Low Orbit Ion Cannon
From SI410
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.
DDoS
Anonymous
(link to their Wiki page)
Project Chanology
(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
