Sunday, February 19, 2012
Anonymous Speaks Out
While
technology has enabled communication efforts of the government in many aspects,
we must also take a look at the downsides.
A new group of activists who title themselves Anonymous are using the internet as their basis for protest. To convey their interest in promoting freedom
of information, this unknown group of hackers breaks into various websites to “terrorize”
them. Several claims of Facebook and
Twitter accounts being taken over by Anonymous have been made. While this may seem to be nothing more than a
mere nuisance, where do we draw the line? As recently as last week, Anonymous
hacked into multiple government websites and replaced them with obscene videos
supporting their protests. These
websites have been shut down until the security issues are located and
resolved. It is generally assumed that a web address ending with “.gov” is safe
and secure. Can we be so certain that we
won’t be personally affected by these seemly powerful activists? This activity could result in much more than
a disruption in social networking.
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First blog post! I was always under the impression that a website ending with ".gov" was completely secure. It is quite scary knowing that our government websites, which have the absolute best in internet security available at their disposal, can still get hacked into. I am all about promoting freedom of information but this Anonymous group is not going to be taken seriously by anybody until they learn to play by the rules.
ReplyDeleteI actually think that Anonymous could be a potential threat to Internet security as we know it. I mean they were able to bring down Sony's online network for PS3. When I think of Anonymous I think of them as the online vigilantes who stand up against the forces of evil. The problem is that the term evil is defined by them so they are the ones choosing who to mess with. I like the fact the government is not the most powerful force on the Internet, but can we guarantee that Anonymous will be safe? I feel that if they wanted to they could go after bigger fish and be more noticed. However, the more groups, like Anonymous, continue to pull stunts like this then the more the government is going to tighten its leash on Internet privacy. I say for now they are staying low and hitting specific targets, but what is to be done once they cross the line of appropriateness. Even though I am not in support of the government controlling the Internet, I still think preventative actions still need to be taken just to make sure one organization is not running things in the future.
ReplyDeleteI understand the feedback from my fellow peers and there concerns. In this day and age technology is widely available for many purpose’s and can be abused like many things in our society but what is considered private? Or who says what can be available to the public? Activist’s such as Anonymous and Wikileaks have played a big role in concerning how “private” information is being displayed. Many people have agreed and disagreed over the way they have been able to gather information from government websites but shouldn’t government official be held accountable for actions that have been kept private from the public? Why does sensitive information that comes out on the government ends is treated as a threat even though it Cleary shows that they are held responsible?
ReplyDeleteI understand the feedback from my fellow peers and there concerns. In this day and age technology is widely available for many purpose’s and can be abused like many things in our society but what is considered private? Or who says what can be available to the public? Activist’s such as Anonymous and Wikileaks have played a big role in concerning how “private” information is being displayed. Many people have agreed and disagreed over the way they have been able to gather information from government websites but shouldn’t government official be held accountable for actions that have been kept private from the public? Why does sensitive information that comes out on the government ends is treated as a threat even though it Cleary shows that they are held responsible?
ReplyDeleteIt seems from the post that anonymous target is the government and not mere civilians. Also, we know that people always speculate that the government always hides a lot of important information from us or they tell us lies. So I think this anonymous group might know some of the exact lies or important information that the govt is hiding that is motivating their protest because if they only attack ".gov" websites, then their problem is directly and we will not be personally be affected by it
ReplyDeleteLet me start off by stating I am not sure of everything Anonymous has done or there motives. While everyone has an opinion on the hacks it shows us just how unsecure the internet and our information is. I believe this is the same group that hacked the PlayStation network, which was then offline for over a month. They made Sony's security look like a joke. While they have caused havoc, Anonymous also took down one of the largest child pornography sites, so they have some good in them.
ReplyDelete