Anonymous Denies Targeting Facebook on January 28

A video statement allegedly released by Anonymous on January 23 calls supporters to the continuation of Operation Blackout, appointing the next target as being the popular social media website Facebook. However, official Anonymous channels deny the claims, questioning the clip’s legitimacy.

The video looks legitimate at first sight, but the voice and the music theme slightly differs from what the hacktivists accustomed us to.

Supporters are urged to download the popular DDOSing tools HOIC and LOIC and prepare for an attack against Facebook on January 28 in protest for SOPA, PIPA, but also the controversial agreement called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

“While it is true that Facebook has at least 60,000 servers, it is still possible to bring it down. Anonymous needs the help of the people, the people who want to take a stand against the government, the people who want to make a difference,” says the digitized voice.

Shortly after the video had been released, social media websites started buzzing, many users wondering whether the message was legitimate.

“FaceBook, YouTube, Twitter, and Tumblr are not going to be DDoSed. Why would we kill our way to communicate?” came the answer from YourAnonNews.

This is not the first confusing announcement made by Anonymous supporters. Reports came in about a website that allegedly offered Megaupload-like services, requesting donations from users.

The trusted communication channels used by the hacktivists quickly came to deny their support for Anonyupload.

On the other hand, since Anonymous is a loose-knit group, anyone hacking for “the right reasons” can adopt the name and start campaigns and operations.

It’s very likely that after seeing the major success recorded by OpMegaupload, some of the participants in the operation decided to use the same tactic against Facebook.

However, as many hackers have learned, taking down Facebook isn’t something you can do with a DDoS attack.