14 DAY TRIAL // Operation Megaupload, the one that started after the world found out that US authorities shut down the popular file sharing Megaupload sites, arresting some of their admins, continues, the latest targets being Warner Bros Record Store and EA, the latter dropping support for SOPA not long ago.
Yesterday we reported that 27,000 computers and around 5,000 users were taking part in the attack that, one by one, forced websites such as the ones belonging to the FBI, the Department of Justice, RIAA, MPAA, the White House, and French government copyright agency HADOPI to temporarily shut down.
Senior Technology Consultant at Sophos Graham Cluley revealed that hackers operating under the Anonymous name came up with an easier way to allow people to join in on the massive distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack against the targets, besides the now infamous LOIC, HOIC or SLOWRIS tools.
They made available Web LOICs, a JavaScript-powered tool that could be utilized by anyone just by clicking on a link, mostly advertised via social networking sites such as Twitter, some of them even being designed to trick users into clicking on them.
Since many media outlets began saying that Anonymous actually tricked most of the users into participating in the massive attacks relying on the fact that because of the large numbers they can’t be held responsible, we went down to the pits, the operation’s official IRC channel to speak to some of the participants.
One of them, AnonR, a web security expert, says that they currently have four targets, one of them being EA, which even though backed up from their support of SOPA, were DDOSed just “for the lulz.”
When asked if Anonymous is really tricking people into joining the attack by sending links to Web LOIC tools, AnonR said that the hacktivists are asking people to join “the fight for freedom,” not tricking them.
He claims there is one variant of the Web LOIC that doesn’t need any type of configuring to launch attacks, but most of them do.
Legally speaking, DDOS attacks are illegal and those who participate in such operations may be held responsible. Users should be aware of this and take part in this operation at their own risk.
The ones that end up on these sites by accident, or "after being tricked” are advised to immediately close them if they don’t want to have anything to do with this more aggressive form of protest.