icykalisartblog:

DDoS Attack Against AO3: Correcting Misinformation

Normally I don’t make any posts like this, but I have an interest in cybersecurity and sadly I’ve seen people are being really ignorant about this recent DDoS attack against the site AO3 (Archive of Our Own), so I thought I’d remind people of a few things:

1. Anonymous Sudan appears to have no actual link to Sudan at all, or to any previous hacktivist groups that once operated there. This masquerade is probably based in anti-immigration and other racist sentiments, and utilizing those sentiments in other people to scare people and set up Muslims and Sudanese people as a target. This should be obvious from the language used in their note, but this was already known prior to this particular attack.
2. This so-called Anonymous Sudan has actually been very active recently—remember that they claimed to attack Reddit, Flickr, Riot Games, a huge number of Microsoft web portals like OneDrive and Outlook, etc. before AO3, so AO3 was totally a logical target for them since they’ve gone after smaller entities before. DDoS attacks like this are easy for any script kiddie to set up, so it’s not weird that they’d go for a smaller target like this.
3. Honestly this group of posers probably just wants money, everybody. They sent AO3 a ransom note asking for Bitcoin (and just in case people don’t know, do not pay a ransom if at all possible if this ever happens to you).

My advice to people who’ve noticed this attack is two-fold: calm down since this is part of a larger pattern that has literally resulted in basically no loss for the end-user of any of the sites, and… I don’t really know a better way to put this, but don’t believe everything you read. A religiously-motivated hate group wouldn’t use terms like “LGBTQ+” and “smuts,” and it’s so blatantly obvious that the timing of every single one of these attacks is being used to smear Muslims and Sudanese people if you think about current events for like. One second. And if you look up Anonymous Sudan, you’ll see their string of attacks and how all experts know that they have nothing to do with Sudan at all. Even AO3 itself told everybody that the group is lying about their motivations… though I think I’d go further than that personally because even their name itself is almost certainly a total sham.

To be clear: this post isn’t targeted at anyone in particular. I’ve just seen a lot of people falling for this overall or not realizing this is part of a pattern, and I also wanted to remind everyone that this isn’t anything to be concerned about. What is something to be concerned about is not doing research or thinking critically and then unwittingly spreading racist ideas.

may12324:

Gideon the Ninth is trending? Here, have a compilation of art I have done

e-102:

i cannot stop thinking about the scene where peter b turns around like he just realized miguel is genuinely insane it is so funny

like ohhhhh. okay. yeah he’s gonna maim that 15 year old.

hellsite-hall-of-fame:

beggars-opera:

beggars-opera:

kholran:

It’s finally happened.

After almost a decade on this site, I found another Tumblr user in the wild. I stopped to tie my shoe with rainbow laces this morning outside the silversmith at Colonial Williamsburg, and I heard it.

“I like your shoelaces.”

Oh. Oh no.

I responded the only way I could. “Thanks.” And then I reluctantly added, “I stole them from the president…and if that makes sense to you, I’m very sorry.”

The poor man, in full Colonial dress, stared at me for a long moment. And then burst into laughter. And said, “I haven’t thought about that in YEARS and this has never happened to me before.”

Yeah. Me neither. Not until today.

Tumblr rite of passage. Achievement unlocked.

@victoriansecret I found your friend!!!

THIS IS AMAZING

the2headedcalf-archive:

we’ve all gone through friendless periods in our lives. don’t fall into the trap of thinking there’s something intrinsically wrong with you - that is a) untrue and b) a belief that will make your isolation grow and cause feelings of worthlessness that will prevent you from accepting people into your life because you feel like you’re not deserving of their friendship

sourdieseldyke:

sera-cb:

guerrillatech:

Casual reminder that The Washington Post is owned by Nash Holdings, which is controlled by good ol’ Jeffery Bezos.

Was going to keep this in the tags BUT I think it’s important people understand that sturgeon caviar is only a luxury in the first place because of colonization. Anishanabae and other Great Lakes area tribes (and I’m sure more I’m just speaking where I am from) have been fishing Sturgeon for literally thousands of years. Besides consuming the fish eggs and meat we also made glue from its bladder, bags from its skin and used the oil from the fish as well. Sturgeon is important to many of our tribes traditionally and spiritually. So much so we even have Clans in honor of the Sturgeon. Than European settler-colonizers showed up and like they decimated Buffalo populations to starve Natives they did similarly with Sturgeon. When they pushed our people onto reservations they also created laws and legislation to keep us from fishing and hunting in our own ancestral lands. Than they built fisheries and Damns, destroying habitats and overfishing sturgeon to near extinction.

a lot of people in the notes are saying “this is the opposite of what happened with Lobster” so I wanted to point out that no it is actually exactly what happened to lobster.

beeteal:

ALT

every swing, every web, all at once