Hackers strike the Vatican's website...again. Vatican Radio is also targeted

[Santi2]

Hackers strike the Vatican’s website…again. Vatican Radio is also targeted.

March 12, 2012. (Romereports.com) Once again, the Vatican’s website has apparently been hacked by a group known as ‘Anonymous,’ just five days after first disabling the website temporarily. This time around the ‘digital attack’ only lasted a few hours.

The hackers also targeted ‘Vatican Radio’ by accessing a database and posting the names of journalists as well as their personal passwords.

In an statement, Anonymous claimed it hacked Vatican Radio to speak out against its alleged cancer causing radio waves.

romereports.com/palio/hackers-strike-the-vaticans-websiteagain-vatican-radio-is-also-targeted-english-6269.html

 

[mlund]

Probably just a low-grade DDoS attack - maybe some script kiddies rolling out the old Low Orbit Ion Cannon like they did in the MegaUploads retaliation vandalism.

Time to roll out better Firewall rules, I guess.

• Marty Lund

 

[Santi2]

Probably just a low-grade DDoS attack - maybe some script kiddies rolling out the old Low Orbit Ion Cannon like they did in the MegaUploads retaliation vandalism.

Time to roll out better Firewall rules, I guess.

• Marty Lund

Ooooh…tech-speak which went way over my head, Marty.

 

[mlund]

Ooooh…tech-speak which went way over my head, Marty.

It’s a crude form of “attack” where you basically get a bunch of computers to simultaneously and continuously hit the website’s server with a huge barrage of requests so it either crashes from being overloaded or can’t get a word out edge-wise to anyone who actually wants to access it.

There’s a pre-generated script for doing so that Anonymous likes to use called the Low Orbit Ion Cannon, but it can be stopped or at least filtered down so it won’t bring down the site if you use the correct settings on your firewall - an intermediary that effectively “call screens” requests to your web server.

Basically, this kind of vandalism is something a bunch of bored teenagers hiding in mom’s basement can take part in without any actual programming or “hacking” skills.

• Marty Lund

 

[Santi2]

Many thanks, Marty.

 

[CrazyRachel]

Basically, this kind of vandalism is something a bunch of bored teenagers hiding in mom’s basement can take part in without any actual programming or “hacking” skills.

lol thats exactly how I imagine “Anonymous.” Other than playing on World of Warcraft they probably have nothing better to do than cause a bit of annoyance for the Vatican computor techies. I could have died laughing when I read the line “we have lain siege to your website!” Its a SIEGE! lol! Oh no! How will 2000 years of Christianity and Catholic tradition ever survive now these geniuses have faffed a bit with the website and radio causing a temporary niucence? lol

 

[CatholicTrekkie]

I concur, Marty. Bored teenagers is all they are. Having had experience with “Anonymous” in the past, I know for a fact that the vast majority of them are probably not much older than 16 or so. They’re not worth much notice. They’re more annoying than anything else.

 

[unafraid]

I concur, Marty. Bored teenagers is all they are. Having had experience with “Anonymous” in the past, I know for a fact that the vast majority of them are probably not much older than 16 or so. They’re not worth much notice. They’re more annoying than anything else.

Let’s hope you are right, but circumspection is still a prudent course. They say that most serial killers start out with animal mutilations, which are egregious, in and of themselves, yet often these forboding acts fail to raise the proper red flags.

Maybe these cyber-terrorists are in fact basement nerds engaging in "pranks, but there is hatred fueling their actions, and that has often proved itself to be a strong catalyst for escalation.

I do not dismiss these acts so easily. This group has shown itself to be rather aggressive.

 

[CatholicTrekkie]

Let’s hope you are right, but circumspection is still a prudent course. They say that most serial killers start out with animal mutilations, which are egregious, in and of themselves, yet often these forboding acts fail to raise the proper red flags.

Maybe these cyber-terrorists are in fact basement nerds engaging in "pranks, but there is hatred fueling their actions, and that has often proved itself to be a strong catalyst for escalation.

I do not dismiss these acts so easily. This group has shown itself to be rather aggressive.

Oh, of course we should be on guard for any threats to any nation’s security, especially the Holy See’s security. And I also understand it wouldn’t take much for “Anonymous” to escalate into something more than just an annoyance. All I’m saying is that of all the people that have it out for the Catholic Church that we should be worried about, “Anonymous” doesn’t exactly top the list.

As others have stated though, the Church has survived 2000 years of attacks, both physical and spiritual and persecutions. It’s going to take a lot more than shutting down the Vatican’s website to destroy the Catholic Church.

 

[The_Scott]

Man, this Anonymous group is SO tough and intimidating!

Really, these guys are whiny bullies…nothing more. If they don’t get what they want, they cry foul and attack. Spoiled brats, really.

 

[Callin]

It’s a crude form of “attack” where you basically get a bunch of computers to simultaneously and continuously hit the website’s server with a huge barrage of requests so it either crashes from being overloaded or can’t get a word out edge-wise to anyone who actually wants to access it.

Which is why I cringe whenever an article - like this one - calls it hacking, because it’s not hacking at all. Just overloading.