Scientology vs Anonymous Update II

The initial gun smoke has vanished. Several Scientology web sites have been under attack and grounded for some time, while others are online. At the same time, the attack on the sites, wikis and IRC channels being used for coordinating Anonymous' activities, performed under the name "The Regime", have caused them to build a new defense line. By now, this seems to work and the sites are online and by now also local ones, e.g. in Germany, have emerged.

By now, Anonymous is planning continued cyber-attacks, but also IRL activities, such as prank calls to Scientology establishments and members, and on-site demonstrations are taking place.

It should also be noted that Anonymous is not, as it has been widely reported, a group of hackers, but a loosely coupled network of people without a clear structure and governance, sharing a cause. In other words, Anonymous is structurally close to the internet itself.

This is, on the hand hand, a clear advantage. Since loosely coupled groups without central governance can operate independently and quickly regroup, taking out a node of the network will not harm the superstructure. On the other hand, they are more difficult to control and direct. In addition, Anonymous is based on the engagement of volunteers that might not be enduring.

The strength of Anonymous is therefore also its weakness. The success or failure of this campaign therefore ultimately depends on Anonymous' ability to reach and maintain a critical mass of people and keep together this loosely coupled structure.

Update on Scientology vs Anonymous: CoS striking back?

Yesterday night (CET), parts of the infrastructure being used by Anonymous for information sharing and coordination suddenly came under attack. partyvan.info and 711chan became unavailable and the discussion on the IRC channel became a little chaotic for some time.

After a while, backup forums had been set up and also the sites were restored. However, at the publishing time of this post, partyvan.info is again unavailable.

Is CoS striking back with the same methods used by Anonymous?

Scientology vs Anonymous

It seems, that a war has been declared on Scientology. A user has published a video on Youtube, in which group calling itself "Anonymous" (nomen est omen!) declares its will to destroy the CoS. It seems that some DDoS attacks on CoS webservers already took place. Also, the group has managed to hack some CoS servers and extract some internal documents which are now distributed via filesharing services.

Here is the video:


Here is a news feature on the topic:


When searching on Youtube you will find more vids on the topic

Here is a website/wiki maintained by Anonymous and providing information on the campaign, but also links to the before mentioned documents and software to run DDoS attacks, and more.

The original declaration ends with the following statement:

We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us.

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My take: For the lulz?