Twitter (& Facebook) Bans WikiLeaks’ Hacker Avengers. Here Comes The Cyberattack [View All]

[Turborama]

Source: Forbes

The task of taking Twitter down just jumped to the first priority spot on a few hundred hackers’ to-do list.

Andy Greenberg | Dec. 8 2010

On Wednesday evening, the microblogging service suspended the account of Operation: Payback, a group most recently devoted to launching cyberattacks against anyone perceived as an enemy of WikiLeaks. The profile page simply reads “Hold up! Sorry, the profile you are trying to view has been suspended.”

Over the last few days, the growing group has sent floods of junk traffic at the web servers of the prosecutor in Stockholm currently seeking Julian Assange’s extradition as well as financial institutions that have cut off service to WikiLeaks including the Swiss bank PostFinance, PayPal, MasterCard and Visa. As of this writing, MasterCard.com and Visa.com both remain offline under a barrage from the hacker group.

Though Twitter hasn’t issued a statement explaining its actions, banning Operation: Payback for illegal use of Twitter seems obvious enough. The group has been using the messaging service to declare its newest victims, announce its latest victories, and even recruit new users’ computers into its mass of cyber weaponry. http://blogs.forbes.com/mikeisaac/2010/12/08/facebook-and-twitter-suspend-operation-payback-accounts/">Facebook banned the group earlier today.

Even before this move, Twitter held a place on Operation: Payback’s hit list. Since WikiLeaks dropped a quarter-million secret diplomatic cables last week, Twitter users have echoed a claim that the site was preventing the term “#WikiLeaks” from entering its “trending topics” list, an accusation that Twitter has denied. An online poster released by Operation: Payback reads “Twitter, you’re next for censoring #WikiLeaks discussion.”

Read more: http://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2010/12/08/twitter-bans-wikileaks-hacker-avengers-here-comes-the-cyberattack/?boxes=Homepagelighttop

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Wiki War: Is Twitter Next On Hacker Hitlist?

5:11am UK, Thursday December 09, 2010
Andy Winter, Sky News Online

Computer hackers are claiming victory after attacking Visa, Mastercard and PayPal for withdrawing services from WikiLeaks - and have warned that Twitter is their next target.

=snip=

...it appears Twitter- previously a source of much WikiLeaks support - could now become a target.

The microblogging website suspended AnonOps' account last night and it has been accused of preventing the term "WikiLeaks" from appearing in its trending topics - a claim Twitter has denied.

AnonOps has posted a statement on its website warning: "Twitter you're next for censoring WikiLeaks discussion."

More inc. video analysis of the cyber war so far at the link: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/WikiLeaks-Operation-Payback-Hackers-Attack-Visa-Mastercard-And-Paypal-And-Warn-Twitter-Is-Next/Article/201012215850393?lpos=UK_News_Top_Stories_Header_2&lid=ARTICLE_15850393_WikiLeaks:_Operation_Payback_Hacker