Hacktivist collective Anonymous has launched a series of attacks on U.S. government and recording industry websites in response to the takedown of file sharing website MegaUpload. It claims to have taken down 14 websites including the websites for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Motion Picture Association of America and the U.S. Copyright Office.
Hacktivist collective Anonymous has launched a series of attacks on U.S. government and recording industry websites in response to the takedown of file sharing website MegaUpload. It claims to have taken down 14 websites including the websites for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Motion Picture Association of America and the U.S. Copyright Office.
CNN has reported that most of the government websites were back up and running as of Friday morning. However, the websites for both BMI and Universal Music were still down. These sites were taken down by DDoS-- Denial of Service--attack, a type of attack that overwhelms site servers and forces them down.
Anonymous is calling the series of attacks #OpMegaupload and claiming it is its largest attack ever. In a press release posted online the group stated, “We Anonymous are launching our largest attack ever on government and music industry sites. Lulz. The FBI didn't think they would get away with this did they? They should have expected us.”
The press release also included the personal information for Motion Picture Association of America CEO Chris Dodd and the contact information for MPA offices around the world, including a Canadian office at 55 St. Clair Ave West in Toronto. In the past Anonymous has attacked organizations as well as individuals, including Rupert Murdoch.
After the take down of the FBI website, @AnonymousIRC, one of several twitter accounts associated with the Anonymous movement, tweeted, “
www.fbi.gov - you feel censored yet? We sincerely hope you like your own medicine!”
In a series of tweets @AnonymousIRC also encouraged its followers to trend the hashtag #starvethebeast, a call of action to boycott Hollywood and support independent film and music.
Anonymous has been heavily involved in protests against SOPA and Protect IP, supporting Wikipedia in its blackout and encouraging Anonymous adherents to donate to the non-profit.
A full list of the sites Anonymous claims to have taken down as part of the #OpMegaupload attack:
Department of Justice (Justice.gov)
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA.org)
Universal Music (UniversalMusic.com)
Belgian Anti-Piracy Federation (Anti-piracy.be/nl/)
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA.org)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI.gov)
HADOPI law site (HADOPI.fr)
U.S. Copyright Office (Copyright.gov)
Universal Music France (UniversalMusic.fr)
Senator Christopher Dodd (ChrisDodd.com)
Vivendi France (Vivendi.fr)
The White House (Whitehouse.gov)
BMI (BMI.com)
Warner Music Group (WMG.com)
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