Website Hacking: Lessons For Socio-Political Transformation

Written by  J. D. Lovrenciear

Yes, no one on the receiving end can endorse the recent brutal hacking of Malaysia’s official websites by the ‘Anonymous’ international group. But the fact remains: they do as they say when you cross the line.

Our government ministers need to go back to college. They need to fully understand all about existence and operating their political businesses in this ‘New Age’ which Manuel Castells rightly describes as ‘The Networked Society’.

They would also be better off learning and mastering all about Appadurai’s Flow of Space and Time Flows.

In this world order of cybernation, international policing by local governments does not work. Likewise, local threats by law enforcers and official watchdog entities against these ‘eagles beyond the skies’ are virtually paralyzed given the hackers’ global movement for the championing of a free-world order.

That free-world order is all about the freedom and flow of information that was already mapped-out the day the Internet spilled into the public domain. It is about information being borderless and timeless.

When the Penny Press dawned into society a long, long time ago, the credo then was: We have a duty to inform as society has an innate right to know – a fundamental that no politician can deny. And so the newspaper began its legacy for the modern world.

But today, with the advent and proliferation of the worldwide web, governments and their representatives must be humble and willing to accept the realities of contemporary times. We have matured and metamorphosed into a new beingness.

The truth is there is no place on planet earth where you can hide truths and lies. The duty to inform and the right to know have all taken a far more profound meaning and dimension.

The truth is governments – especially those that thrive on the principle of divide and rule, will permanently remain on the defensive in the face of this cyber-world. Hence, it pays to respect, collaborate, cooperate and conform to the Networked Society of this 21st century.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the call for democracy and civil liberties was responded with physical wars across the globe – west to east, north to south. But in today’s era, we will only witness more of cyber wars that will come descending like bolts of lightning against those that are suspect of denying humanity of their right to know as well as denying those entrusted with the fundamental human duty to inform their right to perform ethically.

Yes some recalcitrant governments (or regimes) have been known to go after their own citizens in the face of such cyber attacks. But that will never stop the global attackers from repeating their planet wars.

Hence, as time keeps ticking away, we will witness more nations learning the hard way that it does not pay to restrain in any form whatsoever the very basic commandments upon which the world has been advancing in this Networked Society, namely the duty to inform and the right to know.

Russia, China and others feel like tarot cards in the wake of the advancing democratization of politics and liberation of civil society. In more recent times we are seeing the same pattern in the mid-eastern belt.

Likewise, all nations irrespective of size and location on planet earth will not be spared by the tidal tsunami of man’s fight for true democracy and civil liberties and his quest for justice. The cyber world will remain as humanity’s companion of war while it remains as the 21st century weapon of destruction descending upon stubborn politicians.

Unfortunately, our ministers used the same logic that they use for citizens on the land. Just like how they warn and intimidate citizens with the threat that the long arm of the law will arrest them if they do not follow their directives, the government issued a statement that they are doing all that is necessary to avert the announced attack by ‘Anonymous’.

Did the raiders descend? Yes they did. Could we withstand them? No, we certainly couldn’t. Can we ever withstand them? No, that is why even the USA – including Pentagon remains respectful of the cyber world.

Hence, it pays for governments, their leaders and followers, and even businesses to go, take the trouble to read, understand and appreciate the advancing world of the Networked Society, i.e. to put in place meaningful actions that champion and facilitate true democracy and civil liberties. Therein is the meaning and content of ‘transformation’, ‘transparency’, ‘accountability’ and ‘corporate social responsibility’ and the more recent ‘welfare state’ – the buzz words of the 21st century that permeates politics, social order, economic advances and environmental care.

Is all these hard to comprehend? 

- J. D. Lovrenciear is a reader and contributor to Malaysia Chronicle

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