Why it's important to wait for "The News"

On May 16, 2011, MG Siegler of TechCrunch wrote an article burning Google and other news aggregation sites for their inability to keep up with current news.  Fair enough. Sometimes one company breaks a story and other organizations follow suit using the very same information.  Because Reuters is obviously larger than Techcrunch, they often get listed instead of the original source.  Sometimes a company like Sony will post an update to their blog and the identical content will be listed from another source.  Again, this is a fair complaint.  Obviously Sony wants people to read their website and not others.

However...

In February, Google updated their algorithm to give lower priority to "content farms" and those that use clever search engine manipulations (ahem, JCPenney).  In the process, they inadvertently listed Google Places as a webspam site.  A host of original-source sites saw a dramatic drop in visitation and obviously made a stink about it.  Obviously. Mistakes were made and a lot were corrected.

However...

Today, Ryan Cleary was arrested by Scotland Yard for allegedly creating and deploying a "botnet" used against the British SOCA (Serious Organised Crime Agency) site. Because the Telegraph is a British site and were the first major site to report it, everyone followed their lead and re-reported the same content. They claimed that this man is a lead member of the Hacktivist group LulzSec.  You know LulzSec... They are the ones that recently took down the CIA and Senate websites.  Here's the problem:  LulzSec isn't denying that Cleary may have tried to deploy a DDoS attack on SOCA.  What they are saying is that if Cleary did attempt anything, it was after SOCA shut down the servers THEMSELVES.  Moreover, Scotland Yard is now denying that Cleary had anything to do with the attack. LulzSec hasn't denied affiliation with Cleary.  It turns out that Cleary is a shut-in (agoraphobic) that runs one of the IRC servers.

On the 10th of June I wrote an article about how news organizations often report untruthful information because they simply don't know what they are talking about.  It's important to actually listen to what is being said by the police without jumping to conclusions.  Let's face it, LulzSec is just the latest patsy for journalists that try their hand at reporting technology.  It's also important to listen to the "terrorists" and take them seriously when they say, "Yeah.  Whatever. It wasn't us". Trust me, hackers LOVE to brag.

I have one important point to make.  How hard do you think it would be to take down the NY Times or the Telegraph if groups like Anonymous and LulzSec can take down Sony, CIA, banks and large portions of a country's infrastructure?

Maybe it's a good thing that search engines like Google wait a while before listing a news flash.  If they can comb through the misinformation, it is of much benefit.  However, many people don't bother to research the reporting of journalists.  Why would they?  These are respectable outlets, right?

Three arrested for "Hacking" Sony - or - Journalists try their hand at crime fighting

It was bound to happen. Someone was eventually going to get caught with bloody hands and a weapon and the "Journalists" would link them to other heinous crimes. In this case, it's a home server in Spain and the sloppy work of some vigilantes.

Today, Spanish authorities arrested three men in suspected connection with DDoS attacks against various European banks and Government sites.  They are also being accused of participating in DDoS attacks against certain Sony servers in the past 30 days. They are also being accused of being members of the loosely affiliated group, Anonymous.  OK, fair enough.  All three accusations can be true. However, it is not clear whether they participated in the data mining operation that Sony experienced in April.  What is clear is that most reporters of technology don't know WTF they are talking about or how to report their "facts".

When Sony was attacked in late April 2011, it was done using a SQL injection method and the unique security data of an estimated 77 million users was found unencrypted. Sony discovered the intrusion and shut down the entire Playstation and Qriocity networks.  Let's be clear.  This was not a DDoS attack of any kind.

Today, major news outlets reported that the suspects used a program called LOIC to bring down Sony servers as well as the sites for various Spanish banks and government sites.  The banks? Possibly.  The Gov sites?  Possibly.  Sony?  Nope.  The attacks on PSN after the first huge hack were orchestrated using the information that was obtained from the original intrusion. Moreover, they linked Anonymous to the Sony attacks which they have denied over and over.

Let me put this accusation in perspective.  Let's say that Cartel A has a history of burning down the businesses of it's enemies. Then, your house gets broken into and everyone blames Cartel A.  Cartel A says, "Nope.  We don't steal.  We burn".  Then it turns out that a few gangsters from Cartel A have formed another crime ring, Cartel B.  Cartel B breaks into your house, steals your stuff, and accidentally leaves a lighter with fingerprints behind.  Claiming that these few gangsters used a flamethrower to steal your TV is irresponsible and libelous.

Later in the day, Spanish authorities corrected the journalistic mishaps and clearly stated that, "They have not been associated with the recent attacks on the Playstation Network".  Well, that's good of them to clear that up.  But the genie is already out of the bottle and public perception is really difficult to alter.

You may be asking yourself why I am so upset about this. Am I not defending "criminals"?  Sure, you can look at hackers two different ways.

1. They rob and steal and are generally unproductive. They are terrorists with objectives that most disagree with.
2.  They are fighting for issues that most people don't understand.  They are known as "hacktivists".

I am in both groups.  I think that if Sony goes after a kid for tricking out his ride and thumbs their nose at his friends while keeping the doors unlocked at the business, then they deserve what they get. However, I do not agree with stealing the vitals of customers who's only mission is to play games and watch movies.

But all of the damage hasn't propelled Sony to say, "OK.  Enough.  We're sorry.  We will change our ways".  Sure, they apologized to their user base for the inconvenience and for leaving the doors open at the bank. But they haven't said that they will stop litigating people for tricking their rides. It's this kind of arrogance that keeps putting corporations in trouble.

I am reminded of a scene in the movie "A Bugs Life".  The main villain tosses a single nut at the head of his subordinate and asks, "Did that hurt"? He answers, "no", and then gets pummeled by a silo of nuts.  The villain makes the connection that you can mess with one ant, but if all of the ants unionize you'll get hurt.  So, who is the real villain here?  The big grasshopper or the colony of ants?

Every time a journalist throws accusations at a group that proclaims innocence, they hack the news outlet.  Every time a politician throws accusations at a group that proclaims innocence, they end up hacking the politician. Every time the RIAA sues a kid for downloading music, they get hacked.  Every time Sony and the other media conglomerates have tried to legalize hacking (like installing rootkits on our cd's), they get shut down.

Stop blaming hackers to hide the fact that you're an incompetent asshole!

Update: All three suspects have been released without a bond obligation.