Anonymous has brought down yet another US government website, as the FTC’s federal online security site was hacked by the anonymous collective, as it continues to attack sites in protest at a number of US Internet laws and the closure of file sharing site Megaupload.
The front page of the site has been replaced by a screen featuring the now infamous Anonymous logo, a rap song and a message to politicians and US authorities, which warns of future attacks and action should SOPA, PIPA and ACTA be passed as laws:
If SOPA/PIPA/ACTA passes we will wage a relentless war against the corporate internet, destroying dozens upon dozens of government and company websites. As you are reading this we are amassing our allied armies of darkness, preparing boatloads of stolen booty for our next raid. We are sitting on hundreds of rooted servers getting ready to drop all your mysql dumps and mail spools. Your passwords? Your precious bank accounts? Even your online dating details?! You ain’t even trying to step to this.
The attack has also seen a range of data about the site, including contact details of FTC officials, published on the page.
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News of the attack came from @YourAnonNews, which had earlier warned that the group was about to take action.
Oh noes! Looks like the FTC’s onguardonline.gov has been hacked by #Anonymous! ^__^
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) January 24, 2012
Last week saw Anonymous made one of its most significant moves yet as it brought down the FBI’s website, and nine others, in response to the US Department of Justice (DoJ) decision to suspend and investigate file sharing service Megaupload.
The investigationn is reported to be one of the biggest criminal copyright cases ever, with the Mega holding company reported to have cost the entertainment industry upwards of $500 million in lost revenue.
Last week, Anonymous was reported to be planning an assault on Sony, in response to the company’s initial pro-SOPA stance. However, the scheduled day passed without major significance, although Sony’s site was down for 13 hours due to maintenance as Anonymous announced that Operation Sony was on.
Yesterday, Anonymous threatened to bring down Facebook, although, as our own Drew Olanoff points out, such a move seems unlikely as Facebook has strong security itself but the motivation is also unclear.
Anonymous is a loose collection of ‘hacktivists’, and little is known of its leadership but the group is reportedly trying to bolster its public image as a defender of the people rather than outright troublemaker. A move to attack Facebook, which is the world’s most popular site as it closes in on one billion users, would appear to go against that.
Plus, proposed action against Facebook last year was alleged to have fallen flat due to a lack of support. That’s despite the fact that, as ZDNet points out, Anonymous doesn’t support the social network’s cause.
Update: It has emerged that the threat on Facebook was in fact a fake, however the social network is reportedly prepared should things change.
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