It was a busy weekend for the shadowy collective of Internet hackers and activists that calls itself Anonymous, with claims by the group to have launched attacks that took down the Web pages of both government- and private sector Web sites as well as public- and Internet personalities, including Judge William Adams, the subject of a viral video that shows him reportedly beating his daughter with a belt.
Factions of the group claimed responsibility for distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks that took down the Capital One website and a number of El Salvadorian government websites. The group also claimed responsibility for a hack of the website of Finland’s far-right Kansallinen Vastarinta (the National Resistance) party that spilled data on the group’s membership. The latest attacks come after a weekend that also saw Israeli military and intelligence Web sites take off line after threats from Anonymous as Threatpost reported.
As evidence of their deeds, the hacker-collective published a couple of announcements on the file-sharing site, Pastebin. The first boasts the DDoS attack that eventually brought down the Capital One site, and includes links to personal information (or “dox”) on a number of prominent business and government officials, including Warren Buffett, David Koch, former SEC Commissioner William Donaldson, and the now infamous Judge William Adams, who became an online sensation after a video of him beating his daughter was published on YouTube.
The post also includes links to allegedly damning material about Wal-Mart, Oakland Police, and other organizations. The second announcement, from Anonymous Finland, contains links to what they claim is a publication of Kansallinene Vastarinta’s membership application database. The group’s perception is that right-wing extremism is proliferating in Europe and they are evidently upset about it – at least such was the reason given for the attack. You can find that Pastebin release here.
The attacks, as indicated in one of the Pastebin releases, may have been in celebration of Anonymous’ favorite holiday, Guy Fawkes Day, which remembers the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 – an attempt to assassinate King James I. Fawkes likeness can now be seen on masks worn by Anonymous members.
