Protest Warrior Hacked!

The Protest Warrior site has been hacked. They've fixed it now and the FBI is investigating someone they believe to be the culprit. The alleged culprit has a website up here.



(Hat tip:Michelle Malkin)



According to Protest Warrior, they collected information on this problem child's plans, information I find generally credible. The alleged plans were



-charge stolen card numbers with donations to leftists

-send database to hostile groups

-upload credit card info to web as .zip file

-anonymously send press releases and material to thousands of media contacts to boast of the malicious hack and the millions of dollars defrauded, and to publish any and all sensitive information regarding the ProtestWarrior organization

-erase the entire Protest Warrior server

-launch simultaneous attacks on other conservative sites



The alleged culprit was raided by the FBI and is now soliciting donations to "fight these ridiculous charges" as he hadn't actually defaced the site or billed the credit cards! And he calls it intimidation! Ladies and gentlemen and idiots of all ages: If I steal something that doesn't belong to me, I have committed a crime whether or not I've actually spent the money! If I haul out a gun and point it at you, you are justified in defending yourself whether or not I actually intend to pull the trigger, and whether or not the gun is actually loaded, something that you have no way of knowing, and so as far as you are concerned, the gun is loaded even if there are no bullets within 100 miles. Conspicuously absent in the FAQ's is the answer to the questions: "Did you violate site security?" "Did you steal the credit card information?" and "Did you or did you not have a plan to commit further acts, and if so, what acts?"



I am forced to concede that there are legitimate hacking operations out there, albeit few and far between. When they penetrate security, they tell the operator immediately, and disclose how they did it so the hole can be repaired. They don't take any information from the site. They don't have a plan to come back and do damage later. Given the nature of the testimony, I'd say that the FBI has a reasonable basis to accuse him of serious theft and vandalism, at a minimum. He gets no sympathy from me.



More good stuff:



From his website FAQ on Protest Warrior:

Who is ProtestWarrior?

ProtestWarrior.com is an ultra right-wing group that tries to provoke and disrupt constitutionally protected protests and actions of progressive organizations. They foster such conservative and intolerant dogma which borders on abusive hate-speech. Their most recent national action was their attempt to cause trouble at the counter-inauguration protests in Washington DC where they failed miserably in being effective or generating any decent numbers of supporters.



Although no damage had been done to their system, the ProtestWarriors have been known to falsely report information to the police on an intempt to incriminate and demonize leftists. This particular case is similar: while no damage has been done to the website or credit cards, ProtestWarrior is trying to demonize and incriminate hackers and activists. What is ironic is that ProtestWarrior has worked with groups like RightWingExtremist.net and the g00ns to hack IndyMedia and other leftist sites in the past. Read an in-depth discussion of ProtestWarrior, what they stand for, and how to expose them.

If Protest Warrior has hacked anyone, let them be investigated and charged. Given their modus operandi, I find this allegation unlikely, to say the least.



Protest Warrior organizes counter-protests to leftist propaganda protests, to let those who protect and defend this country and are doing their best to make good decisions know that there are people on their side as well as people against. This is constitutionally protected the same as the other kind. But certain kinds of lefties cannot stand disagreement any more than counterparts on the extreme right, as neither is equipped to deal with alternative points of view. Protest Warrior airs their dissenting point of view in plain sight of these lefties, and this is an unforgivable sin. Protest Warrior goes prepared and equipped to discuss the points at issue. It is not their problem that their opposition is neither prepared nor able to deal with opposing points of view. Protest Warrior does not disrupt their opponents demonstrations; that is not their way. At most they take the ball they are handed and run with it (Often, the lefties mistakenly hand the microphone to Protest Warriors). They do provide an articulate alternative. unforgivable sin! They do make the lefties look foolish - another unforgivable sin. They do expose the fallacies of the lefties argument - yet another unforgivable sin. This leads the lefties to attempt irregular verb tactics. To wit: "When we do it to them, it's stopping hate speech. When they do it to us, it's censorship. When we do it to them, it's busting their fascist heads. When they do it to us, it's fascist intimidation." From there it's not very far to: "When we do it to them, it is promoting the glorious revolution! When they do it to us, it's stormtrooper death squads!"



This outrages me no matter who the culprit is. The best test of a sentence or statement in this regard is to turn it around 180 degrees. For instance, a Republican says "all Democrats are racists" should be no different that a Democrat saying "all Republicans are racists." If it bothers you in one version, it should bother you in both. In any case, as long as both sides stay within the same legal limits, both should have their say.



I may think the leftists are stupid. I may think they're jerks. I may think they've lost contact with reality. (Some who really are on the far right also have these faults.) But I and anybody who wants my respect will agree that they've got the right to make their case without censorship, without intimidation, and without violence.



Show me somebody who is opposed to allowing their political opponents freedom of expression, and I'll show you someone who knows their political views are weak and untested, or sadly wanting. Show me someone who wants to vandalize the oppostion, and I'll show you a wannabe dictator. Show me someone who thinks they're justified and should receive support for conducting such attacks on those who present opposing points of view, and I'll show you a more serious threat to all of our freedoms than any terrorist.