Ethics Assignment # 1

                                     H.B.Gary Hack

Erin Barr was the former CEO of H.B.Gary, a federal intelligence contractor. He told Financial Times that he had the confirmed identities of the Anonymous ringleaders. Anonymous responded by hacking into HBGary’s servers and publishing his emails. What appealed to me about this hack was the little attention that was given to the leaked email proposals from Mr. Barr. Mr. Barr formulated proposals to discredit Julian Assange and to cyber attack Wiki Leaks. He proposed submitting fake documents to wiki leaks that when discovered to be false, it can be formulated as a way to discredit Wiki Leaks. Also, the proposal he sent Bank Of America on DDos attacks on wiki leaks, all because Julian Assange had info on a bank doing wrongdoing. I feel that this man passed the ethical line. If this had been a regular John Doe, the Government would be all over this. Charging the regular citizen with criminal contempt and countless other charges. The Government bends the rules. They can pretty much get away with anything and the punishment they give will never be proportional to the crime. I see why Anonymous broke into this company. They were trying to protect their identity. I completely agree with everything they did. If the identity of these members would have been exposed then they will have to go to Jail for expressing their opinions. As I said before; the punishment will never be proportional to the crime. The government is capable of anything to keep their wrongdoing secret. Politicians and corporations bend the rules and laws to suit their own needs. The way I see it, Anonymous was protecting themselves. After the emails were exposed not much was talked about or reported on since I guess it was considered not that big of deal. I bet if the tables were turned things would of turned out a lot differently.

Everyone should be able to communicate and get his or her message out on the internet. Freedom of speech extends to online. We have the right not to be monitored by the government when we voice our opinions. Anonymous contributes towards democracy around the world. Everyone should stand up against oppressive governments.