In Context: 5 Web Perspectives On A Story In The News

Hacktivists fight for Wikileaks

(BBC) An Internet group calling itself Anonymous has begun waging war on behalf of Wikileaks. The politically motivated hackers, or hacktivists, have begun what they call "Operation Paycheck" where they attack the sites of firm that have withdrawn services from Wikileaks. Using distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks the group and bombards the sites until they collapse. Mastercard and Visa have been two of the latest victims. The attacks created a service disruption that made accessing the sites difficult and brought many Internet transactions to a halt. The hackers have also targeted PayPal and PostFinance, a Swiss bank. A member of Anonymous, going by the name Coldblood, has come forward saying that the goal was not to damage the companies but rather to give them a wakeup call that people are not pleased with them. In addition to their attacks Anonymous has also been working to host mirrors of the Wikileaks site after the U.S. domain was shut down.

1.

What is Wikileaks?

Wikileaks
Wikileaks is a not-for-profit media organization that provides a secure and anonymous way for people to leak information that is confidential or private. Wikileaks volunteers work to prove the veracity of leaked information and eventually release it to the public. In this way they serve as a whistleblower. Wikileaks is primarily run by anonymous volunteers, however, Julian Assange, an Australian journalist, serves as their public spokesman. Their site has broken innumerable stories about corruption, war, transparency, suppression of free speech, diplomacy and more.

2.

What are the hacktivists doing?

The Computer Emergency Readiness Team
This website is run by the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team. It is an operational arm of the National Cyber Security Division at the Department of Homeland Security. They work to provide Internet security for the American government. According to them a denial-of-service attack is when a hack repeatedly floods a website with information and requests in order to overload the site and prevent legitimate users from accessing it. The denial-of-service attack becomes a distributed denial-of-service attack when a hacker or multiple hackers use multiple computers at multiple locations to launch simultaneous denial-of-service attacks.

3.

What is Anonymous?

Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a popular online encyclopedia. Its content is entirely user generated and this has led to criticism of the site's reliability. However, many of the articles are well cited and can be seen to be a reliable compilation of information. Its article on Anonymous is well cited with 94 unique references. Also, considering Anonymous' lack of any structure or centralized website it is about the only reliable source for information on the group. It details the loose group's activities that stretch from activism to plain belligerence.

4.

Why should anyone support Wikileaks?

Change.org
Change.org is social networking and news site for activists. It helps people in getting connected to a cause they feel is important and to find out how they can help. The site has been involved in working with a number of highly reputable organizations including the World Wildlife Fund, Amnesty International, the United Nations Foundation, and Oxfam America. On the site they tell one of the more chilling revelations that Wikileaks has revealed: a U.S. government contractor threw a party, supported by U.S. taxpayer money, where young boys were sold. Without Wikileaks this crime would have remained hidden, their leaks can and do act as a tool for social justice.

5.

Why should anyone oppose Wikileaks?

Secrecy News
Secrecy News is a blog that is part of Federation of American Scientists' website. Steven Aftergood, a noted supporter of government transparency and freedom of information, authors it. He is a vocal critic of Wikileaks despite the fact that both support revealing government secrets. In his blog he goes over how much of Wikileaks' leaks have caused more good then harm and have actually contributed to strengthening government secrecy rather then destroying it.