Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 08:42:43 -0700 Subject: FW:  Cyber Activism Report: May Day 2001
From: Patrice <[log in to unmask]>
To: The Cyber-Society-Live mailing list is a moderated discussion
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Bwo of Eveline Lubbers

.........
Well, it is this kind of warnings that have triggered
the massive police response on MayDay in London last month...
Just to give an impression of the line of thinking of a webmonitoring
service



iDEFENSE Intelligence Services
http://www.idefense.com/pages/ialertexcl/mayday_cyberactivism.htm

Friday, April 27 2001

Special Report: May Day 2001

Cyber Activism Report

Executive Summary

Introduction  =20

Over the past six years, anti-capitalist protests have reemerged as a threa=

t
to public order worldwide. Since 1999, this development has been greatly
enhanced by the increased use of the Internet as a means of disseminating
ideology, coordinating activity and as an offensive medium. Protests of thi=

s
sort are generally geared around specific events, such as gatherings of
organizations concerned with the maintenance of global capital and the
symbolic May Day holiday.

While last year's May Day protests were marked by a certain degree of
Internet organization and street violence, preparations for protests on May
1,=20
2001, have seen far more activity and a growing awareness by activists that
the soft underbelly of capitalism lies in corporate Internet infrastructure=

.

While all manifestations of anti-capitalism - including May Day - are globa=

l
in=20
nature, this overview concentrates on the UK experience. The intelligence
underpinning this overview is "live," dynamic and constantly updated, with =

a
new version available every few weeks.

                 Underlying Ideology

One of the many types of protest groups to embrace and employ the new
technology as a means of communication, ideological dissemination,
recruitment, fundraising and disruption are those that might be labeled
"anti-
capitalist" and "anti-globalization." Such organizations have been active o=

n
the Internet since the early 1990s, and their activities and linkages have
increased in sophistication with the passage of time.

The first example of the exploitation of the Internet (at all levels) by
such=20
organizations was the day of protest on June 18, 1999 - set to coincide wit=

h
the meeting of the G8 in Cologne, Germany. A group called J18 coordinated
the protests. J18 used a website to call for marches, rallies and online
cracking. In London, anti-capitalists marched through the city shouting
slogans and engaging in acts of physical vandalism. According to the
London Sunday Times, crackers from a variety of nations targeted at least 2=

0
companies, including Barclays Bank and the Stock Exchange. Crackers
launched more than 10,000 attacks in five hours. This event marked the firs=

t
time protestors had made a concerted effort to use the Internet to
coordinate=20
actions in the physical world and to launch cyber attacks against global
capital. =20

Since then there have been numerous other examples of the Internet used as
a tool for mobilization and offensive action, including the following:

World Trade Organization (WTO) conference in Seattle in 1999 Meeting of
the WTO World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington,
D.C., during April 2000 Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Melbourne
during September 2000 Meeting of the World Bank and IMF in Prague during
September 2000 =20

In many respects, the various activists that participate in May Day and
related protests represent a cross section of this broadly defined anti-
capitalist/anti-globalization movement. The primary focus of these groups i=

s
to fight against corporate power and the state structures that encompass,
enable and protect this power. These governmental structures may be in the
form of national governments or international organizations such as the
WTO, World Bank etc. that coordinate, regulate, finance and enable global
economic activity.=20

                 Sites/Groups Advocating Online Activities

Discussion of online activism concerning this year's May Day has been
confined to chat rooms and discussion groups. However, advocates of action
express similar thoughts and proposed plans of action. This is exemplified
by one contributor to a discussion group, who said, "[A] single day of
action=20
will not impact on the capitalists' ability to exploit =8A the only thing
these=20
people understand =8A is the profit margin. Therefore, our best line of
attac=
k
should be to attack them where it counts most =8A economically. The best
means to do so is to attack the infrastructure of their electronic systems.=

"

Groups that have previously advocated "electronic civil disobedience," such
as the Electrohippies, have not sought to become involved in May Day. Most
groups prefer to concentrate on more obvious manifestations of global
capital=20
such as the WTO meetings and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
meeting in Quebec in April 2001. However, low visibility is not a cause for
complacency. =20

The most damaging attacks on corporate Internet infrastructure so far -
those=20
carried out against Yahoo, CNN, Amazon and others in February 2000 - were
unexpected and showed all too clearly the vulnerability of corporate sites
to=20
cyber-attack. There is the distinct possibility of a repeat of distributed
denial=20
of service (DDoS) attacks or other malicious activity such as the
dissemination of viruses, worms or Trojan horses.

For example, RTMark Inc., a group that aims to raise awareness of corporate
activity and highlights workers' issues, has raised the possibility of a
"May=20
Day virus." One of the organization's current "tasks" is to investigate the
creation of "a 24-hour virus that shuts down the computer on May Day,
preferably flashing a message about worker's rights and time off." There is
currently no evidence of a specially created May Day virus, although
malicious toolkits and generators would make this a relatively easy task.

                 Sites/Groups Using the Internet to Organise Physical
Protests=20

The following is a list of relevant sites, including the most important one=

s
for=20
May Day in the UK. There are a plethora of protest sites on the web with a
high degree of interconnectivity:

May Day 2001 (www.mayday2001.org) This general site displays a banner
saying, "shutdown corp. HQs world wide 7am, Tuesday May 2001," and has
links to specific locations around the world. The site specifically names
McDonalds, Shell, Monsanto, Nestle and the 'Murdocks' [sic] and contains a
countdown to May Day and a list of contact sites in different cities.

Operation Dessert Storm (www.dessertstorm.org) One of the more unusual
forms of protest is that explained at this site, which has called for an
international month of "pieing" (or "pie-rect" action), from April 1 to May
1.=20
The purpose is to encourage activists to throw pies (hopefully made
according to the vegan pie recipes provided at the site) at "faceless
leaders=20
of the corporate world, shameful 'journalists,' dodgy politicians and anyon=

e
who deserves a face full of dissent."

London Mayday Collective (www.maydaymonopoly.net) A site that uses the
template of the Monopoly board game to identify target areas in London with
explanations of their significance. Targets consist of government
departments, financial institutions and a variety of other organizations an=

d
establishments identified as capitalist cronies, class enemies or oppressor=

s
of the developing world. The site provides instruction in English, Dutch,
French, Spanish, German and Turkish, with a call for volunteers to translat=

e
it into other languages. There is also a section on legal advice, in
particular=20
section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

While there is no explicit call to arms, and the basic message is one of
passive protest, there are serious causes for concern. The May Day
Monopoly only lists suggested times and places for group activity. The
emphasis lies in "autonomous action," thus removing the potential
stabilizing=20
force of centralized leadership. This is combined with the detailed
identification of a large number of targets and fears within the protest
movement that it has been taken over by "thugs" bent not on legitimate
protest but destruction of property and confrontations with the police.

White Overalls Movement Building Libertarian Effective Struggles
(http://www.wombleaction.mrnice.net/) This site represents a group known
as the WOMBLES (White Overalls Movement Building Libertarian Effective
Struggles) and is inspired by the Italian "Ya Basta!" movement. The
WOMBLES group states that "the White Overall Movement is designed to
build effective socialist struggle. We do not believe the present system ca=

n
be changed through lobbying or parliamentary democracy." The WOMBLES
group also heavily emphasizes autonomy and the egalitarian credo of
socialism, saying, "the white overall movement has no leadership; everyone
involved participates equally in the organization and actions." On March 11=

,
2001, the WOMBLES succeeded in closing business for the day at
Niketown at Oxford Circus. The protest was aimed at publicizing Nike's
alleged repression of workers' rights and exploitation of child labor.

urban75 (http://www.urban75.org/mayday01) The May Day section of the
general Urban 75 activist site. This page contains links to other May Day
sites (including the WOMBLES and May Day Monopoly), legal advice for
protesters, information on related actions, background material, discussion
forums, "games" and news stories with the promise of continual updates of
actions on the day itself.

UK Independent Media Center (http://uk.indymedia.org) An
independent/alternative media site offering coverage of May Day and all
other=20
anti-capitalist protests.

WTOAction.Org (http://wtoaction.org) A site specifically set up to protest
against the WTO but which has become a general protest/ anti-capitalist
site. Many links to May Day and other activities around the world.

Protest Net (http://protest.net) A detailed and general international
protest=20
site with a link to all May Day events. Also covers many other issue areas
familiar to the anti-capitalist milieu, ranging from animal rights to
religion and=20
spirituality. =20

Conclusion =20

While there are certainly links and commonalties between those allied
against the forces of global capital, one of the movement's defining
features=20
is the absence of a clearly established organization. This makes the
activities of these groups both difficult to monitor and predict.
Furthermore,=20
this type of cyber activism is enabled by an increasingly efficient
telecommunications infrastructure.

Physical violence inspired by a variety of websites poses the greatest
danger=20
on May Day. The numerous and diverse array of targets suggested by the
May Day Monopoly board will pose a serious strain on police resources,
particularly if violence is widespread. The probability of violence may be
greater this year because of reports that the "spikies" (militants) have
taken=20
control of the May Day movement from the "fluffies" (peaceful protesters).
This situation could be replicated in cyberspace, where the ideas of
electronic civil disobedience are replaced by more malicious activity.

While physical protest is certainly dramatic, it is generally confined to
particular areas and is (usually) swiftly contained. Cyber violence, on the
other hand, can have far more lingering and widespread effects. There is
little=20
evidence so far of a single widespread, planned electronic disruption (only
one organization has openly sought interest in developing a May Day virus),
but that is the nature of economic and social life on the infrastructure. I=

t
cannot be ruled out.

Because of the ideological underpinnings of the May Day protest, the range
of potential targets is extremely broad (see for example the corporations,
government departments and other organizations listed on the May Day
Monopoly site). In terms of electronic infrastructure, companies and
organizations wishing to remain in business would be strongly advised to
rehearse and strengthen their preventative means and disaster recovery
plans over the May Day weekend, then keep them current and a major
feature of their business strategies. Infrastructure protest and cyber
violence=20
are now well established, developing swiftly and here to stay.

                                    =20

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