Anonymous Goes on Megaupload Revenge Spree: DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, Universal Music, and several others all offline today, although some have come back up.

First of all, let me state that I am typically not a supporter of hacking. Our sites at work were hacked by some idiot that just likes to break in and hack for the challenge. Because he can. I took it personally and felt violated. Fortunately, it was a matter of finding the inserted corrupt file and removing it, so we were lucky no permanent damage was done.

However, in light of SOPA/PIPA and the bull crap from the entertainment industry wanting the government to do their dirty work, I am not finding myself quite so disliking these hacks. Honestly, I’m surprised Anonymous waited this long. A few comments made on the Gizmodo post really sums it up best:

Kaiser-Machead Thu 19 Jan 2012 6:04 PM
As much as I dislike these entities right now, I feel as though taking their sites down is like vandalizing McDonald’s billboards.

B4B9 @Kaiser-Machead
Surely, though, you can’t get the fuzzy feeling like watching two cars about to hit, knowing that you can’t do anything, and yet somehow craving for a bag of buttery popcorn?

What happened today (a guilty chuckle), according to both Gizmodo and Time Techland:

Anonymous has sure been quiet lately, but today’s federal bust of Megaupload riled ’em up good: a retaliatory strike against DoJ.gov (and plenty of other foes) leaving them completely dead.

DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com is reporting the department’s site as universally nuked, and an Anonymous-affiliated Twitter account is boasting success. This is almost certainly the result of a quickly-assembled DDoS attack—and easily the widest in scope and ferocity we’ve seen in some time. If you had any doubts Anonymous is still a hacker wrecking ball, doubt no more.

The combination of the hacking nebula’s SOPA animosity—they’ve been a vocal opponent of the bill since its inception—combined with today’s sudden Megaupload news has made the group bubble over: hundreds upon hundreds of Anon operatives are in a plotting frenzy, chatting about which site will go down next. In Anon’s eyes, the government and media interests are responsible for the undue destruction of Megaupload (and the arrest of four of its operators), so it’ll be exactly those entities that’re feeling the pain right now. Pretty much every company that makes movies, TV, or music, along with the entirety of the federal government, is in Anonymous’ crosshairs.

Update: Anonymous says they’ve also knocked off the RIAA’s site—looks down for us at the moment as well.  [NOTE: Recording Industry Ass of America is back from their break]

Update 2: Universal Music Group has also fallen off an e-cliff.  [NOTE: Still taking a coffee-break]

Update 3: Goodbye for now, MPAA.org.  [NOTE: Motion Picture Ass of America is now back up.  Wait… I thought .org sites were intended for non-profit…??]

Update 4: Affected sites are bouncing in and out of life, and are at the very least super slow to load. Anon agents are currently trying to coordinate their DDoS attacks in the same direction via IRC.

Update 5: The US Copyright Office joins the list.  [NOTE: Site is now back up]

Update 6: This Anon sums up the mood in their “official” chat room at the moment:

Danzu: STOP EVERYTHING, who are we DoSing right now?

Update 7: Russian news service RT claims this is the largest coordinated attack in Anonymous’ history—over 5,600 DDoS zealots blasting at once.

Update 8: the Anonymous DDoS planning committee is chittering so quickly, it’s making my laptop fan spin.

Update 9: Major record label BMI is down for the count.  [NOTE: They’re still napping]

Update 10: La résistance est international—French copyright authority HADOPI bites the dust under Anon pressure.  [NOTE: Out having Quiche]

Update 11: The Federal Bureau of Investigation has fallen and can’t get up.  [NOTE:  Out on an investigation]

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