[Help-gnunet] RIAA Site Defaced by Hackers

[Leonard]

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Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2002 10:17:52 -0400 (EDT)
From: security curmudgeon <address@hidden>
To: address@hidden
Subject: [defaced-commentary] RIAA Site Defaced by Hackers 


http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/1453761

By Jim Wagner
August 28, 2002

The Recording Industry Association of America was the victim of a hack
Wednesday, forcing network administrators to shut down the site and look
for the hole in its Web server.

The RIAA has drawn the scorn of legions of Internet denizens in recent
years for its stance on Internet radio broadcast fees and peer-to-peer
networking. The organization became infamous to millions of users after
filing an injunction against the popular free music-swapping program,
Napster.

But even if and when the organization does find out what happened, RIAA
spokesman Jonathan Lamy told internetnews.com he wouldn't issue any
information about the defacement.

"All I can tell you is there's a problem with our site that we are
fixing," Lamy said. "It should be back up shortly."

Only the home page was defaced, as far as officals can tell, though the
links pointed to existing RIAA.org Web pages. The defaced site featured
such tidbits as "Inside the RIAA with Eric Cartman" -- the best-known
character from the irreverent Comedy Central cartoon "South Park" -- and
"Piracy can be beneficial to the music industry" -- an acerbic touch flung
in the face of the biggest opponent to digital music piracy.

Also, a link entitled "Where can I find information on giant monkeys?" 
took readers to the biography page of Hilary Rosen, RIAA chief executive
officer.

Members of the offbeat Fark.com online forum cheered the hackers
responsible, saying they were not only able to deface the site, but shut
it down entirely after thousands flocked to the RIAA.org site to see the
defacement.

As of press time, a mirror site of the defacement is available here [1]. 

One Fark.com reader, RepoMan, chimed in with one possible reaction by the
RIAA:

"The RIAA response to this will be entertaining in itself. Of course they
will go crying to their friends in government like Tonya Harding with her
broken lace: "See, this is what we're up against... we're just trying to
make an honest dollar and these computer pirates are knocking over our
sand castles." 

Since exercising its considerable muscle in court versus Napster --
perceived by many in the industry as a startup that revolutionized the way
music is shared on the Internet --the RIAA has been a convenient target
for hackers.

In July, an unknown hacker or hackers brought the RIAA site to its knees
with a denial of service (DOS) (define) attack. It was an ironic turn of
events for the organization; a month prior, legislation was proposed that
would have given the RIAA (and other intellectual owners) the right to
shut down peer-to-peer networks using DOS-style tactics.

Robert Lyttle, better known for the role he played in the Deceptive Duo
hacks that landed him in hot water this year, gained his reputation
defacing hundreds of Web sites in 2000 to protest the RIAA's actions.

[1] http://wintermute.student.umd.edu/


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