Sri Lankan Terrorists Hack Satellite

SorryTomato writes "The Tamil Tigers Liberation Front a separatist group in Sri Lanka, which has been classified as a terrorist group in 32 countries has moved up from routine sea piracy to a space-based one. They have been accused of illegally using Intelsat satellites to beam radio and television broadcasts internationally. Intelsat says that they will end the transmissions 'within days.' Intelsat has been accused of having business links with Hezbollah before, but claim that they are blameless this time and LTTE was using an empty transponder."

Properganda

[Chief Wongoller]

No doubt the transmissions are being used to attemp to justify the illegal war being waged. Very Foxey! I wonder where they got that idea from?

Re:And why does it matter that they are 'terrorist

[Anonymous Coward]

So because the KKK weren't civil rights activists, not a single "terrorist" is a freedom fighter? The "terrorist" label is rather cheap these days.

The same company the DoD is working with?

[cindik]

This story (http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/ 12/1755218 [slashdot.org]) about a DoD router in space says they're contracting with IntelSat.

According to this story, they've a) been hacked and b) have links to Hezbolah.

Why would our government involve a company that's incompetent and has links to terrori...

...never mind.

Re:And why does it matter that they are 'terrorist

[nietsch]

May I suggest you look a bit into the history of Ireland?

The theory how armed resistance can be used to overthrow government is very old and goes along the lines of: provoke the authorities with violence until they start to react as violent, but against their own innocent civilians. Every state action should generate more supporters for your cause until you have a large enough majority to oust the regime, or they just downright give up. If you follow that theory, al-qaida was very successfull with their wtc attack. The US overreacted so violently that they lost all their goodwill in the rest of the world. Indirectly this may lead to the withdrawal of the US from Saudi soil.

Btw, personally I think all violence is wrong, but neither do I like the Myopic US views on 'terrorism'.

Re:Not really suprising

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, I forget the details. I imagine it would be difficult and probably only applicable to (relatively) dense constellations. Worries about debris in the geosynchronous range causing a slow chain reaction are real though and have been brought up before in other contexts, e.g. protests against the recent Chinese ASAT test.

Re:And why does it matter that they are 'terrorist

[Stooshie]

... Terrorists have never won ...

... Freedom fights have won ...

Terrorists that "win" get to call themselves freedom fighters because they "won". Terrorists who didn't "win" get called terrorists by the "winners".

... The intentional killing of civilians in order to promote a political agenda ...

That could cover just about any form of violence whether perpetrated by governments or terrorists/freedom fighters, east or west.

Re:Where do they get the skills?

[SenseiLeNoir]

I am a Tamil, born in Sri Lanka, have lived nearly all my life in the UK, and work in a professional job here, as an IT consultant and am PROUD of it. I have been proud to work for my now native country, the UK, and have worked in BAe, and other companies.

Yet, because of the fact I am Tamil, you do gooders are supposed to now be looking at everything I do? It doesn't matter the fact that I have lived in the UK for so long, I cannot even speak Tamil properly.

Its bad enough, going to Sri Lanka, and being sometimes treated like dirt by immigration, customs, and checkpoints, simply because I was born in Jaffna, fearing I would be kidnapped or killed by extra-legal gangs, operating with apparent clandestine approval from authorities.

Should I expect the same treatment from my "friends"?

Should I likewise assume that every "white man" is a potential KKK, or BNP member?

I have many friends who are Singhalese (the 'other side'), who treat me as a brother.

Re:And why does it matter that they are 'terrorist

[minus_273]

A hack is a hack, no matter who makes it. They are not committing any terrorist acts over satelite, are they? Terrorists are also freedom fighters, it just depends on who's viewpoint you prefer.

really? what freedom were Hitler's werewolves fighting for?

Re:And why does it matter that they are 'terrorist

[vandan]

And like the US like to spread democracy ... And respects civil liberties ... And doesn't torture political prisoners ... And will one day say the world

Those in glass houses ...

Re:And why does it matter that they are 'terrorist

[Bearhouse]

You were able to support your comments by looking at someone's profile. Then gotted modded to +4. Great - so why post as AC?

Re:The Best Hackers

[ArsenneLupin]

Is it really that hard to hack satellites? Is the security not so great since there are few people who actually have the capacity to try such tricks?

Exactly. There is basically no security at all, apart from the requirement to have a big phat (and thus obvious...) transmitter. 30 meter antennae are somewhat hard to procure and hide, so anybody pulling such a stunt from an industrialized country would probably be caught within days. But do it from within a third-world country where nobody gives a damn, and you're free to air.

Re:And why does it matter that they are 'terrorist

[afidel]

The difference is one of intent. The people in Iraq and many other parts of the world are INTENTIONALLY targeting civilians as a means to an end. They want to get their message out and to terrorize the population. That is NOT the action of freedom fighters, it is the action of brutal thugs. The Mujahidin in Afghanistan were freedom fighters, the American revolutionaries were freedom fighters. When you intentionally target civilians who are not part of the government machine I really don't think you can be considered anything but a coward and a thug.

Re:And why does it matter that they are 'terrorist

[replicant108]

The theory how armed resistance can be used to overthrow government is very old and goes along the lines of: provoke the authorities with violence until they start to react as violent, but against their own innocent civilians.

That's a very slanted view. It is commonly put about by those keen to portray resistance movements as cruel and callous, and occupiers as mere 'victims of circumstance'.

In general, the goal of a resistance movement is to weaken and undermine the occupier's rule.

Increased repression and abuse of power is a common outcome, but hardly the primary goal.

Also, if the strategy were as simplistic as you claim, then it could be easily defeated by the occupier refusing to respond violently.

Re:And why does it matter that they are 'terrorist

[tomz16]

Look at these happy faces they are staring at your smart bombs.

Give me a break. You want to see the precursors to smart bombs??? Just take a look at pictures of Warsaw or Berlin after WWII...

I am against war. But the sad fact is that people will find reasons to kill each other and fight wars irrespective of the weapons used, even if they have to resort to sticks and stones. I, for one, am glad we are using smart bombs to achieve our objectives instead of dropping anything and everything that goes boom out of wave after wave of bombers.

Re:The Best Hackers

[AoT]

English is like that because the spelling was invented by English people.