4chan DOSes Scientology, How would a SR corporation react? Options

[Wounded Ronin]

As I type this, 4chan is apparently doing an enormous DOS attack on the church of scientology. Scientology is apparently offering $5000 a head for Anonymous according to internet chatter, which if true is a sign of desperation. Apparently this has even made the television news: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVaQG67eqwA

[Ravor]

Although a corp might not be able to track down and kill everyone involved in the attack, I'd imagine that anyone that they could track down would disappear and the corp woudl actively be going after the ringleaders.

[Gelare]

Huh, interesting story. I'll have to keep an eye on that. If I had to take a guess, I'd say that:

1) Matrix technology is so powerful that you really can't do a DOS attack on anyone using modern systems, or
2) Matrix software has developed superior ways for stopping attacks like that, or
3) Megacorps have some super secret tech that'll fix stuff within a couple minutes. Say, the couple of minutes needed for a shadowrunning team to do something important...hmm...

[Stahlseele]

bwahahaahahahah!!!!
this is golden! ^^
Anonymous does not forgive! Nevar Forget!
seriously, i'm rolling on the ground laughing my fat ass off over here *gg*
here's the official campaign video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCbKv9yiLiQ

Problem in SR World is, that something like ares is basically as big as a country and has enough ressources(ice, bots of their own and corp hackers) to actually go one on one with such a wave of incoming attacks . . and with the advanced computing/data transfer technology in SR3 such a DOS or DDOS would be pretty much impossible . .

[Link]

In VR1 (Matrix 1.0) there were system load rules where the node could slow to a standstill when overloaded which sounds similar to DOS. The adventure Missing Blood had the UB matrix host as Red 6 with Black IC so such an attack could be perilous.
SR's corporate court seems to have jurisdiction over the grid to some extent which might make evading prosecution more difficult in the future.

Quantum of Solace is the new Bond movie BTW ;)

[nezumi]

Anybody else amused that a religion started by a sci-fi author is getting a kick in the nuts by a group of anonymous people using the internets?

[bibliophile20]

[Daddy's Litt...]

I agree with Ravor. It is one thing if you know getting caught means a nasty letter from an attorney. It is another if getting caught might mean you disappear.

Also what if one of the group gets snagged by psychotropic black ICE and promptly turns on her fellows and gives them all up to the corp she now loves?

[Critias]

Would everyone be laughing so hard if it was a Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Baptist, Buddhist, Taoist, or (insert Atheist/Agnostic web site of choice here, including DSF or whatever other forums you like) site being destroyed this way?

Or is it only funny because these guys are popularly known to be "crazy" and "weird" and "wrong," because they believe in different made-up nonsense than the rest of us?

I mean, if Tom Cruise was preaching Buddhism or Christianity and going on in a pretty weird rambling way, but stuck to the same topics -- the importance of helping people, not doing drugs, making the world a better place -- would folks still be allowed (ie, would it be so popular and cool) to point and laugh as hard as they are, slap on the back the internet tough-guys tearing the site down, etc, etc? I doubt it.

[bibliophile20]

[nezumi]

It's funny because if you do any research, you'd know that Scientology engages in a lot of deceitful, destructive practices. I've never heard anyone comes out of the Catholic Church and say "I was a Catholic for 12 years. They required I pay $5,000 for confession, and over the course of that 12 years I paid over $400,000. During that time, I lived in housing they made for me where I slept for four hours a night and they made me sever contacts with my family or anyone who disagreed with their theology."

However, I would also think it quite funny if a bunch of angels got together and picketed outside of the Vatican to keep people from going in or out, or if a bunch of animals got together and started throwing stuff at Buddhist temples. Not sure what would make for a funny atheist denial of service.

[Critias]

So they're a cult/religion, with people that agree and disagree with them and their teachings, just like every other cult/religion out there, is what you guys are saying.

I know they're not perfect. I don't buy what they're selling, any more than the rest of you do (just so we're clear on that). I'm sure they're a horrible scam. I know the people at the top are laughing their asses off and making a fortune off the schmucks at the bottom. But I know the same thing happens in plenty of other faiths around the world, and that sometimes the donating schmucks at the bottom are still made happier by doing what they do.

But at least Scientology hasn't started any crusades, bombed any buildings, flown airplanes anywhere airplanes aren't supposed to go, or fucked up science classes in public school any time lately -- so why is to so "okay" to mock and attack them, and not any other faith/cult?

[bibliophile20]

[bibliophile20]

[Critias]

So what's their kill score up to compared to, say, Catholics? Or Muslims? Are those real-world faiths kosher for everyone to start bashing in the middle of a Shadowrun forum, too?

I mean, you want to discuss the "what if...?" factor of a DOS attack (or whatever it would translate to in the not-really-computer-based future of Shadowrun), knock your socks off. But stay on topic. Don't just post "LOL Syantology is full of stupids!!!! ROFLMAO THAY DESERVE IT!!!" or something. Right, right. Some e-thugs have decided to tear down a religion. Okay, hah-hah, we get it, let's talk about Shadowrun.

[nezumi]

Scientology DOES currently, right now, ruin lives, and there are plenty of people who will stake their reputation on precisely that.

If the Catholic Church were, or recently had ruined lives, I'd be right there with everyone else making a fuss about it. Right now you might think as an organization they're ineffective, but they do far more good charity work than harm, and they don't portray any of the other signs generally accepted as indicators of 'dangerous cult'.

Islam isn't a single church, and so lumping in extremists with the rest of the religion is simply false, however I think if there were a central extremist church of Islam to pin our anger on, I doubt anyone here would say 'no, they don't deserve having their website shut down. I mean it was only a few thousand people they killed, it's not like they killed you personally!'

[Ryu]

Scientology deserves to be forbidden because it is a fake religion, exploiting their members and destroying lives. We do not endorse destructive parts of other churches either, but those use to work in charity and actually care for the spiritual well-being of their members.

[nezumi]

I don't think there's any way to determine if a religion is 'true' or not. However, it is clear it destroys lives and engages in a lot of shady dealings.

[Adarael]

I don't wanna jump in on the Scientology-as-religion too much, but here's what it boils down to, Critias:
No, I wouldn't be laughing as hard if it was a DDOS on most any other religion. But no other religion even comes close to scientology's levels of frivolous litigation, information suppression via legal threats, and no other religion claims their gospel is a fucking trade secret you're not intitled to unless you pay 29.95.

So sure, other religions objectively might be crazy too. But at least they're crazy in a way that doesn't clog the courts or make idiotic claims about copying a religious text a case of industrial espionage. So they get a big fat F U from me.

With regards to DDOS in Shadowrun:
I'm firmly in the camp that believes DDOSes can and will happen, but one of the reasons 4Chan and the like are currently so successful is because the majority of their zombie boxes are compromised by insufficient security. As of SR times, that's not going to be the case - or at least it won't be AS MUCH of the case.

And, as DLN says, if DDOSing a company for the lulz means you disappear for good, or you are brain-burned where you sit... That's a pretty big deterrent, IMO. Anonymous works because they are functionally anonymous. Tar Baby & Trace IC combos blow that out of the water.

[mfb]

i'm not sure anything similar is possible in SR4, but in SR3, Trace IC can be completely avoided* by just about anybody. all you have to do is hop around to different RTGs and do a Redirect Datatrail operation on each. every time you do so, any attempt to use Trace or Track on you gets a cumulative +2 penalty, up to +8 TN. a really high-rated Track prog will still work, but most Trace IC will be stopped cold during the location cycle. the beauty of it is, there are plenty of RTGs out there with ridiculously low ratings, so you really only need like 2 skill and a rating 4 prog to pull it off. granted, that's more than your average 4chan zombie is going to have, but still.



*not completely

[Kyoto Kid]

...this guy was a real nutcase:

L Ron

[Kagetenshi]

[Wounded Ronin]

[nezumi]

[Wounded Ronin]