EDIT: The video of this talk is now up! Check it out.
I presented this talk last night at HOPE Number Nine, which has been a super fun conference. Don’t forget to check out the slide deck, which is full of lolcats.
In the interest of getting this up fast, I’m posting the raw version of my notes. I’ll be adding citations over the next couple of days.
ACTIVIST DDOS: WHEN SIMILES AND METAPHORS FAIL
I. INTRODUCTION
Previous characterizations of activist DDOS campaigns have traditionally fallen into one of two camps: those that unilaterally condemn activist DDOS campaigns as bullying and censorship, and those that align such actions with IRL sit ins. Both these characterizations, however, cannot be applied to the entire landscape of activist DDOS campaigns as a whole. Rather, each campaign must be examined individually before a judgement can be made regarding its validity as a protest action. DDOS as a tool cannot be wholly condemn or lauded without its surrounding context.
In this talk, I’ll be examining those previous characterizations, and at different DDOS campaigns that do and do not fit those models. Next I’ll be outlining the current state of play of activist DDOS. Finally I’ll be presenting a new analytical model for looking at activist DDOS campaigns, and presenting an analysis of the December 2010 Operation PayBack DDOS campaign against PayPal. Also, to reward all you find people for coming out so late for this talk, there will be lots of pictures of cats.