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)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
mdirtygirl2 @ Jan 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.
gb @ Jan 29th 2008 1:12PM
Guess it's a good thing I don't have religion...I have Jesus!
God Bless(es Always)
pedro gross @ Jan 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.
hehehe @ Jan 29th 2008 5:01PM
I guess Tom won't be jumping up and down on the couch tonight!
thom @ Jan 29th 2008 5:01PM
This is great news. Scientology has had it coming for a long time. Let it rip!
Lisa @ Jan 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.
Burce @ Jan 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.
PITY @ Jan 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.
Leena @ Jan 29th 2008 5:30PM
Is it just me or was that uber creepy?
Sara Sidle @ Jan 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?
Steve @ Jan 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!!!
roger @ Jan 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.
Some Guy @ Jan 29th 2008 6:27PM
Take ou the skin heads an neo-nazi websites while your at it!
CD @ Jan 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?
Dee @ Jan 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.
Dave @ Jan 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.
Dave @ Jan 29th 2008 6:54PM
Oh yeah, Dee, shut up you religious weakling. No one wants to hear your bullshit.
sootro mendy @ Jan 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.
ChurchCapt @ Jan 29th 2008 7:07PM
This is for ALL you know......please help me spread this to save lives......this is NOT "religion", this is Reality, objective reality!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***S.O.S.~~~MayDay***
------->"Suicidal thoughts, up since Katrina, PTSD survey says........"
------->>WASHINGTON (AP)----"Using anti-depressants Increses the risk of Suicidal thoughts and behavior among young people"----
------->>>"Suicide rate among girls skyrockets 76%, says Centers for
Disease Control & Prevention"means, see to it that your
neighbour has it just as good as you do, self-lessly!~~~
"Who is my neighbour?"....EveryOne on the planet!
All humans born are @ least 33rd or 34th cousins [from Noah's 3 sons: we are All related family!]
http://journals.aol.com/ChurchCapt/s.o.s.-for-the-human-race
http://groups.google.com/group/TeenAnswers
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/SOS_MayDay
http://groups.google.com/group/answers-for-teens
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThisFatherKnowsBest
http://blogs.albawaba.com/captainchurch
James Sorrell [CaptainChurch]
425 S. Tacoma Way #16b
Tacoma, WA 98402
2062089211
james.sorrell@yahoo.com or
CaptainChurch@gmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scientist @ Jan 29th 2008 7:09PM
To PITY: Top Ten Signs You're a Fundamentalist Christian
10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.
9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.
8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.
7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees!
6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.
5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.
4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."
3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.
2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.
1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.