Author: Kilgoar

REDDIT — The Nigerian Electronic Army, now in possession of a deadly “zero day” exploit for Reddit, has defaced several popular Reddit subforums with demands they be paid in dogecoin and bitcoin in exchange for release of the exploit. Among the defaced sites are a forum for Android smartphone users and League of Legends gamers.

Styling themselves, perhaps, after the infamous Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), the Nigerian Electronic Army’s (NEA) choice of targets seems far removed from the political or tactical targets of the SEA. The NEA’s defacement was somewhat reminiscent of LulzSec’s prank on PBS, but without the jokes or publicity for their Twitter account. LulzSec earned well over $180,000 in bitcoins with their antics, but only one of the hackers remains on the lam. The group disbanded after only 50 days.

Until Nigerian Electronic Army can increase the humor value of their defacements and grow an audience on a major Twitter account, they will probably find themselves in possession of only a very few dogecoins or bitcoins.

INTERNET — Workers on the set of of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Cosmos reported what some called a “demonic possession” which overtook the pop scientist.

“He was frothing at the mouth, his eyes opened wide. I saw pain shoot across his face, like he was being whipped. Neil declared something like, ‘I am the source! I AM Dark Energy! I AM THE DARKNESS! The white man’s voice is the demon. I am the demon,’ and he flung himself at the camera crew, smashing one and giving a cameraman a black eye,” said one anonymous witness, who added, “He didn’t specifically say anything about the devil, but I was afraid for my life. He passed out and when he woke up he had no memory of what he’d done. He’s never used that voice before or since.”

Dr. Angstrom H. Troubador, expert in psychology, dismissed the episode as meaningless, saying, “Tyson was under a lot of stress from all the compromises he had to make to appease producers who wanted the show to be more entertaining. The hot lights of the studio have long been known to trigger such episodes, even in the most mentally healthy and stable of us. Anyway, there’s no such thing as demons.”

INTERNET — Edward Snowden, famed NSA leaker, fled Russia Monday before dumping a database of power point presentations outlining Russia’s plans to invade Eastern Europe and rebuild the USSR under the new “Eurasian Union.”

Speaking from a hotel room in Tehran, Snowden denounced Putin’s imperial ambitions, saying, “I can no longer stay in Russia with knowledge of the impending invasion of Eastern Europe. If I had spoken my mind on this matter without a safe harbor in Iran, I’d have surely been disappeared or poisoned with polonium like other Russian dissidents.”

Snowden was joined in Tehran by members of Pussy Riot, and Nadya Tolokno also spoke to reporters, saying, “Here in Tehran we can openly wear our masks in public without fear of persecution. We can speak against Putin and the Orthodox church freely and without fear of punishment, so we have joined Snowden in exile.”

Critics of Pussy Riot and Snowden contest that sheltering under Tehran’s oppressive theocracy does their cause little good, while most supporters disagree. Pussy Riot and Snowden fan Jeremy Brown told reporters, “It’s all about keeping the fight going. I wouldn’t care if they were sheltered by Satan himself, as long as they didn’t wind up in some gulag that silenced them. So what if some Iranians practice genital mutilations or brutally silence their dissidents? Do you expect Nadya or Snowden to martyr themselves? That’s so last century.”