Anonymous Attacks Facebook

[Pinkie]

Chaos On Facebook

Yikes! Half my friends over on facebook are busy apologizing for posts they never made and never saw, but that appeared on the walls of their friends as if they had. This is evidentially part of an attack on facebook by Anonymous:

Apparently, "Anonymous" won't be accepting your friend request.

Members of the shadowy collective known for its politically motivated Web hacks and attacks are targeting Facebook for what they claim to be the social-networking giant's misuse of personal information.

"Your medium of communication you all so dearly adore will be destroyed," the speaker said in a YouTube video, which was posted July 16 but started circulating widely this week.

Using a voice modulator to disguise his (or her) voice, the speaker, who purports to represent Anonymous, invites viewers to "join the cause and kill Facebook for the sake of your own privacy."

"Everything you do on Facebook stays on Facebook regardless of your privacy settings, and deleting your account is impossible," the speaker says. "Even if you delete your account, all your information stays on Facebook and can be recovered at any time."

The video also makes the unsubstantiated claim that Facebook has been selling user information to government agencies and giving it to security firms so they can spy on people.

*Snip*

[T]he site has repeatedly said it doesn't sell information and doesn't share user information with any third parties that the user hasn't approved.

(What utter bull****. If you believe this disclaimer, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.)

"We do not share your personal information with people or services you don't want," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in an opinion piece for the Washington Post last year. "We do not give advertisers access to your personal information. We do not and never will sell any of your information to anyone."

(Liar, liar pants on fire.)

The announced date for the "operation," November 5, is Guy Fawkes Day, a commemoration of the Gunpowder Plot in which Fawkes and others placed explosives under the British House of Lords in 1605.

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-08-09/t...ser?_s=PM:TECH

If you are on facebook and need help making your account more private or secure, I might be able to help. However, there are some excellent resources out there on the 'net as well. As far as I can tell, I have not contracted this virus, myself.

Onna my friends recommends that if you get a notice of a photo tag, do not open it. If you get a notification that a friend reported you for offensive behavior, etc., do not open it. If you are sent a video which says 99% of people can not watch this for more the 15 seconds, do not open -- it is also a virus. And do not open any links sent to you by friends via facebook chat.​

 

[Pinkie]

Facebook users have been inundated with images of graphic brutality and pornography for over a week, and the onslaught has many asking the question if this is a delayed attack originally set for November 5th by the online hacker group 'Anonymous'.

What started out as a trickle of inappropriate images showing up on Facebook walls and news feeds last week has now turned into tidal wave of images depicting self mutilation, sexual intercourse, bestiality and extreme violence from profiles located around the world.

The attack is exploiting the new photo-enhanced layout of the website, which now places full images in the newsfeed of users when a friend comments on a photograph - even if it is to detail their distaste or disgust, it forces the photograph onto the news feeds of their friends.

The attack on the website has been linked by many to the online hacker group 'Anonymous' who in August made threats of shutting down the social networking site for apparent grievances over the monetization and distribution of personal information.

Is Facebook under a porn attack by 'Anonymous' hacker group? - Canada Pop Culture | Examiner.com

 

[SheWolf]

I refuse to use Facebook, so I have nothing to worry about.

 

[Pinkie]

This is a nasty, ugly, vicious attack designed to end friendships. Here are some things you can do that may help you avoid falling victim:

First, if you get this virus remember, your account has not been hacked. When that happens, you cannot log in, as the hacker changed your password. This is just a virus....but it's possibly the worst I've ever heard of anywhere on the 'net.

My friend makes the following suggestions:

* If you get a notice of a photo tag, do not open it.

* If you get a notification that a friend reported you for offensive behavior, etc., do not open it.

* If you are sent a video which says 99% of people can not watch this for more the 15 seconds, do not open -- it is also a virus.

* And do not open any links sent to you by friends via facebook chat.

 

[Pinkie]

I refuse to use Facebook, so I have nothing to worry about.

Very wise. I joined to interact with my adult child, who then promptly refused to allow me to write on her wall.

Gheesh. Kids, eh?

However, it is true, you cannot delete your account there...only deactivate it. Anyone who has a facebook account would be well-served to post a warning, as YOU will not see the offensive material...only your friends will, as if YOU had posted it.

 

[TheDemSocialist]

:shrug:I think its kinda funny

 

[Pinkie]

:shrug:I think its kinda funny

You wouldn't be amused if you had received graphic images of animal abuse, which is what I got. I have friends on facebook looking for work, or who hold positions of public trust, or who have family members that may never grasp that this was a virus and their loved one hasn't suddenly revealed a deep interest in depraved sadism.

If facebook crashes, so be it. As a social network, it has been abusive to its members. But if facebook can be crashed in this way, what's to stop this group from crashing any other business they dislike?

WTF are these people to disrupt the lives of others? This is no way to address the privacy concerns they say are motivating them.

 

[Kali]

So people are worried over something that happend in July?

 

[Pinkie]

So people are worried over something that happend in July?

Anonymous released its threatening video in July. However, the actual attack did not begin until today, as best I can tell, and have seen reported.

 

[Real Korimyr #9]

Don't know nothing about no July. Got my first taste of these attacks yesterday when they posted a very offensive Courage Wolf meme from my account.

 

[Helix]

I saw a ton of this the other day. Wondered what was going on.

 

[Simon W. Moon]

LOL Facebook.

I guess if they're taking a break from hassling the Mexican drug cartels and they don't have anything better to do...

 

[Simon W. Moon]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-57319073-245/anonymous-says-facebook-attack-was-never-real/

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/violetblue/facebook-porn-and-gore-exploit-spiraling-out-of-control/799

Many people are pointing fingers at Anonymous, but no claim has been made for the attack.

Anon is more than a whipping post for this one; a while back Anonymous announced intentions to take Facebook out for a variety of reasons, with a November 5 attack of some kind in the works, and rumors of a “Guy Fawkes virus” - none of which have been confirmed via usual routes (such as Anon press releases).​

shrug

 

[nijato]

:shrug:I think its kinda funny

Absolutly! Genius. Wrong, but genius.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Annonymous is also behind orchestrating the first occupy event - so I wonder how long the feds will put up with these kids.

 

[Canell]

Good, let them bite the dust. I'd rather have f***book.com rather than facebook.com. :lamo

 

[Aunt Spiker]

LOL

I always thought the online 'friends ****' was stupid, anyway - and refuse to join any of it. . . and it's a good thing, too - because I've had perfect strangers ask me 'what's your facebook page' and stuff. Like - apparently it's *everyone's* business if you have one. Same thing with email addresses - I'm not giving that out to anyone for any reason but almost every form or slip I sign requests it . . . I don't want to invite junk mail. Geesh!

It's ridiculous.

 

[Simon W. Moon]

LOL
I always thought the online 'friends ****' was stupid, anyway - and refuse to join any of it. . . and it's a good thing, too - because I've had perfect strangers ask me 'what's your facebook page' and stuff. Like - apparently it's *everyone's* business if you have one. Same thing with email addresses - I'm not giving that out to anyone for any reason but almost every form or slip I sign requests it . . . I don't want to invite junk mail. Geesh!
It's ridiculous.

I don't have any Facebook friends that I didn't already know in real life. I don't post as often as a lot of them. It is nice to hear the latest bit of w/e going on in their lives though.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

I don't have any Facebook friends that I didn't already know in real life. I don't post as often as a lot of them. It is nice to hear the latest bit of w/e going on in their lives though.

Ah - those friend things - I don't have those friend units in real life. I found them to be too tedious to maintain. Oddly - the only socializing I do is online and mainly on this forum. LOL It's better than talking to yourself when some inane thought pops into your head.

 

[Tucker Case]

I found them to be too tedious to maintain.

Male friendships tend to be very low maintenance.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Male friendships tend to be very low maintenance.

Indeed - which is why I'm married. . . one serious friend is all I need I think I enjoy casual run-ins more than anything . . . a few minutes of conversation at the hardware store and I'm good.

 

[Pinkie]

LOL

I always thought the online 'friends ****' was stupid, anyway - and refuse to join any of it. . . and it's a good thing, too - because I've had perfect strangers ask me 'what's your facebook page' and stuff. Like - apparently it's *everyone's* business if you have one. Same thing with email addresses - I'm not giving that out to anyone for any reason but almost every form or slip I sign requests it . . . I don't want to invite junk mail. Geesh!

It's ridiculous.

You can get a free email account to give out on job applications or whatnot. Nobody should be using their ISP-supported email account for ANY reason, Aunt Spiker. If you change ISPs, you lose that account. And if anyomne with bad intentions gets that address, you're screwed.

Yahoo, AOL and a whole raft of other providers allow free email accounts.

 

[Pinkie]

Indeed - which is why I'm married. . . one serious friend is all I need I think I enjoy casual run-ins more than anything . . . a few minutes of conversation at the hardware store and I'm good.

I'm just the opposite. I love my friends like family, and I'm so old I've had some of them since before dirt was invented.

Husbands I am not interested in at all. Even lovers I tend to lose attraction for after a few months. I'm a herd-person, not a pair-bonder.

 

[Thunder]

no wonder the program is having such problems.

 

[SmokeAndMirrors]

Glad I got off Facebook a few months back.

It wasn't so bad when I first joined in... 2006? But I spent most of my time on Facebook hating it. I kept it for one simple reason: I traveled a lot and some of my best and most awesome friends may as well be on the moon. As easy as it is to say "just write emails," the reality is that sometimes that doesn't happen. Facebook was the easiest way to maintain or re-initiate contact over varying spaces of being out of touch, distant, or distracted. I didn't friend someone if I didn't A. know them in reality, and B. like them enough to call them my actual friend.

The privacy issues finally got the better of me. To cut to the chase, I wound up with quite a few creeps following me around the internet, and I had a couple hack attempts. I tried to switch accounts. But they were back in under a week. It was futile, because Facebook makes it impossible to protect your privacy. Then I read a little more about Facebook and Zuckerberg and realized what a creep he is himself.

I got rid of my Facebook and moved to Diaspora. I tried to get some of my friends over... and a couple of them did go. But, unsurprisingly, most of them didn't. Even though every last one of them has been complaining about Facebook, on Facebook no less, for years.

Some of those very distant and vulnerable friendships may fall by the way-side. Oh well. Facebook is a pretty awful company and I couldn't subject myself to it any more.

As for (possibly) Anonymous... posting mutilated corposes to people's profiles is not a good way to make an intellectual point.