Anonymous Paralyzes Egyptian Government Web Sites

Anonymous, the global group of underground electronic protesters and hacktivists, targets Egypt's government Web sites. Following a nine day peaceful protest against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the anti-Mubarak protesters were approached by an aggressive pro-Mubarak mob. The unstable conflict, turned Egyptian crisis, involved rocks, bottles, broken glass, knives, clubs, whips, fists, Molotov cocktails and so on. But there's one secret weapon they couldn't grab from the ground - Internet access.

Google may be at reach but their executive is not. Google's executive Wael Ghonim remains missing in Egypt. The Google executive last posted on Jan. 27. Last sighting was Thursday evening in Cairo. Visit NY TImes for contact information. Google for updates.

Internet access and communications were shut down in a five day black-out. That is when those anonymous stepped in.

Ministry of Information and President Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party Web sites faced denial-of-service opposition - connection unavailable. Gregg Housh, Anonymous group member, stated that Anonymous, the savvy anti-secret cyber underdog, participated in support of the anti-government protests and against the shut down of Internet.

NY Times reported last month that Anonymous paralyzed Web sites of the Tunisian government and stock exchange. Again, a message designed around freedoms. The Tunisian President quit.

Anonymous is known for their underground electronic protests, hacking skills, and WikiLeaks loyalty. WikiLeaks, founded by Julian Assange, distributes hundreds of thousands in virtually untraceable classified documents. WikiLeaks legal battles come with a hint from Assange. Mess with Assange and face a "thermonuclear device", a "poison pill", the mother of all loaded leaks.

Prior to Assange's "insurance policy" major companies blocked WikiLeaks donation filters and froze assets. Anonymous unleashed a reminder to the very major companies (PayPal, Mastercard, etc.) who cut them off - familiar? But there's more to Anonymous.

Alleged reset? DDoS, distribution denial-of-service, disrupts a connection then leads traffic to page not found or denial-of-service. A DDoS can cause Web site issues and potential damage. Authorities claim a DDoS attack was waged against the major companies. Anonymous claimed responsibility. Soon after, the FBI issued 40 search warrants at the time the U.K. landed five Anonymous arrests.

Anonymous responded with a stern request for release:

"It has come to our attention that you deemed it necessary to arrest five of our fellow anons for their participation in the DDoS [Distributed Denial of Service] attacks against Paypal, Mastercard, and others, that have been carried out in our name in retaliation for those organizations' actions against WikiLeaks ..."

In the Anonymous message the group considered the arrests a declaration of war - cyber war.

The five arrested were released the next day. The FBI arrived at one Georgia Tech student's dorm and confiscated 18-year-old Zhiwei 'Jack' Chen's electronics, including computer and phone, according to 11 Alive's copy of the search warrant.

As global authorities search for Anonymous traces, Anonymous traces global authorities. Anons, members of Anonymous, supports freedoms from oppressive governments. Good company for anti-Mubarak protesters. Bad for Mubarak.

The Anonymous Twitter account released word of the shut down government Web sites http://www.moiegypt.gov.eg/ and http://www.ndp.org.eg/ with a message for Mubarak.

"Mr. Mubarak, when will you follow?"

Both Web sites remain down.

CNN Live reports of over 800 wounded with multiple deaths, thus far, in Egypt. Numbers subject to change. More than 2,000 people evacuated since Monday. With Yemen's President not running for re-election, Jordan's King replaced Prime Minister, and Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali quitting - the revolution has begun.

Proof is in the pudding of Anonymous support.

Source(s): NY Times; 11 Alive; Twitter; (accessed Feb 3, 2011)