Hackers Take Out Scientology Web Site
Well, it looks like the war is on. The Church of Scientology's attempts to squash circulation of a video of Tom Cruise last week seem to have been the final straw for a group that calls itself "Anonymous." According to a recent report in Wired, the cryptically-named organization recently stated that its main goal is to destroy the leadership of the Church of Scientology.
The first public salvo was launched over the past couple of days as a group of hackers claiming affiliation with Anonymous took down the home page of the Church with repeated distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks. DDOS attacks flood target servers with requests, so that they become overwhelmed with data and shut down. This results in a site that doesn't work, which is exactly what visitors to the Scienology Web site experienced during the attack. The attacks flooded Scientology's Web servers with as much as 220 megabits per-second, which security experts claim is a mid-sized attack.
While this attack is not the largest of its kind ever seen, it does show some level of organization, "It's not just one or two guys hanging out in the university dorms doing this," said Jose Nazario, a senior security engineer with Arbor Networks. The church has since moved its site to servers run by Prolexic Technologies, a company that specialized in protection from DDOS attacks.
From Wired (via InfoWorld)
Related Links:
- Scientology Goes After Blog for Posting Video of Tom Cruise
- 20-Year-Old Arrested for Estonian Cyber Attacks
- Al Gore's Blog Hacked





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Comments
89
Subscribe to commentsmdirtygirl2Jan 29th 2008 1:03PM
I don't want to understand the mentality of the hacker, but I do understand religion. Religion is an emotional refuge for the weak who cannot find their own answers. People hide with their fears under the false umbrella of protection provided by the lies of organized religions. It is a deceptive form of control that makes you feel better, even though nothing has really changed. You are still in the same mess, and even worse because now you just gave away money that you needed to a church.
Organized religion is the biggest financial fraud in the world, even bigger then Wall Street. And yet everybody still plays.
gbJan 29th 2008 1:12PM
Guess it's a good thing I don't have religion...I have Jesus!
God Bless(es Always)
pedro grossJan 29th 2008 1:54PM
Good job to those hackers. There are a few sites that need to be shut down too. Keep up the good work. Next in line should be Neo-Nazis and Commie web sites.
LisaJan 29th 2008 5:07PM
The hackers had a good idea, but when the "church" finds out who they are...there's going to be hell to pay. Oh yes. They don't like people who object to their ideas.
BurceJan 29th 2008 5:18PM
All religion is whacked to the next guy over. Just because you dislike or refuse to understand one person's religion,(be it a "cult", spiritual belief system, or whatever) should not give you the right to attack or belittle their beliefs. Hey if it works for you and you aren't intruding on other peoples beliefs more power to ya I say. Isn't that what our constitution implies on the subject anyway?... What would be the fall-out if this happened to the Southern Baptist website, or Pat Roberts of the world, or Catholic churches? Scientology is the easy target of the day. Guess it's easy thing to do when you can hide behind the so-called anonymity of the internet.
thomJan 29th 2008 5:01PM
This is great news. Scientology has had it coming for a long time. Let it rip!
heheheJan 29th 2008 5:01PM
I guess Tom won't be jumping up and down on the couch tonight!
adam hermanJan 30th 2008 12:16AM
If there was any question that this cult, and dont be faked into thinking its not a cult, was not an extremly dangerous one, it is going to rear its ugly head and soon. I am no fan of illegal hacking but on occasion a protest is very important to the preservation of right. Always remember there are two types of racism, the first is the group that hates others, the second, and the far more dangerous, is the group that not only hates, but are in the positions of monetery power that can really do large scale harm. dont fall for this groups line of bull!
PITYJan 29th 2008 5:26PM
mdirtygirl2 OUT OF THE MOUTH OF A BABE, WHO THINKS THEY COME FROM A TOMATO. I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU, BECAUSE YOUR SOUL IS COLD.
LeenaJan 29th 2008 5:30PM
Is it just me or was that uber creepy?
Sara SidleJan 29th 2008 5:31PM
mdirtygirl2 says:
I don't want to understand the mentality of the hacker, but I do understand religion. Religion is an emotional refuge for the weak who cannot find their own answers. People hide with their fears under the false umbrella of protection provided by the lies of organized religions. It is a deceptive form of control that makes you feel better, even though nothing has really changed. You are still in the same mess, and even worse because now you just gave away money that you needed to a church.
Organized religion is the biggest financial fraud in the world, even bigger then Wall Street. And yet everybody still plays.
And you know this how?
Some GuyJan 29th 2008 6:27PM
Take ou the skin heads an neo-nazi websites while your at it!
rogerJan 29th 2008 6:23PM
how does dirtygirl2 know this??? the code has been cracked, and now the attempts to hack will be readily available. secret code: CS
or now will be known as something secretly desired: common sense. she has said better than most of the best.
SteveJan 29th 2008 6:22PM
All glory to the dark lord Xenu! May the soul catchers find the world bountiful, and may Tom Cruise be infected with a billion thetans! Praise Xenu!!!
ShiroFeb 3rd 2008 2:43PM
OK, first, let me clear up a misunderstanding.
Anonymous is NOT A HACKER GROUP. Users of the pornographic imageboard 4chan are called "anonymous" because you don't have a name on 4chan. All posts are "anonymous." These hackers come from various boards on 4chan.com, such as /b/ and /i/.
But this is still bad.
CDJan 29th 2008 6:38PM
Whether one's faith is considered right, wrong or indifferent, what right does anyone have to deny that faith to those who choose to embrace it? The freedom of religion is one of the great graces of this country, and if we give in to those who would deny us that, then we are no better than those who would not fight Hitler. If we don't fight for their rights, who will fight for the us?
DeeJan 29th 2008 6:50PM
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.
James 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion [is] vain.
TOO MANY ARE DECEIVEING THEMSELVES, AND OTHERS.
WE NEED TO READ THE WORD AND ASK GOD FOR REVELATION OF HIS WORD IN JESUS NAME.
DaveJan 29th 2008 6:54PM
Actually, the freedom of speech gives someone the right to belittle anyone's beliefs. Why should religion have protection that political, sociological, or scientific beliefs don't?
Yes, it is illegal under the United State's law system. However, from a moralist standpoint (be it utilitarian, nihilistic, etc), this act is justified.
Pshh.. Don't even mention Hitler. Godwin's Law.
They are hiding because they will be arrested. Everyone hides behind something, be it strength, money, social constructs.
DaveJan 29th 2008 6:54PM
Oh yeah, Dee, shut up you religious weakling. No one wants to hear your bullshit.
sootro mendyJan 29th 2008 6:56PM
Funny thing when the world criticize the way Chinese govt and many of it's citizens condemn FaLong Gong cult, while the same group of people do exactly the same intolerated other cult themselves such as Davidian branch, Scientology etc. How hilarious. To me, cult is cult and all religions were creation of cults from the very beginning.
Online harrassment, Online damage of private property etc are all equally bad if the so call democratic govt allow such disgusting thing to happen. It's a Shame.