14 DAY TRIAL // OnGuard Online, a website run by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), has been shut down by Anonymous hacktivists as a continuation of the protests that have taken place in the past days. The hackers not only defaced the website, but also leaked some data from their servers, allegedly belonging to the members of the federal online security site.
A statement left by the hackers on Pastebin reveals that this latest hit is part of Operation Megaupload, but also part of the protests against SOPA, PIPA and ACTA.
“If SOPA/PIPA/ACTA passes we will wage a relentless war against the corporate internet, destroying dozens upon dozens of government and company websites. As you are reading this we are amassing our allied armies of darkness, preparing boatloads of stolen booty for our next raid,” the hackers say.
They claim that they’re in possession of a massive quantity of sensitive data obtained from latest hacks, including passwords and bank account details.
Since Operation Megaupload started, the hacktivists announce each day that another website has been taken down. A tweet posted on YourAnonNews a few hours ago also indicates that they may be responsible for taking down Global Intellectual Property Education Database (USIPR).
In the past few days, some high-profile websites joined the list of victims made by Anonymous in what some call the largest hacking spree ever started by a hacker collective.
While some sites are defaced and set up to display protest messages, others, such as the ones of the FBI, DOJ, RIAA, MPAA and the White House, were simply DDOSed until they were taken offline by their administrators.
On the other hand, there is some controversy in the announcements made by the hacktivists. For example, some revealed the existence of a new Anonymous file-sharing website, Anonyupload, a suspicious-looking service whose involvement with the group was quickly denied.
At the time of writing, both the FTC's site and the USIPR one are still down.