Right Wing Fascist Hackers Target IMCs : Thunderbay IMC

OKLAHOMA CITY - A right-wing hacker group has claimed credit for wiping
"Oklahoma IMC right off the face of the internet."

The Oklahoma Independent Media web site was offline for several hours
before the attack was noticed by a member of the collective that maintains
it. A database that stores the site's content was erased by running a
script normally used by site administrators.

Oklahoma Indymedia is an alternative media collective that maintains an
open-publishing site at okimc.org, part of the global Indymedia movement.
It offers free, uncensored publishing resources to progressive activists
whose voices are usually filtered out by mainstream news organizations. It
operates with a shoestring budget, and currently has only a handful of
members on the collective.

On Tuesday afternoon, the attack was discovered, and in a short period,
most of the content was back online, thanks to a backup of the database
made on Saturday. Stories posted in the interim were lost.

In its announcement of its "accomplishment," the group, known as Kobe,
claimed to have recently brought down other IMCs.

Also operating as "Indy-Media Outlets," Kobe has created an Indymedia-style
site, using the domain name indy-media.org, using the same software as
OKIMC, thus probably giving them some insight into its internal structure.

************ On Tuesday, the following was posted to the Kobe
site.************

Oklahoma IMC is now offline. THANKS! by Indy-Media Outlets Editorial Group
- Indy-Media Outlets Tuesday, Jan 18 2005, 1:19pm

Thanks to your little trick, I was able to wipe Oklahoma IMC right off the
internet. See for yourself. It was almost as easy as New Hampshire IMC and
Vermont IMC which we wiped out last week. Thanks!

http://okimc.org

Another post in the forums of the Kobe Headquarters website also noted the
attack on OKIMC as part of a coordinated effort to dismantle, or at least
impede, the IMC network in the US. As of Tuesday evening, New Hampshire IMC
and Vermont IMC were still offline.

Last week, North Texas IMC reported its database had been erased in a
similar fashion. Like Oklahoma IMC, the North Texas IMC site was restored
within a day, thanks to a backup provided by that site's hosting company.

Serena Blaiz, the OKIMC member who discovered the attack, says it will lead
to a higher level of security for the site, "which is never a bad thing."