Membrii grupării menţionate îşi justifică decizia prin faptul că Facebook vinde informaţii despre utilizatorii săi agenţiilor guvernamentale.
Pentru a preveni astfel de atacuri, Facebook l-a angajat în luna iulie pe cel mai celebru hacker din lume, George Hotz (GeoHot), cunoscut pentru deblocarea iPhone şi a consolei PlayStation3. Mai mult, administratorii reţelei au anunţat că utilizatorii care descoperă erori sau încălcări ale protocoalelor de securitate vor primi o recompensă în valoare de 500 de dolari.
Anonymous a mai incercat în trecut să atace Facebook, însă fără succes.
Grupul Anonymous este susţinut în tentativele sale şi de o altă grupare de hackeri cunoscut sub numele de LulzSec. Cele două grupuri s-au aliat în încercarea de a ataca organizaţii guvernamentale şi corporaţii din întreaga lume.
Anonymous a fost constituit de utilizatorii site-ului 4Chan, popular printre hackeri şi împătimiţii jocurilor pe calculator şi a devenit între timp celebru după ce a atacat cu succes mai multe ţinte, printre care site-ul RIIA (Recording Industry Association of America), cel al Bisericii Scientologice, MasterCard, Sony Playstation, Poliţiei Spaniole şi FMI. De asemenea, hackerii au publicat documente compromiţătoare privind operaţiuni „dubioase” ale Bank of America.
Anonymous sunt un grup de activiști online, de a căror existenţă se ştie prin intermediul atacurilor lor sau prin intermediul mesajelor prin care anunţă un atac sau îl revendică. Acţiunile lor nu urmăresc un profit, ci doresc să demonstreze un show al forţei lor prin care să indice practicile incorecte sau considerate sensibile în planul politic.
Iată mesajul transmis de cei de la Anonymous privind atacul asupra Facebook
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