Anonymous to "destroy" Facebook on Nov. 5

[farmkid]

Some members of Anonymous have stated their intention to destroy Facebook on November 5, while other members have said they don't support it.

Link

As I read through the ramblings of the hacker behind it, I can't help but think he really needs to get rid of his foil hat. He seems a little paranoid to me. Like many conspiracy theorists, he starts from the assumption that Facebook has nefarious goals other than getting rich, and that the goal of Facebook is to gather information about everyone for whatever those goals are. Also, like most conspiracy theorists, this is where it falls apart for me. I'm not sure why Facebook would want to do it. These people start from the assumption that because Facebook could conceivably do this, that's what they're doing, but never connect it with a motive that makes any sense.

So, do you think this will happen? Could a hacker really take down Facebook?

On a broader note, people doing this sort of thing do a lot of damage to the world and, for the most part, get away with it completely. On the rare occasion they're caught, the consequences are relatively minor. Should they be pursued more vigorously, and if so how severe should the punishment be?

What do you think their real motivations are? I think they just like to break things, but they're too much of a pussy to break real things where they might get injured.

 

[Tiberius Jim]

"Some men just want to watch the world burn."

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I doubt they have the resources to organize a big enough DDoS to cause more than a brief slowdown of Facebook, so the only other way they could harm it is by using exploits that haven't been fixed. I can believe that Facebook is exploitable, but announcing a few months in advance that you're going to "destroy" it will only result in beefed-up security if anything.

This is most likely just a lot of hot air from some conspiracy-minded moron.

 

[spooky spice]

I don't use FB so I don't care either way, but it'd be interesting to see if they can do any damage, given they've told everyone what they're doing and when..

 

[CorporalClegg]

Is there something special about November 5? or did he just pull it out of his ass? If so, why not wait six more days.

Seems suspicious to me.

 

[Timby]

Is there something special about November 5?

It's the whole Guy Fawkes thing. A bunch of kids in, or just out of, high school, think they're accomplishing some noble, world-changing cause by "blowing up" various Internet sites. Reminds me of a shitkicker kid I knew in high school back in 1998 who was a relentless advocate of software piracy and would actually stand up in the middle of the cafeteria and start shouting "FREE MUMIA!"

 

[captcalhoun]

Remember, remember the fifth of november
Gunpowder, treason and plot
I know no reason why November Fifth should be forgot.

 

[JarodRussell]

These guys watched too much V for Vendetta, I guess. And they probably really need to get laid.


While I do think that the next James Bond villain should be the head of Google, or Facebook, or Apple, or all of them, this is madness.

Imagine how much money Jobs could have earned for selling the location data of the iPhones of Obama, Sarkozy and Co. That's the sort of stuff a terrorist gets wet dreams about.

 

[PsychoPere]

These guys watched too much V for Vendetta, I guess. [...]

They should read it instead; the movie sucked.

 

[Jonas Grumby]

A bunch of kids in, or just out of, high school, think they're accomplishing some noble, world-changing cause by "blowing up" various Internet sites.

Yep. They're a dime a dozen, and overall they don't amount to much more than a pain in the ass.

Still, I confess I kind of secretly wish one of them would finally do something bad enough to just piss everyone off and bring about a real crackdown on this kind of nonsense. I mean, even a lowly pain in the ass is still a pain in the ass.

 

[Amaris]

Remember, remember the fifth of november
Gunpowder, treason and plot
I know no reason why November Fifth should be forgot.

No, no! It has to follow lyrically or it doesn't work!

"Remember, remember, the Fifth of November,
the gunpowder treason and plot.
I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot."

 

[Balrog]

I wouldn't care if the accomplished it. The genie's out of the bottle, and there would be a new Facebook-like site up within a week.

 

[MacLeod]

It's fairly simple if you believe facebook has nefarious goals, don't use it. Problem solved.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

"Some men just want to watch the world burn."

...and bring the weenies.

 

[Samurai8472]

Is there something special about November 5? or did he just pull it out of his ass? If so, why not wait six more days.

That date is when Doctor Emmett Brown came up with the Flux Capacitor

 

[Trelane]

I'm curious to see if something actually happens. With the advance warning being talked about, there's gotta be someone capable of back-tracking the internet addresses and isolating and/or eliminating that general area (state / county) from access until further notice. And then further trimming things back to a town/city, neighborhood, etc. until the turd in question gets schooled by a bunch of pissed-off federal/state prisoners denied their instant messenger cybersex / porn fix.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I'm curious to see if something actually happens. With the advance warning being talked about, there's gotta be someone capable of back-tracking the internet addresses and isolating and/or eliminating that general area (state / county) from access until further notice. And then further trimming things back to a town/city, neighborhood, etc. until the turd in question gets schooled by a bunch of pissed-off federal/state prisoners denied their instant messenger cybersex / porn fix.

The Internet does not work that way!

 

[Amaris]

I'm curious to see if something actually happens. With the advance warning being talked about, there's gotta be someone capable of back-tracking the internet addresses and isolating and/or eliminating that general area (state / county) from access until further notice. And then further trimming things back to a town/city, neighborhood, etc. until the turd in question gets schooled by a bunch of pissed-off federal/state prisoners denied their instant messenger cybersex / porn fix.

The Internet does not work that way!

Sure it does. All you have to do is reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.

 

[Thestral]

"Remember, remember, the Fifth of November,
the gunpowder treason and plot.
I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot."

Ahem. "I can think of no reason..."



ETA: Damn, looks like you're right. Well I like mine better anyway!

 

[Itisnotlogical]

Well, a lot of people are "Taking anonymous serious". Just listen to this helpful Youtube music video:

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNWoUTtwhhI[/YT]

No kidding, there is a guy who seriously declared war on Anonymous via YouTube, in a not only fantastically pointless effort, but apparently also a failed one. Linky

Really, the difference between Anonymous and acting anonymously is the difference between po-tay-toh and po-tah-toh. You can act anonymously and you're a mysterious operative, but if you actually call yourself Anonymous, only THEN are you associated with the larger group.