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Lily Hay Newman reports at Slate that Sony is counter-hacking to keep its leaked files from spreading across torrent sites. According to Recode, Sony is using hundreds of computers in Asia to execute a denial of service attack on sites where its pilfered data is available, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. Sony used a similar approach in the early 2000s working with an anti-piracy firm called MediaDefender, when illegal file sharing exploded. The firm populated file-sharing networks with decoy files labelled with the names of such popular movies as “Spider-Man,” to entice users to spend hours downloading an empty file. "Using counter-attacks to contain leaks and deal with malicious hackers has been gaining legitimacy," writes Newman. "Some cyber-security experts even feel that the Second Amendment can be interpreted as applying to 'cyber arms'.”
[Ed's Comment: As I understand it, the Second Amendment only applies in the United States or in its territories overseas — it doesn't give Americans the right to bear arms anywhere else in the world.]
(Score: 3, Informative) by janrinok on Friday December 12 2014, @03:46PM
I understand your concern, but the reasoning behind my statement is this. The US, or companies in the US, do NOT have the right to carry out DDOS attacks against computers elsewhere in the world whether the Second Amendment is applicable to 'cyber-weapons' or not. The US Govt may elect to conduct military or other government sponsored attacks anywhere it feels it can, but such acts are usually interpreted as an act of war by someone who is in the target country or on the receiving end of such acts. I know of no such law, treaty or other obligation that permits civilian companies to carry out any attack that it chooses. There ARE laws in place, however, which forbid such acts.
For someone to say, as they do in the article, that this might be justified by the Second Amendment is a matter of crass ignorance, IMHO. Cyber-security experts they may be - but they are idiots at international law. There are already international legal treaties in place covering crimes that are conducted between players who are located in 2 or more different countries. If SONY has evidence which identifies the culprits of the attack, then they should be taking action using such legal means. If this action is being taken by SONY then I hope that those on the receiving end fight back using whatever legal means are at their disposal.
The fact that the majority of the readers of this site appear to be American sometimes skews arguments rather more than it should. My comments are directed at the small minority of Americans who think that might is right - not the vast majority of intelligent folk who make up the remainder.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 12 2014, @04:52PM
Also, I think that even in the U.S. the right to bear arms doesn't imply the right to use them against any target you want. Try shooting at the windows of a nearby building that is not yours, and then try to justify it with your second amendment rights. I don't think you'll be very successful with that argumentation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 12 2014, @04:58PM
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday December 12 2014, @08:57PM
That might work, if you can trust your local legal system to be fair with an individual complaining against a major corporation.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.