Nothing like a good taste of your own medicine. He will be steaming over his money markets and shares reports this good morning. Not to forget his latte and croissants.
“You see! You see! This is why we need the GCSB Bill!”
My pick is that if the GCSB has been collecting metadata we’ll see some very quick arrests. Maybe I’m being naive, but I don’t think there’s any such thing as online anonymity. Tor schmor.
What I see is someone who is willing to sell their rights on the premise that Keys and co will make them safe. Internet crime is worth billions of dollars, do you seriously think Keys and co can combat that with a bill that’s focused on domestic spying not real international criminals? We already have services in place to cope with this such as INTERPOL.
Compared with hard core internet criminals Anonymous are no more than simple hacktivists. Real internet criminals use sophisticated teams of programmers to achieve their ends and are exceptionally hard to trace even with modern technology. Indeed even when pinpointed the move around so its not an easy task trying to catch them. They also tend to operate in environments where laws have little meaning and/or the criminals have more guns and manpower than the police.
Will there be quick arrests, probably but they will be for pretty crap that distracts the ignorant and easily led from the real objective to silence dissent and establish government domination of the internet.
You see those little marks – ” – at either end of the first sentence? Those are “quote” marks – a signal that the text contained within them is to be read as a “quote”.
In this case, the “quote” is what I imagine one of the official responses will be.
If you’re going to criticise the lying Prime Minister please try and get his name right.
Shooting the messenger isn’t it? Why not arrest the Labour Ministers that wrote the contradicting legislation that put these people in an impossible situation? Signing off the surveillence warrants was perfectly legal, but the GCSB executing them was illegal, brilliant.
The legislation seemed very clear to everyone but Key apologists. If the spy agencies thought they were in an impossible situation, why didn’t they bring this to government’s attention much earlier? Why only after they were caught?
Bob, if you actually KNEW the contents of Section 14 of the current Government Communications Security Bureau Act 2003, you wouldn’t make such a godawful stupid statement like that.
To wit,
Restrictions imposed on interceptions
14 Interceptions not to target domestic communications
Neither the Director, nor an employee of the Bureau, nor a person acting on behalf of the Bureau may authorise or take any action for the purpose of intercepting the communications of a person (not being a foreign organisation or a foreign person) who is a New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident.
Unless someone is terminally thick, that seems fairly straight forward, wouldn’t you agree?
The devil is in the details. Not all people are persons:
person:
A man considered according to the rank he holds in society, with all the rights to which the place he holds entitles him, and the duties which it imposes. 1 Bouv. Inst. no. 137. A human being considered as capable of having rights and or being charged with duties, while a “thing” is the object over which rights may be exercised. (Black’s 2nd (1910))
Stupid, socially inept script kiddies. No doubt they are all slapping themselves on the back but this plays directly into Key’s cyber-attack argument for the “necessity” of spying on all New Zealanders.
Yeah the ones that should have been long since patched.
I sometimes scan the HTTP headers and HEAD’s of wordpress sites. I think that more than 80% of the wordpress.org sites are running on old versions. Like leaving wide open doors bearing in mind how well documented some of those exploits are.
If you can’t update as the updates come through, then you should be running on wordpress.com, blogger or the like.
Urrghh. I used to test the updates and plugins updates before applying them.
But after doing that for 2 years without finding a problem, these days I just patch immediately first thing in the morning (the offsite backups happen at about 0400) or shortly after the incremental onsite backups every few hours. I got burnt in the last 4 years with a jetpack update and with another plugin update taking out the site for a period. Specific functionality has died a few times, and I take the plugins out and put a fix in when I have time (usually sending the patch to the author) and replace later
The wordpress.com widely varying speed issues on the cheaper options and the constraints on shuffing in my own plugins are why I don’t use it. You do get much better performance on the higher end paid options. But the limitations on plugins and the inability to put in system level services like sphinx search are an issue.
Tradeoffs… But for the types of untrafficked sites like the ones that got hacked, it is where I would go every time.
Yes they are pretty much always dramatic (think of them in this respect of being a bit like Alf’s Imperial Army).
And there isn’t really a ‘them’ to know that they are part of.
Anonymous kicked off in 4chan message boards (don’t bother going to look. really). If you didn’t fill in the name space, you would be listed as Anonymous, along with all the other ‘Anons.’ Slowly an ‘Anonymous commenter’ culture emerged as ‘Anon’ commenters took on ribal traits, then some other shit happened.
It’s very meme based, and the video style is just another meme. As is the style of hack and pretty much everything else. But the short version is that you are anon if you claim to be anon, and that just means that you are anon. and not much more. It’s not a ‘group’ with membership per se. It’s name that doesn’t identify anyone, and so can be anyone and do anything. Some anons will get very pissed off with other anons, and there are big anon fights that weirdly stop being anon as participants are forced to adopt monikers in order to fight. etc.
“Some anons will get very pissed off with other anons, and there are big anon fights that weirdly stop being anon as participants are forced to adopt monikers in order to fight. etc.”
Seems that would be just like the Founders in DS9: assume a moniker for the purpose of an argument, then blend back into the sea once it’s no longer required.
Yes, they seem to like grand gestures but having said this they are people with their hearts in the right place. There is a documentary about them from the US (thankfully the non biased kind) which looks into their attacks, in particular, upon Scientology. If I can remember the title I’ll post it here.
When it comes to governments here and in the US legality is what they want it to be. Some of their followers were arrested and imprisoned in the US. One guy got a year for denial of service which seems draconian for simply helping to overload a site with messages.
From recollection, I think one guy got imprisonment for running a script for that overloaded the Scientology website. He had no programming or hacking skills whatsoever.
Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who intentionally or recklessly, and without authorisation, knowing that he or she is not authorised, or being reckless as to whether or not he or she is authorised,—
(a) damages, deletes, modifies, or otherwise interferes with or impairs any data or software in any computer system; or
(b) causes any data or software in any computer system to be damaged, deleted, modified, or otherwise interfered with or impaired; or
(c) causes any computer system to—
(i) fail; or (ii) deny service to any authorised users.
Participants could also be charged with conspiracy to commit the offence even if they are unsuccessful under s. 310 of the Crimes Act. The maximum term in this case would also be 7 years.
Probably not so bright university students unable to find a job. Likely to be smelly and unkempt.
[lprent: You are evidently one of those extremely assumption laden and quite stupid bigots. I’d suggest you read the policy because otherwise you may come to my moderating attention simply because you haven’t checked what I will allow on this site. The site might look wide open for you to wank off and spread your thick and stupid genes everywhere. But that is an illusion.
Assumption is the mother of the ban here. Learn caution to help with a long commenting career. This is your warning.
Scratch that – Santi is now on a permanent ban and consigned to auto-spam. He couldn’t resist the faux Labour leader support…. ]
Unfair, very unfair. The dictatorial way of the Left, I suppose.
[lprent: It isn’t. One of your IP’s is an exact unique static match to Santi who is on a ban until after the election.
That specific ban you were warned about if you persisted in astroturfing your leadership “support” for various Labour MP’s (despite being a right wing commentator all the way back to 2007 on this site). I’ll tolerate a bit of that type of trolling for its amusement value but repeating “jokes” endlessly is simply boring. So when I warn then you should damn well assume I mean it.
Then I see “erikter” (who was last seen mostly in 2008) acting in exactly the same manner.. Now that is really dumb. Pointless doubling the ban as I would usually do.
Now you’ll have to wait until we do one of the occasional amnesties because I’ll investigate anyone with your style and feed any of your comments that are likely to be yours to akismet. Eventually that will make it hard for you to leave comments on any wordpress site.
It is fair to “reward” outright stupidity with an appropriate award – otherwise you might keep doing it. ]
I wonder if Keys really gives a shit about a few hacktivists when he has the right wing press at his disposal to run interference and play it all down.
I think it would be better for these people to use their skills to create satire to post on YouTube and the like. Its actually more damaging to a politician than hacking a site which Keys can label “illegal” and discount on that basis.
Yes, but in the minds of most non-techies it shows how digital data that is collected is easily compromised.
For them it takes away the glib reassurances of “safeguards” in a easily identifiable way. In that way it might get a few more interested in the details of the both bills (the GCSB and the TICS)
And apparently Dotcom has said the Anonymous DOS action is counter-productive:
But Dotcom this morning tweeted: “Dear Anonymous NZ, hacking National Party websites is just giving John Key a new excuse to pass the #GCSB bill (cybercrime). Please stop it.”
“Labour Minister Simon Bridges shrugged off the attack on his own site.
“I am very concerned about the hundreds of thousands of people who will have been looking at it daily now don’t know what to do.”
“The technical advice I’ve had is it could take some time to back up, as it does have a lot of photos of me on it – I’m thinking over a period of days we’ll have it up and running,” he said sarcastically.”
Wow, so if I wanted to make your continued access to oxygen illegal, all I’d have to do is propose it and wait for you to defend yourself, and then point to your self-defence and say “see – this is why Winston should be deprived of oxygen”, and you’d have no choice but to accept it on the basis of your own gumby rhetoric.
Pretty much all anonymous do is doss. There’s only a handful of them that are actually switched on enough and have hacking skills. Although, most of these guys are now before court.
A lot of them are on irc networks. Had quite a bit of experience with them. Was involved in blocking, or re-routing their attacks. They are what people say they are, bunch of 16-20 year olds with access to compromised computers, aka botnets.
“Dear Anonymous NZ, hacking National Party websites is just giving John Key a new excuse to pass the #GCSB bill (cybercrime). Please stop it.”
(That’s if it isn’t a ‘false flag’ attack by those purporting to oppose the GCSB Bill?
hmmm……….I smell a rat………….. )
In my view – the focus should be on collecting signatures on petitions, or emailing directly to MPs who have supported the GCSB Bill at its first reading, to give them the message they CAN’T ignore:
“YOU VOTE FOR THE GCSB BILL AND WE WILL CAMPAIGN FOR PEOPLE NOT TO VOTE FOR YOU”!
(Politicians understand ONE thing – VOTES! )
If I were in Wellington – I would have chairs, table and clipboards at the busiest place in the Ohariu electorate, collecting HUNDREDS of signatures on such a petition addressed to ‘Independent’ MP (for the ‘HYPOCRISY’ Party) – Peter Dunne.
The template of a petition that can be used / adapted / whatever – is available here:
I’m not buying that this is Anonymous. The video is too amateur, the targets are outside of the general Anonymous criteria, and there has been no “chatter” about this in the local Anonymous forums. This action could easily be the Church of Scientology looking to “fair game” its strongest on-line opponent by associated it with illegal activities. Its not like Scientology hasn’t done this sort of thing before. Just as equally, it could be some National Ltd™ PR spinner looking to create an “enemy”. If it is the latter, then I take it as a good in that it shows a certain sweaty desperation, if it is the former . . . meh, just more of the same.
For those who think mentioning Scientology in this arena is a tad “tinfoil”, Google is your friend (or at least, used to be). Plus, we haz dox —> http://youtu.be/LHPwtNnc8zg
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With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
As a young gymnast, Aimee Didierjean was always conscious of making sure her underwear wasn’t showing on the competition floor. A peek of a bra strap, or briefs if a leotard rode up, would cost a gymnast points in her routines. “When I was growing and going through puberty, it ...
Jubi/West Papua Daily Repeated cases of Indonesian military (TNI) soldiers torturing civilians in Papua have been evident, as seen in the viral video depicting the torture of civilians in the Puncak Regency allegedly done by soldiers of Raider 300/Brajawijaya Infantry Battalion. There is a pressing need for stringent law enforcement ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In 2023, Anthony Albanese was shooting for the moon, his eyes on the Voice referendum. On one view, he looked like the idealist reflecting his left-wing roots. In 2024, we’re seeing a pragmatic, determined, ...
The House - The principle that all MPs are honourable and that they should be taken at their word has been tested multiple times this week in Parliament. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Dickinson, Professor, Public Service Research, UNSW Sydney Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock Since the review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) released its recommendations in December, there has been a series of Town Hall events to discuss them around the country ...
Asia Pacific Report Two of the global Freedom Flotilla ships are being prepared in Turkey and almost ready for the upcoming humanitarian mission to Gaza. It is expected that the flotilla will include a New Zealand medical team. Kia Ora Gaza is a member of the international Freedom Flotilla Coalition ...
Nothing like a good taste of your own medicine. He will be steaming over his money markets and shares reports this good morning. Not to forget his latte and croissants.
“You see! You see! This is why we need the GCSB Bill!”
My pick is that if the GCSB has been collecting metadata we’ll see some very quick arrests. Maybe I’m being naive, but I don’t think there’s any such thing as online anonymity. Tor schmor.
What I see is someone who is willing to sell their rights on the premise that Keys and co will make them safe. Internet crime is worth billions of dollars, do you seriously think Keys and co can combat that with a bill that’s focused on domestic spying not real international criminals? We already have services in place to cope with this such as INTERPOL.
Compared with hard core internet criminals Anonymous are no more than simple hacktivists. Real internet criminals use sophisticated teams of programmers to achieve their ends and are exceptionally hard to trace even with modern technology. Indeed even when pinpointed the move around so its not an easy task trying to catch them. They also tend to operate in environments where laws have little meaning and/or the criminals have more guns and manpower than the police.
Will there be quick arrests, probably but they will be for pretty crap that distracts the ignorant and easily led from the real objective to silence dissent and establish government domination of the internet.
You see those little marks – ” – at either end of the first sentence? Those are “quote” marks – a signal that the text contained within them is to be read as a “quote”.
In this case, the “quote” is what I imagine one of the official responses will be.
If you’re going to criticise the lying Prime Minister please try and get his name right.
Nice. Better than the messages given to beneficiaries every day by this mean-spirited government.
If these hackers get arrested, then so should the GCSB who illegally spied on 88 people.
Specifically, those who authored and signed off illegal surveillance warrants.
Shooting the messenger isn’t it? Why not arrest the Labour Ministers that wrote the contradicting legislation that put these people in an impossible situation? Signing off the surveillence warrants was perfectly legal, but the GCSB executing them was illegal, brilliant.
The legislation seemed very clear to everyone but Key apologists. If the spy agencies thought they were in an impossible situation, why didn’t they bring this to government’s attention much earlier? Why only after they were caught?
Please try harder.
Bob, if you actually KNEW the contents of Section 14 of the current Government Communications Security Bureau Act 2003, you wouldn’t make such a godawful stupid statement like that.
To wit,
Unless someone is terminally thick, that seems fairly straight forward, wouldn’t you agree?
The devil is in the details. Not all people are persons:
person:
A man considered according to the rank he holds in society, with all the rights to which the place he holds entitles him, and the duties which it imposes. 1 Bouv. Inst. no. 137. A human being considered as capable of having rights and or being charged with duties, while a “thing” is the object over which rights may be exercised. (Black’s 2nd (1910))
Stupid, socially inept script kiddies. No doubt they are all slapping themselves on the back but this plays directly into Key’s cyber-attack argument for the “necessity” of spying on all New Zealanders.
Yeah, because they’ve been wanting an excuse to take more democracy from NZ. Oh wait…
offline:
http://www.judithcollins.co.nz/
http://www.johnkey.co.nz/
http://www.billenglish.co.nz/
http://brownlee.co.nz/
http://www.stevenjoyce.co.nz/
PS:
http://www.simonbridges.co.nz/
PPS: Note to Lynn: thank you! I have edit function!
I must say I did like the bit about the 170k jobs, and the 175k unemployed.
Shouldn’t be laughing, they just exploit common security holes in WordPress etc.
Yeah the ones that should have been long since patched.
I sometimes scan the HTTP headers and HEAD’s of wordpress sites. I think that more than 80% of the wordpress.org sites are running on old versions. Like leaving wide open doors bearing in mind how well documented some of those exploits are.
If you can’t update as the updates come through, then you should be running on wordpress.com, blogger or the like.
Pretty much… no one seems to patch their wordpress instances.
wordpress.com is good. only issue is the speed.
Urrghh. I used to test the updates and plugins updates before applying them.
But after doing that for 2 years without finding a problem, these days I just patch immediately first thing in the morning (the offsite backups happen at about 0400) or shortly after the incremental onsite backups every few hours. I got burnt in the last 4 years with a jetpack update and with another plugin update taking out the site for a period. Specific functionality has died a few times, and I take the plugins out and put a fix in when I have time (usually sending the patch to the author) and replace later
The wordpress.com widely varying speed issues on the cheaper options and the constraints on shuffing in my own plugins are why I don’t use it. You do get much better performance on the higher end paid options. But the limitations on plugins and the inability to put in system level services like sphinx search are an issue.
Tradeoffs… But for the types of untrafficked sites like the ones that got hacked, it is where I would go every time.
bluelibs.org.nz
bluegreens.org.nz
michaelwoodhouse.co.nz
nikkikaye.co.nz (working)
maggiebarry.co.nz
national.org.nz (working)
davidcarter.co.nz
It’s a good thing they made a video, otherwise no-one would have ever known.
Might be why they didn’t bother with UF’s site.
I’ve not seen an Anonymous video before. Are they always this melodramatic?
How would we know it was them?
Yes they are pretty much always dramatic (think of them in this respect of being a bit like Alf’s Imperial Army).
And there isn’t really a ‘them’ to know that they are part of.
Anonymous kicked off in 4chan message boards (don’t bother going to look. really). If you didn’t fill in the name space, you would be listed as Anonymous, along with all the other ‘Anons.’ Slowly an ‘Anonymous commenter’ culture emerged as ‘Anon’ commenters took on ribal traits, then some other shit happened.
It’s very meme based, and the video style is just another meme. As is the style of hack and pretty much everything else. But the short version is that you are anon if you claim to be anon, and that just means that you are anon. and not much more. It’s not a ‘group’ with membership per se. It’s name that doesn’t identify anyone, and so can be anyone and do anything. Some anons will get very pissed off with other anons, and there are big anon fights that weirdly stop being anon as participants are forced to adopt monikers in order to fight. etc.
Ta Pb.
Someone was touting on Saturday (on Twitter I think) for hacktivists to join an Anonymous attack.
“Some anons will get very pissed off with other anons, and there are big anon fights that weirdly stop being anon as participants are forced to adopt monikers in order to fight. etc.”
Seems that would be just like the Founders in DS9: assume a moniker for the purpose of an argument, then blend back into the sea once it’s no longer required.
Yes, they seem to like grand gestures but having said this they are people with their hearts in the right place. There is a documentary about them from the US (thankfully the non biased kind) which looks into their attacks, in particular, upon Scientology. If I can remember the title I’ll post it here.
Name is Anonymous: We are Legion – The Story of the Hactivists.
Watched it a while ago with my teens. Anonymous is more of a swarm rather than a hierachical organisation, so no political affiliation etc.
Anonymous, are a fictional group, a phantom creation, being used, like AQ have been, as the online boogy man!
Run by the so called intelligence services, rolled out on command!
🙄
Good idea side stepping a subject you know nothing about, well done!
The name is a complete give-away – genuine hacking groups would not be seen in public under such open, brazen, obviously well funded theatrics!
Just keep rolling your eyes, you’re smart enough to understand the game that’s being played!
I’ve forgotten more of it than you’ll ever know.
Is a DDoS attack really a hack? There’s a difference between infiltrating a site and overloading it, isn’t there?
Yes its not really hacking, its a case of overloading the websites servers by flooding the system with messages to the point where it cannot cope.
No. It’s the easiest of attacks used by hackers that can’t hack.
In other words its not hacking.
Is what they’ve done illegal?
When it comes to governments here and in the US legality is what they want it to be. Some of their followers were arrested and imprisoned in the US. One guy got a year for denial of service which seems draconian for simply helping to overload a site with messages.
Crush civil dissent
From recollection, I think one guy got imprisonment for running a script for that overloaded the Scientology website. He had no programming or hacking skills whatsoever.
Yes.The maximum term is 7 years.
Crimes Act s.250(2)(c)(ii)
Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who intentionally or recklessly, and without authorisation, knowing that he or she is not authorised, or being reckless as to whether or not he or she is authorised,—
(a) damages, deletes, modifies, or otherwise interferes with or impairs any data or software in any computer system; or
(b) causes any data or software in any computer system to be damaged, deleted, modified, or otherwise interfered with or impaired; or
(c) causes any computer system to—
(i) fail; or
(ii) deny service to any authorised users.
Participants could also be charged with conspiracy to commit the offence even if they are unsuccessful under s. 310 of the Crimes Act. The maximum term in this case would also be 7 years.
Probably not so bright university students unable to find a job. Likely to be smelly and unkempt.
[lprent:
You are evidently one of those extremely assumption laden and quite stupid bigots. I’d suggest you read the policy because otherwise you may come to my moderating attention simply because you haven’t checked what I will allow on this site. The site might look wide open for you to wank off and spread your thick and stupid genes everywhere. But that is an illusion.Assumption is the mother of the ban here. Learn caution to help with a long commenting career. This is your warning.Scratch that – Santi is now on a permanent ban and consigned to auto-spam. He couldn’t resist the faux Labour leader support…. ]
Unfair, very unfair. The dictatorial way of the Left, I suppose.
[lprent: It isn’t. One of your IP’s is an exact unique static match to Santi who is on a ban until after the election.
That specific ban you were warned about if you persisted in astroturfing your leadership “support” for various Labour MP’s (despite being a right wing commentator all the way back to 2007 on this site). I’ll tolerate a bit of that type of trolling for its amusement value but repeating “jokes” endlessly is simply boring. So when I warn then you should damn well assume I mean it.
Then I see “erikter” (who was last seen mostly in 2008) acting in exactly the same manner.. Now that is really dumb. Pointless doubling the ban as I would usually do.
Now you’ll have to wait until we do one of the occasional amnesties because I’ll investigate anyone with your style and feed any of your comments that are likely to be yours to akismet. Eventually that will make it hard for you to leave comments on any wordpress site.
It is fair to “reward” outright stupidity with an appropriate award – otherwise you might keep doing it. ]
@ lprent,
“Eventually that will make it hard for you to leave comments on any wordpress site. ”
Please do.
I wonder if Keys really gives a shit about a few hacktivists when he has the right wing press at his disposal to run interference and play it all down.
I think it would be better for these people to use their skills to create satire to post on YouTube and the like. Its actually more damaging to a politician than hacking a site which Keys can label “illegal” and discount on that basis.
Yes, but in the minds of most non-techies it shows how digital data that is collected is easily compromised.
For them it takes away the glib reassurances of “safeguards” in a easily identifiable way. In that way it might get a few more interested in the details of the both bills (the GCSB and the TICS)
Lets hope you are right.
Criminal hackers like these need to be sent to prison. I do hope they are caught.
[lprent: Santi is now on a permanent ban for violating his ban. ]
How about criminals who illegally spy on their own countrymen and women?
ding dong the grinch has gone!
And apparently Dotcom has said the Anonymous DOS action is counter-productive:
Yeah, and that’s the give away about who controls Anonymous, right there!
Of course it’s counter productive
Problem, reaction, solution
Job Done!
Kim Dotcom has told the hackers to stop it, it is only feeding into Key’s GCSB Bill
Twitter
“Dear Anonymous NZ, hacking National Party websites is just giving John Key a new excuse to pass the #GCSB bill (cybercrime). Please stop it.”
Also http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10905329
PS – what is incorrect in this Herald article? Hint: para 4.
Edit to the above – Snap, Karol! Must have been typing at the same time.
You are today’s winner of the Jonolism Spotter badge!
He has a point, this will be spun as ‘We need the GCSB to stop “terrorist” organisations such as Anonymous’.
“Labour Minister Simon Bridges shrugged off the attack on his own site.
“I am very concerned about the hundreds of thousands of people who will have been looking at it daily now don’t know what to do.”
“The technical advice I’ve had is it could take some time to back up, as it does have a lot of photos of me on it – I’m thinking over a period of days we’ll have it up and running,” he said sarcastically.”
Oh dat Simon Bridges, such a cad!
lulz
https://mobile.twitter.com/JudithCollinsMP/status/361966312890699776?p=v
https://mobile.twitter.com/search?q=@JudithCollinsMP&s=typd
LOL – she is really showing her ignorance!
Im waiting for the person here to say “It was national themselves, to get the bill pass”
Weird how it turned out to be you who said it!
Nah, this attack is genuine – last week’s white powder was the false flag op 😉
This is good, gives National the excuse they (admittidly didn’t) need
Wow, so if I wanted to make your continued access to oxygen illegal, all I’d have to do is propose it and wait for you to defend yourself, and then point to your self-defence and say “see – this is why Winston should be deprived of oxygen”, and you’d have no choice but to accept it on the basis of your own gumby rhetoric.
Tempting.
Pretty much all anonymous do is doss. There’s only a handful of them that are actually switched on enough and have hacking skills. Although, most of these guys are now before court.
…and therefore by definition not anonymous. At least, not any more, if they ever really were, which I doubt.
A lot of them are on irc networks. Had quite a bit of experience with them. Was involved in blocking, or re-routing their attacks. They are what people say they are, bunch of 16-20 year olds with access to compromised computers, aka botnets.
And yeah, correct.
…which further undermines any attempt to use their behaviour as a justification for ubiquitous surveillance.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/opinion/anonymous-nz-attack-national-party-sites-good-news-john-key-gcsb-bill-supporters
I agree with what Kim Dotcom has apparently said:
“Dear Anonymous NZ, hacking National Party websites is just giving John Key a new excuse to pass the #GCSB bill (cybercrime). Please stop it.”
(That’s if it isn’t a ‘false flag’ attack by those purporting to oppose the GCSB Bill?
hmmm……….I smell a rat………….. )
In my view – the focus should be on collecting signatures on petitions, or emailing directly to MPs who have supported the GCSB Bill at its first reading, to give them the message they CAN’T ignore:
“YOU VOTE FOR THE GCSB BILL AND WE WILL CAMPAIGN FOR PEOPLE NOT TO VOTE FOR YOU”!
(Politicians understand ONE thing – VOTES! )
If I were in Wellington – I would have chairs, table and clipboards at the busiest place in the Ohariu electorate, collecting HUNDREDS of signatures on such a petition addressed to ‘Independent’ MP (for the ‘HYPOCRISY’ Party) – Peter Dunne.
The template of a petition that can be used / adapted / whatever – is available here:
http://www.occupyaucklandvsaucklandcouncilappeal.org.nz/
Cheers!
Penny Bright
+1
‘
I’m not buying that this is Anonymous. The video is too amateur, the targets are outside of the general Anonymous criteria, and there has been no “chatter” about this in the local Anonymous forums. This action could easily be the Church of Scientology looking to “fair game” its strongest on-line opponent by associated it with illegal activities. Its not like Scientology hasn’t done this sort of thing before. Just as equally, it could be some National Ltd™ PR spinner looking to create an “enemy”. If it is the latter, then I take it as a good in that it shows a certain sweaty desperation, if it is the former . . . meh, just more of the same.
For those who think mentioning Scientology in this arena is a tad “tinfoil”, Google is your friend (or at least, used to be). Plus, we haz dox —> http://youtu.be/LHPwtNnc8zg
….. it could be some National Ltd™ PR spinner looking to create an “enemy”.
Mmmm, poor tragic Simon Bridges’ obviously rehearsed and horrendously pitiable attempt at “humour” linked to above lends credence to this theory…..