News: Man Hijacks al-Qaida Web Site for FBI Sting

[draziw]

Ok, this just bothers me for some reason...

http://my.aol.com/news/news_story.ps...07301411060009

Man Hijacks al-Qaida Web Site
The Associated Press
Jul 30 2002 2:11PM

WASHINGTON (AP) - When Web operator Jon Messner gained control of one of al-Qaida's prime Internet communication sites, he offered it to the FBI to use it for disinformation and collecting data about sympathizers.

What followed, he says, was a week of frustration.

FBI agents struggled to find someone with enough technical know-how to set up the sting. By the time they did, the opportunity was lost as militant Islamic Web users figured out the site was a decoy, said Messner of Ocean City, Md.

[...]

Now, FBI technical-bashing aside... does anyone else really spot the problem here? (Obviously the press completely missed it - go figure). They make this seem like this guy basically hacked in to the site(s) and then offered the "hack" to the FBI, and they "took him up on the offer." But, reading further, it appears as though this guy (Messner) is a spammer-in-training...

[...]

Messner used a software program that probes Web site addresses whose registrations are about to lapse, meaning the address will go into a pool available for sale. When it did, Messner snapped it up and filled the site with Web pages from the original Arabic site.

[...]

All in all, somewhat frightening... *sigh*

[FROGGYJ]

funny how that works eh?? could hackers be doing good things for people?? do you think the press would actual acknowledge that?? it is something to watch the way the world works, just have to give your head a shake sometimes and laugh it off I guess. So where can I sign up to do this "good guy hacking" could be a fun career don't ya think.

[draziw]

I just kind of find it funny, in a way I guess, that the Feds are "opposed" to hacking but, once it comes to it affecting a terrorist group or someone "they don't like" (to broaden the subject a bit), suddenly "it's ok."

Put simply, if this were really a "hack," I think this guy should be propsecuted the same way he would have been had he stolen someone else's domain.

[July]

Has anyone been too Alneda.com it's kinda funny.

Hacked, Tracked and now owned by the U.S.A.