Game while you can: Anonymous plans Jan. 28 Facebook attack

Anonymous, the worldwide group of hacker activists (a.k.a. "hacktivists"), wants Facebook's head on a platter. In light of the recent shutdown of file sharing service MegaUpload, the group plans to assault the social network with a DDoS, or distributed denial of service, attack at 12 a.m. EST on Jan. 28.

If this actually goes down, Facebook could be inaccessible for some time this Saturday. (And yes, that means no Facebook games.) DDoS attacks, in short, overload a website's servers, rendering it unusable and vulnerable to other security breaches. In fact, a video created by an Anonymous member specifically describes just how to contribute to the scheduled attack.

But why? The video below, which appears to be the work of one Anonymous member rallying fellow members and potential recruits, cites that "While SOPA and PIPA may be postponed from Congress, this does not guarantee that our internet rights will be upheld. For those unaware, there is still ACTA or the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement."

Still, Anonymous does not explain what Facebook has to do with this, and that's especially strange considering Facebook publicly opposes both the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act. Anonymous has declared war on Facebook several times, none of which were ever made good (or bad?) on.

While Anonymous is generally a unorganized group, it recently rallied to temporarily shut down CBS.com on Sunday morning. The Department of Justice, the Recording Industry Association of America, Universal Music Group, the Motion Picture Association of America and the U.S. Copyright Office all fell victim to Anonymous' attacks last week. So, get in that Facebook game time while you still can this Friday, and make other plans for Saturday.

[Via All Facebook]

Do you think Anonymous will make good on its declaration this time? What will you do if Facebook gets shut down this Saturday? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.