The Anonymous hacker collective has started a cyber-campaign against the government of Nigeria, accusing it of corruption, greed, and theft.
In the past, Anonymous members sometimes carried out silly attacks that made all of us ask, "how old are these guys?" but they also take up social causes on a regular basis.
They've stood firm against ISIS many times, against pedophilia websites, animal cruelty, and against the KKK. To this list, you can add the people of Nigeria, one of the world's poorest countries, despite being extremely rich in natural resources.
According to a press release put online yesterday, members of the hacker collective are accusing the Nigerian government of corruption, being more preoccupied with stealing billions of dollars rather than making investments and raising the population's living standards.
As soon as the announcement was made on various Anonymous-controlled sites and Twitter accounts, a torrent of DDoS attacks launched against various government websites.
Soon after, websites started falling left and right, and the list of casualties included sites for the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory Administration, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria's Customs Administration, and Nigeria's National Institute for Legislative Studies, which was also defaced along the way.
Since the campaign is only starting, if you have the habit of visiting Nigerian websites, expect more downtime on government portals.
#Anonymous currently attacking Nigeria https://t.co/QWH0iPiik0 #OpNigeria pic.twitter.com/ynuw2D1ncP
— Anonymous (@YourAnonGlobal) January 8, 2016
#TangoDown #OpNigeria https://t.co/Aeoxe6koIy 204.232.134.42 Linux Apache We Are Watching pic.twitter.com/jYu6fRW8MC
— Anonymous Nigeria (@Mikolized) January 8, 2016
#TangoDown #OpNigeria https://t.co/G9POb6dgf9 41.222.209.140 Linux Apache We Are Watching pic.twitter.com/F5Xk41K9ca
— Anonymous Nigeria (@Mikolized) January 8, 2016
#TangoDown #OpNigeria https://t.co/RrFGZD1pTw 41.222.211.231 Linux Apache @MObanikoro We Are Watching pic.twitter.com/2r2EHUQq8q
— Anonymous Nigeria (@Mikolized) January 8, 2016
#TangoDown https://t.co/2xWJ9kMnRE Linux Apache 41.222.211.15 we are inside your computers @nassnigeria welcome pic.twitter.com/pydgTD0INI
— Anonymous Nigeria (@Mikolized) January 8, 2016
We are inside your computer #Hacked #OpNigeria https://t.co/sUuyvCaof3 We Have All Your Data #EXPECT US pic.twitter.com/cPLfA1U22f
— Anonymous Nigeria (@Mikolized) January 8, 2016