Low Orbit Ion Cannon

Low Orbit Ion Cannon

Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) is an acronym that stands for "Low Orbit Ion Cannon." Not to be confused with a NASA project or a physical weapon, LOIC is an online tool/website that anyone with an internet connection can utilize. The program is free to download (cite) and is not illegal to have on your machine in principle. LOIC is used to automate your website to ping/(make requests?) a website at a certain frequency - both determined by the user. This tool also has potential to be used maliciously, and if coordinated with enough other user, can be utilized to DDoS a predetermined website.

Anonymous

(link to their Wiki page)

Ethical Implications

Pros:

• stress testing websites' abilities to handle large numbers of requests at a time
• upholding First Amendment
• uniting tech community/hackers

Cons:

• DDoSing a given website and "taking it down"
• incentivizing creation of BotNets