14 DAY TRIAL // A few days ago, we learned that the Swedish hosting company PeriQ Networks AB (PRQ) was raided by Swedish authorities, most likely because of its connections to the Pirate Bay and other controversial websites. Hacktivists have immediately announced their intentions to protest against the police operation.
“We have seen that you have been done a raid on the pirate bay and other torrents sites! We see this as a crime against freedom to information! Swedish Government; you know our capabilities and what we want! The choice is yours,” members of the Anonymous community stated in a video dedicated to OpPirateBay.
“All hacktivists are prompted to attack! On the 3rd of October, we fight back,” they added.
The list of targets contains numerous high-profile websites from Sweden, many of which have already been attacked.
So far, the site of Sweden’s Courts Administration has been temporarily disrupted by a distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack, while the one of the National Board of Health and Welfare has been defaced.
According to NZweek, websites belonging to the Swedish armed forces and other government agencies also suffered because of attacks apparently launched by Julian Assange-supporting hackers.
In a statement they released recently, prosecutors claim that the raids on PRQ are a result of an investigation that targets copyright infringing organizations.
The Twitter account operated by the Anonymous hackers who have released the video statement has been quiet for the past couple of days. However, the list of targets is fairly long and there are some websites that don’t appear to have been attacked so far.
The list includes: gotahovratt.se, svea.se, polisen.se, socialstyrelsen.se, myndigheterna.se, forsvarsmakten.se, antipiratbyran.se, domstol.se, fra.se, sverige.se, spray.se, sweden.se, kriminalvarden.se, riksdagen.se, regeringen.se, sweden.gov.se, sakerhetspolisen.se, säpo.se and securityservice.se.
Here is the video in which Anonymous announces the continuation of Operation Pirate Bay:
