Being informed about a news story is one thing. And in a situation like the one going on in Ferguson, Missouri, it's absolutely crucial. But actively insinuating yourself into that news story is quite another thing. Unfortunately, that's exactly what hackers are doing as they've wormed their way into the city's infrastructure and set about committing various disruptive acts. While the actions of the hackers arise from an ostensibly civic-minded goal – holding what they see as a corrupt city to task – their repercussions have been far from positive.
A mother weeps after hackers falsely out her son as shooter of Brown
In the days since 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot by a Ferguson police officer, the city has descended into a state of upheaval. Because the teen was unarmed and was reported to not have posed a reasonable threat to officers, there's a widespread and understandable sense of confusion and anger about Brown's killing. This wave of public sentiment has manifested in protests that are going on around the country and calling attention to the issue of police violence against African-American males. In Ferguson, the police department has been ill-equipped to deal with the fallout of the incident, and according to the Associated Press, the Missouri Highway Patrol has temporarily assumed control of the city. Much of the city's collective anger stemmed from the police department's delay in revealing the name of the officer who shot Brown, a problem that has since been rectified.
Into this chaotic mix there has slipped a presence that is both covert and insidious: the hacker. Most experts these days agree that there are few forces more powerful these days than a group of well-equipped hackers operating behind the veil of a keyboard. President Obama went so far as to declare cyberthreats "one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation." Every once in a while – and it's becoming more frequent – the power of the hacker will rear its ugly head, and that's actually what's been happening in Ferguson.
USA Today reported that a group of hackers took to the cybersphere on Thursday to reveal what they believed to be the name of the officer who shot and killed Brown. This kind of vigilante exposition would be problematic even if the name they released were accurate, but they didn't even have the right guy. In fact, the man they named wasn't even an officer. Kathie Warnack, the stepmother of the man named by the group – cried as she told USA Today how the hackers' huge error had left her in a state of fear.
"I guess I'm going to have to sleep with my gun and put cameras on the house," she said. "Now I have to defend myself and I didn't do anything wrong."
Hackers have also focused on the city government itself
In addition to revealing a false name for the person responsible, The Wall Street Journal reported that hackers have been targeting the county of St. Louis, which has led to significant inconveniences for groups that have nothing to do with the shooting at all. These attacks have happened via denial-of-service efforts which have so flooded the county websites with traffic that they've been forced to temporarily shut down. Far from doing anything positive to help cope with Brown's shooting, all these incursions have done is deny service to people who needed to access the sites during the affected periods. As the fallout from the Brown shooting continues, the unwanted involvement of hackers could fade, but that's a fairly remote possibility.
