Control and Resistance
167
Burmese Hacker Community
As part of our investigation, an IWM researcher traveled to Burma to gain insight into
the local hacker community and assess their motivations. The hacker culture in
Burma, as in many places around the world, appears to be oriented toward touting
one ’ s skills in order to improve business opportunities. One source within the information technology community indicated that the motives behind the attacks on Mizzima
News may very well not have been political. Instead, they may have been motivated
by a desire to demonstrate the hackers ’ skills online for personal gratifi cation as well
as to advance personal economic interests. He explained that by drawing attention to
their expertise through such attacks, hackers may have hoped to attract demands for
“ protection ” from network administrators. Essentially, they could have been creating
a demand and, in turn, supplying the protection.
Hackers such as Fluffi Bunni have become respected members of Burma ’ s information technology community and have commercialized their skills. While they do not
support the political opposition, they are not necessarily hostile to it. Rather, they
seem to believe that apolitical policies are better suited toward advancing both the
economy and the ICT sector within Burma. As a result, they are critical of expatriate
Burmese media that oppose the country ’ s government and military.
In contrast, other sources within Burma indicated that political motivations were
behind the attacks. They said that since very few people within Burma actually have
an Internet connection, these attacks are likely the work of Russian-trained hackers.
This view aligns with the charges made by Burmese opposition groups.
Ultimately, none of our sources could clarify whether those behind the attacks acted
independently or alongside government interests. What we found in our fi eld investigation is that there is a lively hacker community in Burma, but information regarding
their relationship with the government and military is extremely scarce, and the
information that is available is inconclusive.
The information obtained during the fi eld investigation also provides context to
the ongoing attacks against the Burmese opposition media. As we mentioned, the
opposition Web sites are already blocked and inaccessible to Internet users in Burma.
According to our sources in the country, the political opposition in Burma actually
avoids using the Internet because they perceive communications over the Internet as
being insecure, and using the Internet, as opposed to other forms of communication,
makes them more vulnerable to government interception. In addition, computer literacy levels are very low, and few of those who use the Internet are familiar with
security practices such as encryption. As a result, the opposition within Burma uses
the Internet primarily for the dissemination of information through anonymous blogs
and news reporting. The importance of sites like Mizzima News is not necessarily that
they provide information to people within Burma, but rather that they provide
167
Burmese Hacker Community
As part of our investigation, an IWM researcher traveled to Burma to gain insight into
the local hacker community and assess their motivations. The hacker culture in
Burma, as in many places around the world, appears to be oriented toward touting
one ’ s skills in order to improve business opportunities. One source within the information technology community indicated that the motives behind the attacks on Mizzima
News may very well not have been political. Instead, they may have been motivated
by a desire to demonstrate the hackers ’ skills online for personal gratifi cation as well
as to advance personal economic interests. He explained that by drawing attention to
their expertise through such attacks, hackers may have hoped to attract demands for
“ protection ” from network administrators. Essentially, they could have been creating
a demand and, in turn, supplying the protection.
Hackers such as Fluffi Bunni have become respected members of Burma ’ s information technology community and have commercialized their skills. While they do not
support the political opposition, they are not necessarily hostile to it. Rather, they
seem to believe that apolitical policies are better suited toward advancing both the
economy and the ICT sector within Burma. As a result, they are critical of expatriate
Burmese media that oppose the country ’ s government and military.
In contrast, other sources within Burma indicated that political motivations were
behind the attacks. They said that since very few people within Burma actually have
an Internet connection, these attacks are likely the work of Russian-trained hackers.
This view aligns with the charges made by Burmese opposition groups.
Ultimately, none of our sources could clarify whether those behind the attacks acted
independently or alongside government interests. What we found in our fi eld investigation is that there is a lively hacker community in Burma, but information regarding
their relationship with the government and military is extremely scarce, and the
information that is available is inconclusive.
The information obtained during the fi eld investigation also provides context to
the ongoing attacks against the Burmese opposition media. As we mentioned, the
opposition Web sites are already blocked and inaccessible to Internet users in Burma.
According to our sources in the country, the political opposition in Burma actually
avoids using the Internet because they perceive communications over the Internet as
being insecure, and using the Internet, as opposed to other forms of communication,
makes them more vulnerable to government interception. In addition, computer literacy levels are very low, and few of those who use the Internet are familiar with
security practices such as encryption. As a result, the opposition within Burma uses
the Internet primarily for the dissemination of information through anonymous blogs
and news reporting. The importance of sites like Mizzima News is not necessarily that
they provide information to people within Burma, but rather that they provide