Hacker group (sometimes hacktivist group) Anonymous has targeted Facebook for destruction on November 5. It's a change of pace for the group, which of late has concentrated on AntiSec, a campaign against corruption in government and big corporations.
Anonymous says that it hopes to "kill Facebook," the "medium of communication you all so dearly adore." Although Facebook has been embroiled in (lack of) privacy incidents before, it seems the real reason for the group's attempted "deletion" of Facebook is that, according to Anonymous, "Facebook has been selling information to government agencies and giving clandestine access to information security firms so that they can spy on people from all around the world (including authoritarian governments, such as those of Egypt and Syria).
Why the choice of November 5? It turns out that November 5 is Guy Fawkes Day, and those who have been watching Anonymous over the years will recall their fascination with Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot which was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England.
Truly, although Anonymous and fellow hacker group LulzSec have wreaked havoc on the Internet, particularly over the past few months, it's hard to believe they could exterminate a site as large and well protected as Facebook, especially when you give them months of warning.
Whether or not the threat is real is still in question. Eugene Kaspersky, founder of Kaspersky Labs, which develops the well-regarded Kaspersky security products, Tweeted, "The news around #Anonymous to attack #Facebook on Nov 5 most probably is fake."
We'll see what happens on Nov. 5. Meanwhile, the threat "letter" is below in both video and written form, transcribed from the video.
Operation Facebook
DATE: November 5, 2011.
TARGET: https://facebook.com
Press:
Twitter : https://twitter.com/OP_Facebook
http://piratepad.net/YCPcpwrl09
Irc.Anonops.Li #OpFaceBook
Message:
Attention citizens of the world,
We wish to get your attention, hoping you heed the warnings as follows:
Your medium of communication you all so dearly adore will be destroyed. If you are a willing hacktivist or a guy who just wants to protect the freedom of information then join the cause and kill facebook for the sake of your own privacy.
Facebook has been selling information to government agencies and giving clandestine access to information security firms so that they can spy on people from all around the world. Some of these so-called whitehat infosec firms are working for authoritarian governments, such as those of Egypt and Syria.
Everything you do on Facebook stays on Facebook regardless of your "privacy" settings, and deleting your account is impossible, even if you "delete" your account, all your personal info stays on Facebook and can be recovered at any time. Changing the privacy settings to make your Facebook account more "private" is also a delusion. Facebook knows more about you than your family.
You cannot hide from the reality in which you, the people of the internet, live in. Facebook is the opposite of the Antisec cause. You are not safe from them nor from any government. One day you will look back on this and realise what we have done here is right, you will thank the rulers of the internet, we are not harming you but saving you.
The riots are underway. It is not a battle over the future of privacy and publicity. It is a battle for choice and informed consent. It's unfolding because people are being raped, tickled, molested, and confused into doing things where they don't understand the consequences. Facebook keeps saying that it gives users choices, but that is completely false. It gives users the illusion of and hides the details away from them "for their own good" while they then make millions off of you. When a service is "free," it really means they're making money off of you and your information.
Think for a while and prepare for a day that will go down in history. November 5 2011, #opfacebook . Engaged.
This is our world now. We exist without nationality, without religious bias. We have the right to not be surveilled, not be stalked, and not be used for profit. We have the right to not live as slaves.
We are anonymous
We are legion
We do not forgive
We do not forget
Expect us
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