(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
BY ADNAN S. KHAN
ANCHOR LAUREN ZIMA
In an apparent hacking-spree, on Friday Anonymous took down several websites in the U.S. state of Alabama, the country of Mexico and the CIA.
The attacks were the group’s standard denial of service attacks, where a web site is bombarded with traffic until its servers overwhelm. The Telegraph writes the CIA web site shouldn’t have gone down so easily.
“… an embarrassment for America's premier espionage agency that hackers could disable its public website.”
There is no suggestion that CIA’s own computers were hacked or that any information was taken. The same can’t be said for the Alabama attack. PCWorld reports.
“Anonymous said it had gained information about more than 46,000 citizens, including full legal names, Social Security Numbers, license plate numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers, addresses, and criminal records, although the group said it deleted the data.”
Apparently the reasons for these attacks are as varied as the targets. PC Magazine quotes Anonymous’ on why it went after Alabama.
“…to make it known that you not only have shown zero regard for immigrants, but for the very citizens that live in the great state of Alabama.”
And Anonymous’ reason for attacking Mexico…
“In Mexico, meanwhile, Anonymous targeted government websites over a pending anti-piracy bill that has been referred to as the Mexican version of the U.S. Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).”
This is not the first time Anonymous has gone after high-profile targets. Earlier this month the group intercepted a conference call between the FBI and the British police. The BBC also reports …
“… And following the shutdown of the Megaupload file-sharing website last month, a statement attributed to Anonymous claimed responsibility for shutting down the websites of the Department of Justice and FBI, among others.”
The CIA website was taken down Friday morning and was backup and running by Saturday.
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