country's most exciting movement for a better world.
___________________________________

SATURDAY 6th SEPTEMBER

Carnival Against Vivisection
Unite and fight for the animals - 6th Sept - Sequani Labs - Ledbury, Herefordshire UK

In solidarity with Sean Kirtley, who was imprisoned by the state for supposedly organising legal demonstrations against Sequani’s vivisection laboratories, activists will be making a stand for the animals with a march and rally against Sequani labs on September 6th in Ledbury, Herefordshire.

Since campaigning against vivisection labs has been criminalised under Section 145 of the SOCPA legislation, such as operating a website critical of a company like Sean did, the event has been organised without organisers and is not an authorised event.

Detailed information at http://smashsequani.wordpress.com

--- Little bit of a reminder: ---------

Save the Common Place - Leeds’ autonomous, radical social centre.

http://www.thecommonplace.org.uk/

Leeds City Council has revoked the Common Place’s Club Premises Certificate, which up till now allowed it to operate as a private members club and be independent, self-financed, supporting cultural and political activities.

Sign the petition to save The Common Place
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/thecommonplace/

That's it! You read to the end!

Thanks

The Artist's Duty

So it is the duty of the artist to discourage all traces of shame
To extend all boundaries
To fog them in right over the plate
To kill only what is ridiculous
To establish problem
To ignore solutions
To listen to no one
To omit nothing
To contradict everything
To generate the free brain
To bear no cross
To take part in no crucifixion
To tinkle a warning when mankind strays
To explode upon all parties
To wound deeper than the soldier
To heal this poor obstinate monkey once and for all

To verify the irrational
To exaggerate all things
To inhibit everyone
To lubricate each proportion
To experience only experience

To set a flame in the high air
To exclaim at the commonplace alone
To cause the unseen eyes to open

To admire only the abrsurd
To be concerned with every profession save his own
To raise a fortuitous stink on the boulevards of truth and beauty
To desire an electrifiable intercourse with a female alligator
To lift the flesh above the suffering
To forgive the beautiful its disconsolate deceit

To flash his vengeful badge at every abyss

To HAPPEN

It is the artist’s duty to be alive
To drag people into glittering occupations

To blush perpetually in gaping innocence
To drift happily through the ruined race-intelligence
To burrow beneath the subconscious
To defend the unreal at the cost of his reason
To obey each outrageous inpulse
To commit his company to all enchantments.

Kenneth Patchen

• Matthew Clayfield, "Attacks on cyberspace preceded Russian tanks"
• Gadi Evron, "Georgia Cyber Attacks From Russian Government? Not So Fast"
• Jose Nazario, "Georgia DDoS Attacks - A Quick Summary of Observations"
• John Robb, "OPEN SOURCE WARFARE: Cyberwar"
• Marcus H. Sachs, "Thoughts on the Russia vs Georgia Cyber War"
• Noah Shachtman, "Estonia, Google Help 'Cyberlocked' Georgia (Updated)"
• Noah Shachtman, "U.S. Embassy in Russian Hackers' Crosshairs?"
• Ron Synovitz, "Georgian Government Accuses Russia Of Waging 'Cyberwarfare'"

After looking through photos of charred bodies among the detritus of war (via Danger Room), it might be easy to dismiss the significance of cyberwarfare.  However, one should remember the question is not whether an unavailable service or defaced website outweighs the human cost of war but rather how cyberwar fits into its larger scope.

On a tactical level, there are a number of questions we can ask.  Can cyberwarfare play a role in psychological warfare? Will it disrupt "network-centric warfare" and battlefield communication? How does it serve intelligence gathering?  Certainly, cyberwarfare has had an impact in the propaganda battle (for example, see John Little's post "South Ossetian Separatist Propaganda On the Web").  Moreover, cyberwar's ability to capture the public imagination--as well as that of the military establishment--is itself a force multiplier whether cyberwarfare is media-generated hype or not.  Even if its threat has been overestimated, perceptions within the US, Russia, China, and elsewhere have led to resources being devoted to this mode of warfare that might have been devoted to conventional weapons. This fact alone illustrates that the cultural impact of a particular weapons system can exceed its destructive capacity.

What if culture--the "human terrain"--is the primary battlefield of cyberwar, not cyberspace?  This could explain the failures the U. S. military's attempts "dominate" cyberspace, a notion more in line with Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) doctrine than the more "culturally-orientated" Counterinsurgency (COIN) theory.  This brings me to John Robb's post in which he discusses the advantages of cyberwarfare:

• Deniability. Offensive operations by government computers/personnel against a target nation is an act of war. Actions by civilian vigilantes is not and can be disowned. An inability to point to a an offending organization can make blame difficult to affix: note the speed at which the US tech press was willing to deny a Russian cyberwar against Estonia.
• A huge talent pool. Rather than spend money on training a limited number of uniformed personnel (likely poorly), it's possible to draw on a talent pool of hundreds of thousands of participants (from hackers to IT professionals to cybercriminals). Given the rapid decay/turnover in skills, high rates of innovation, high compensation, and the value of real-world expertise, the best people for cyberwarfare don't work (nor will they ever) in the government. The best you can do is rent/entice them for a while.
• Access to the best Resources/Weaponry. The best tools for cyberwarfare are developed in the cybercriminal community. They have vast and rapidly growing capabilities: a plethora of botnets, worms, compromised computers within target networks, identity information, etc. Further, these capabilities are cheap to rent.

With these three advantages in mind, a DDoS attack may have more in common with insurgency/counterinsurgency tactics than "shock and awe."  First, cyberwarfare has more in common with covert action--or perhaps "overt covert" action--rather than relying on the spectacle of rapid dominance.  Combatants are difficult to combat, and attacks are hard to recognize.  A website slowed with regular usage or down for maintenance could trigger fears of cyber attacks, analogous to the power outages in the United States that stimulated worries about terrorism.  Secondly, this "huge talent pool" is not an organized, hierarchical army but rather an insurgency.  Actors are as much unconnected as they are interconnected, defying the grasp of "full-spectrum dominance."  Lastly, the best resources and weapons are not the product of the most advanced military-industrial establishment but a criminal underground--and they are cheap, easy to use, and available to anyone.

Robb goes onto make great points on why the United States fails at cyberwarfare and what should be done to establish a cyberwarfare capability:

• Engage, co-opt, and protect cybercriminals. Essentially, use this influence to deter domestic commercial attacks and encourage an external focus. This keeps the skills sharp and the powder dry.
• Seed the movement. Once the decision to launch a cyberattack is made, start it off right. Purchase botnets covertly from criminal networks to launch attacks, feed 'patriotic' blogs to incite attacks and list targets, etc.
• Get out of the way. Don't interfere. Don't prosecute participants. Take notes.

For these reasons, cyberwarfare should be something left to the intelligence community, equipped with an Internet connection and a cultural awareness of hackers and the intended target, rather than the Air Force with its outmoded RMA high-technology fetish.

• 146hotfrmhacktivismandpride · 29.53 MB

Kurze Stichpunkt artig gelistete Schweinereien :

Durch die Abschaffung wenig wirksamer und wenig genutzter Instrumente werden Informationspflichten abgebaut und damit verbundene Bürokratie kosten gesenkt.Durch den Wegfall der institutionellen Förderung nach §§ 248-251 SGB III entfallen Informationspflichten.Die Änderung des § 86 SGB III reduziert die Informationspflichten für Unternehmen. Die mit Artikel 2 vorgenommenen Änderungen des Zweiten Buches Sozialgesetzbuch begründen keine neuen Informationspflichten für die Wirtschaft.

Die Betroffenen Bürger allerdings werden noch mehr Kontrolliert und um noch mehr Daten befragt :

Die bestehenden Informationspflichten der Bürgerinnen und Bürger nach § 38 SGB III ( alte Fassung ) werden modifiziert. Die Mitwirkungspflichten von Ausbildung-und Arbeitsuchenden, die Dienstleistungen der Bundesagentur für Arbeit in Anspruch nehmen, werden um die Informationspflichten nach den §§ 310 und 311 SGB III präzisiert. Die mit Artikel 2 vorgenommenen Änderungen des Zweiten Buches Sozialgesetzbuch begründen keine neuen Informationspflichten für die Bürger.

Dieses PDF File liegt uns hier vor : http://wapurl.co.uk/?KZO1UIM

Wer WIR sind ?

Die Crew von HackersGuide ist eine gemeinnützige Denkfabrik, die sich aus Mitgliedern aus ganz Deutschland zusammensetzt und ihre Freizeit und Energie zur Information Freistellung und Entwicklung einsetzen. Mit Hartz IV hat diese Bundesregierung eindeutig übers Ziel hinausgeschossen ! Wir werden die nicht weiter dulden und starten die Gegenoffensive .................

Hacktivism - Politisch motivierte Hackz

Als Erstes scheint Hacktivismus, in seinem vollen Spektrum von relativ harmlosem computerisiertem Aktivismus bis zu potentiell gefährlichem Widerstand zu künftigem Krieg, ein Phänomen zu sein, das sich im Aufwind befindet.

Zweitens, scheint Hacktivismus, wie ausgeführt, ein Spektrum von Möglichkeiten zu bieten, die in irgendeiner Kombination von Wort und Tat bestehen. Auf dem einem Ende des Spektrums ist reines Wort. Auf dem anderen Ende des Spektrums ist reine Tat. Computergestützter Aktivismus ist näher am reinen Wort, die anderen Zugänge näher an reiner Tat.

Drittens, kommt es zusammen mit dieser Tendenz zur Grenzüberschreitung, zur Aktion, die sich jenseits von Wörtern bewegt.

Viertens, mit seiner zunehmenden Verbreitung, von der Kritik modifiziert oder nicht, wird Hacktivismus auch weiterhin Aufmerksamkeit gewinnen. Selbst wenn die Medien Berichterstattung zurückgeht und Hacktivismus alltäglicher wird, ist das Phänomen doch noch neu genug, um Medien Aufmerksamkeit wenigstens für die vorauszusehende nahe Zukunft zu gewährleisten.

Eines der wahrscheinlich bekanntesten Beispielen davon ist die Geschichte des jungen britischen Hackers JF ", der um 300 Websites hackte und dort Antiatom-Symbole und Texte einfügte. Ähnliches ist von einer ganzen Anzahl von Gruppen versucht worden.Dabei gibt es einen grundlegenden Unterschied zwischen politisiertem Hacken und Elektronischem Zivilen Ungehorsam, wie er oben beschrieben wurde: während ECD Akteure ihre Namen nicht verstecken und offen agieren, werden die meisten politischen Hacks von Leuten unternommen, die lieber anonym bleiben wollen. Es ist auch wahrscheinlich, dass die meisten Hacks von Einzelpersonen unternommen werden, und nicht von Gruppen.

Einer der Gründe für die Anonymität und Heimlichkeit von Hacktivismus ist sicher der, dass hier die Strafen höher sind. Wo elektronischer ziviler Ungehorsam in einem zweideutigen Grenzbereich des Gesetzes agiert, sind bestimmte Arten von politischem Hacking unzweifelhaft illegal.

Dieser Unterschied weist auf einen anderen Stil von Organisation hin. In Folge der geheimeren, privaten, niedrigschwelligeren, und anonymeren Natur des politisierten Hackens, drückt diese Art von Aktivität eine
andere Art von Politik aus. Hacken ist keine Politik der Massenmobilisierung.

Damit soll keine Beurteilung erfolgen - aber es ist wichtig, zu beleuchten, dass es verschiedene Formen direkter Aktion im Netz gibt.Und wir sollten aufgrund der Tatsache , das man heute nicht mehr das Volk befragt über Reformen etc so wie z.b den EU Vertrag , überlegen hier möglicherweise anzusetzen ?!

http://www.hackersguide.co.cc/

Blog standard
Authoritarian governments can lock up bloggers. It is harder to outwit them.
The Economist: June 26, 2008

http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11622401

What do Barbra Streisand and the Tunisian president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, have in common? They both tried to block material they dislike from appearing on the internet. And they were both spectacularly unsuccessful. In 2003 Ms Streisand objected to aerial photographs of her home in Malibu appearing in a collection of publicly available coastline pictures. She sued (unsuccessfully) for $50m—and in doing so ensured that the pictures gained far wider publicity.

That self-defeating behaviour coined the phrase “Streisand effect”, illustrated by an axiom from John Gilmore, one of the pioneers of the internet, that: “The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.” But the big test of the rule is not whether it frustrates publicity-shy celebrities. It is whether it can overcome governments’ desire for secrecy.

In November 2007 Tunisia blocked access to the popular video-sharing sites YouTube and DailyMotion, which both carried material about Tunisian political prisoners. It was not for the first time, and many other countries have blocked access to such sites, either to protect public morals, or to spare politicians’ blushes. What was unusual this time was the response. Tunisian activists and their allies organised a “digital sit-in”, linking dozens of videos about civil liberties to the image of the presidential palace in Google Earth. That turned a low-key human-rights story into a fashionable global campaign.

It was the same story in Armenia in March, where the president, Robert Kocharian, ended his term in office with a media blackout that, supposedly, extended to blogs (self-published websites which typically contain the author’s personal observations and opinions). Like all other outlets, the authorities said, blogs could publish government news only. The result was a soaring number of blogs hosted on servers outside Armenia—all sharply critical of the authorities.

Some countries still think that the benefits of censorship are worth the opprobrium. China unabashedly blocks foreign news sites, with state-financed digital censors playing an elaborate game of cat and mouse with those trying to elude them. Saudi Arabia makes a positive virtue of the practice, warning those trying to access prohibited websites of the dangers of pornography: sources cited include the Koran and Cass Sunstein, an American scholar who argues that porn does not automatically deserve First Amendment protection.

Such authoritarian countries are increasingly co-operating: Chinese software for finding keywords and spotting dangerous sites is among the best in the world. But international co-operation cuts both ways. If Egypt, for example, buys Chinese web-censorship technology, the Egyptian bloggers may learn ways to bypass it from their Chinese colleagues before the technology arrives.

That may keep information flowing fairly freely. But it does not keep bloggers out of prison. Security officials who once scoffed at blogs, or ignored them completely in favour of bigger and more conspicuous targets, are now bringing their legal and other arsenals to bear. A common move is to expand media, information and electoral laws to include blogs. Last year, for example, Uzbekistan changed its media law to count all websites as “mass media”—a category subject to Draconian restriction. Belarus now requires owners of internet cafés to keep a log of all websites that their customers visit: in a country where internet access at home is still rare and costly, that is a big hurdle for the active netizen. Earlier this year Indonesia passed a law that made it much riskier to publish controversial opinions online. A Brazilian court has ruled that bloggers, like other media, must abide by restrictions imposed by the law on elections.

The chilling effect of such moves is intensified when governments back them up with imprisonment. From Egypt to Malaysia to Saudi Arabia to Singapore, bloggers have in recent months found themselves behind bars for posting materials that those in power dislike. The most recent Worldwide Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders, a lobby group, estimates their number at a minimum of 64.

International human-rights organisations have taken up their cause. But the best and quickest way of defending those in prison may be with the help of other internet activists. Sami ben Gharbia, a Tunisian digital activist who now lives in exile in the Netherlands, says that this beats traditional human-rights outfits when it comes to informing the world about the arrest of fellow bloggers. He co-ordinates the campaigning efforts of Global Voices Online, a web-based outfit that began as a collator of offbeat blog content and has now branched out into lobbying for free speech.

Such issues were expected to be in sharp focus at Global Voices’ annual summit in Budapest this week, where hundreds of bloggers, academics, do-gooders and journalists from places like China, Belarus, Venezuela and Kenya were due to swap tips on how to outwit officialdom. The aim, says Ethan Zuckerman, a Harvard academic who cofounded Global Voices, is to build networks of trust and co-operation between people who would not instinctively look to the other side of the world for solutions to their problems.

That is a worthy if ambitious goal. Doubtless, authoritarian governments are in close touch too, sharing the best ways of dealing with the pestilential gadflies and troublemakers of the internet. But they will not be posting their conclusions online, for all to see. Which way works better? History will decide.

Ms. Meryem Özsögüt, trade union leader and management board member of PSI's affiliate SES in Turkey (the trade union of public employees in health and social services) was arrested on the morning of 8 January following her participation in a press conference on 14 December 2007 to denounce the killing by the police of activist Kevser Mizrak.

You can help! Sign the petition. Join the campaign.

(digg story)

I kid you not.
But you can hack your own.

(digg)

Zimbabwean trade unionists Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe are being tried on Monday 23 June for 'spreading falsehoods prejudicial to the state' (ie talking openly about the state-sponsored violence). To let them appear in public around the world, 2,000 trade unionists combined their photos online to make this giant mosaic portrait.

digg story

Haberturk.com'da geçtiğimiz günlerde yer alan bir haber vardı, haberde aynen şöyle diyordu : "Türkler Mars'a gidemedi ama Mars'a giden Anka Kuşu'nun web sitesini hackledik." Daha sonra Euro 2008'in web sitesi ile ilgili haberler çıktı. Şimdi de Pekin Olimpiyatları ile ilgili siber ataklar bulunuyor ve Pekin Olimpiyatları resmi web sitesi hacklenmeye çalışılıyor. Fakat bu hacklemelerin amacı her hangi bir maddi zarar vermekten öte sadece belli başlı düşünceleri milyonlarca kişinin girdiği sitelerden insanlara duyurabilmek.Trend Micro verilerine göre de milyonların girdiği sitelere yapılan ataklar her geçen gün artıyor.

But this incident leads John Wood to a very pointly analysis of why FaceBook is good, why its bad, and what the ideal social network for social action would look like.

Now here's what I think. With current platforms such as google app engine, open social, ning and the lot, it should be possible to hack something useful in a few weekends in the garage. Who's game?

Subject: Your mugshot could make a difference!

Hi everyone!

Derek and I would like you to send us a photo of yourself.

We want it as the two leaders of the Zimbabwean unions, Wellington Chibebe and Lovemore Matombo were arrested for talking about the political situation in Zimbabwe on May Day and are going to be tried for 'spreading falsehoods prejudicial to the state' this coming Monday.

The idea is of course to shut them up over the course of the re-run elections. They are out on bail, but are prevented from appearing in public or making public statements, in contravention of their human rights, and they're being very brave in going voluntarily into court next week even though they are no strangers to being really badly beaten up in police custody.

There are demos being called now in a number of countries (inc the UK) on Monday, and to help get some more attention to their case, we are trying to make a giant photo mosaic portrait of them, made up of supporters' photos from all around the world. So we have only 2 days to get as many mugshot photographs as possible.

Your photo would end up 1 inch square on a big mosaic at the London demo, and we'll be using the image for as much media and publicity as we can get with it. The idea is that if they are being prohibited from appearing in public, international solidarity from thousands of people around the world can make them "appear" around the world on Monday.

If you'd like to support a fairer environment for the coming elections in Zimbabwe, please help out by sending a mugshot photo of yourself to zim@tuc.org.uk or MMS it to 07546 229055, and circulating this to friends or colleagues who you think might be willing to help out too.

Best wishes and many thanks for helping!  :)
John

Read more on the TUC site

digg

In der Vortragsreihe "Wer terrorisiert hier wen? – Überwachung und Gesellschaft" des AK Vorrat gibt es den vierten Teil “Hacktivism - Technik die bewegt” - “Constanze Kurz berlinert über den CCC” am
Donnerstag, 19. Juni 2008, 19:00 Uhr im Mon-Ami Weimar.

FEiNT.org

However, there are a few simple steps if you want to keep government busybodies out of your inbox-and you should care! Don't delay: read this to the end and implement these basic security practices on your

Sami ben Gharbia: A number of human rights defenders in Tunisia are reporting having the same and strange problem with their webmail accounts on Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, etc. The content of the messages sent to them by fellow human rights activists are changed with other content that has nothing to do with the original messages. Opening any message makes it disappear from the inbox folder (opening = deleting)

This only happen when you log to these webmails in Tunisia. Today I tested this with the Tunisian lawyer and activist, Abdel Wahab Maatar. I logged into his account from the Netherlands and I was able to read his emails as normal. The content that I read in Holland is not the same he is reading in Tunisia; only the titles are the same!!!

This problem has been reported recently by RSF.

Reporters Without Borders:    Reporters Without Borders is also surprised by the problems Tunisian Internet users are having with their email. Messages sent to them by human rights organisations such as the International Association for Supporting Political Prisoners (AISPP), the Tunisnews website or Reporters Without Borders are illegible on arrival.

Several sources said the messages can be seen in the inbox and can be opened, but often there is nothing inside and, once opened, they disappear from the inbox. "It looks like badly concealed filtering," a specialist said.

Here is a passage from a discussion between two Tunisians about their email correspondence (their online pseudonyms have been changed for their protection):

"XX says (18:51):

Your pc acts up from time to time

c=12FF/ says (18:52):

I opened the message and I found this in English: "Yesterday I ate a lovely cheesecake, but now I have a terrible stomach-ache. Are you a doctor." It is bizarre.

XX says (18:52):

You mean, no attachment?

c=12FF/ says (18:52):

No (...)

(18:57): The problem is that the message disappears afterwards. It is not normal.

(...)

XX says (19:21):

I have just sent you a third message ... Can you see what you have received?

c=12FF/ says (19:21):

In English: "We will meet next Sunday. Hoping you will be there. Greetings" (...) What are these messages in English that come with your emails? (19:22): and the weirdest thing of all is that your messages disappear afterwards. Without a trace."

On 22 April, Reporters Without Borders sent a press release about the plight of the Tunisian opposition weekly Al-Maoufik to one of its contacts. The message's subject line was "TUNISIA (Press release) - double financial threat to weekly Al-Maoufik." The sender was RSF INTERNET (internet@rsf.org). When the recipient opened it, this is what he read:

see you

From: sir_john@rush.uk Top of form

Bottom of form Excuse me, have you seen Barbara? I'm looking for her everywhere. Çççççççççççççççççççççççççççççççççç

Tunisia is the Maghreb's most repressive country as regards on online free expression and it is on the Reporters Without Borders "Internet enemies" list. Nonetheless, bloggers are active in Tunisia.Videos posted online on 10 April showed the size of protests in the towns of Redeyef and Diin Moulares in the southern mining region of Gasfa and the repression that ensued.

Robert Guerra replies:

1. It might be worthwhile to check to see if it's affecting SSL webmail as well.

I mention this, as most webmail systems just enable SSL for login - but then turn it off once the authentication is done. This allows for the login/password to be protected, but then once logged in - everything is visible.

For example, most people tend to login to gmail using "http://gmail.com" - which just applies SSL to login, however  accessing gmail via "https://mail.google.com" secures both the login and viewing of email.

I recommend :  A quick survey of the affected webmail services should be done. One should test using "normal" login, as well as any "security" options that might not be turned on by default.

Sharing the results - would be useful, as it is likely that the Tunisian's example might - unfortunately - propagate to there countries... Thus, users should know which webmail systems are affected.

If indeed DPI is taking place, might be worthwhile to raise it on the numerous DPI discussions taking place. The discussion in Canada - is quite active, one where activists could use the Tunisian example to help their case.. ref - http://www.neutrality.ca/

2. Have your colleagues in Tunisia log into their webmail using Psiphon.

3. Check if POP/IMAP-based email is also being affected.

- as above, check using SSL-enabled and not-enabled accounts.

4. Check to see if the same issue takes place with "fresh/new" webmail accounts.

- it might be that existing accounts have been compromised in some way. Should ask if the accounts that are being affected were accessed at public (ie. net cafe) PCs . if so, passwords might have been captured.

If there's real-time interception of traffic - SSL could be of help. But users need to make sure of two things:
1. That SSL is always on...otherwise, anyone can see the traffic.
2. That users use their own machines. If they use a public iInternet cafe, who knows what might be installed. If a keylogger and/or screen capture program is installed - well, it's a BIG challenge to find ways to use the machine.
3. If a public machine is being used - then, one should try to use one of the secure tools that have a virtual keyboard. Vaultletsoft <https://www.vaultletsoft.com/start/downloads.html> (“Secure, portable, spam-free and internationalised [i18n] privacy protection based on Bouncy Castle 256-bit AES and 2048-bit RSA encryption") can be used without installation.

FACT: Watch for lots of new circumvention tools and information on FACT's forthcoming Beat the Censors - Unblock ICT! CD, version 2.0...