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A teenager in the Netherlands has been arrested after he confessed to participating in the recent pro-WikiLeaks cyberattacks on Visa and MasterCard. According to a press release from the Dutch National Office, the 16-year-old boy is part of the recently notorious online group called Anonymous, which has been orchestrating distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks on all companies that have severed financial ties with WikiLeaks. Dutch authorities did not specify which charges the boy will face, nor did they say how high he was on the Anonymous totem pole. Anonymous, however, isn't so much an organization as it is an affiliation. Users typically join attacks on the infamous /b/ 4chan message board. Past Anonymous targets include record labels, gaming sites, and the Church of Scientology. Experts point out that Anonymous' warriors don't really hack into websites, but simply run special software that its more tech-savvy members spread around. Denial of service protection expert Barrett Lyon told Wired that the group's latest attack is especially shoddily constructed, and called it "mediocre, at best." Apparently, though, it was effective enough to warrant the attention of Dutch police, and the arrest of this kid.
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Comments
2
Subscribe to commentsvirpDec 10th 2010 11:56AM
This is a huge example of the problem I have with Wikileaks...and I would call this a number of things, and all of them illegal or criminal. A 16 year old hacker is hardly competent to JUDGE or WEIGH the MORAL merits of what he might be doing (e.g., wreaking havoc for millions) on the Internet..."just beause he can." Assage depends on this callow inexperience in calling out blindly to those who become and remain "anonymous." Yes, this amounts to cyberterrorism of the innocent, and IMO, ought to be subject to legal prosecution. In releasing information through the Internet, keep to transparency, and don't make "child soldiers" do your work for you, if you are truly "commited" to a better, more honest world!
oysterDec 10th 2010 2:47PM
@virp
Wikileaks, Anonymous, and 4chan are all separate entities.