Vietnam War Memorial Website Defaced
Author: Dave Lewis
OK, there is no misunderstanding that I’m an advocate of free speech and a supporter of the Canadian military and by extension the US military (albeit not the Shrub administration). Soldiers have a thankless task at the best of times. They are paid starvation wages and sent off to fight. And in some circumstances they perish. They make the ultimate sacrifice for what they believe in. To be used as a political chip in a perverse game of tiddlywinks is inexcusable.
Since this story falls into security I felt doubly compelled to point to it. In the Thursday edition of the Washington Post there is a story of a hacker from (apparently) Turkey who defaced the website for the Vietnam War Memorial. This act of defacement is reprehensible in no uncertain terms.
From The Wall-USA.com:
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall USA website is dedicated to honoring those who died in the Vietnam War. Since it first went on line in 1996 it has evolved into something more. It is now also a place of healing for those affected by one of the most divisive wars in our nation’s history.
This type of site is off limits for defacement in my books. WAY off limits. These soldiers sacrificed everything and deserve better than this type of behaviour.
From the Washington Post:
Users of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial site — at http://www.thewall-usa.com– who searched for U.S. casualties by date were sent to an all-red Web page adorned with a symbol from the Turkish flag, a short video, and messages in Turkish and English. The English messages attacked Kurds, the United States, Israel and Armenia.
According to translations, the Turkish message read: “Is there any equal or likeness to our martyrs at Gallipoli?” It is an apparent reference to the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915 during World War I, during which soldiers from the Ottoman Empire repelled an Allied operation to capture Istanbul, suffering heavy casualties of more than 250,000. The video called it a “story written in blood.”
A “Turk Defacer” took credit for the hack, which users reported yesterday to the FBI, the National Park Service and the 4/9 Infantry Manchu (Vietnam) Association, which maintains the site. The message was removed and the search function restored by last night.
Tags: Vietnam War Memorial Defaced, Web Defacement, Web Criminals
