Anonymous declares war on Syrian government websites

The hactivist group Anonymous reacted angrily to the Internet shutdown yesterday in Syria, an act attributed to the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the civil war there. Anonymous basically declared war on the Syrian regime, saying it intends to obliterate “all Web assets belonging to the Assad regime that are NOT hosted in Syria,” starting today.

In a statement, Anonymous said its analysis of the Internet shutdown is that the Syrian regime “physically severed the fiber-optic and coaxial cables coming into Syria. Essentially, they have physically ‘pulled the plug out of the wall.’” Anonymous, comparing it to a similar act orchestrated by Egypt’s then-President Hosni Mubarak during the civil uprising there, said “this is not damage that can be easily or quickly repaired.”

The hactivist group expressed outrage, calling the Internet shutdown in Syria a “massive violation of the human rights of the free Syrian people,” and said the group will commence a wholesale destruction of website assets of the Assad regime that are not hosted in Syria, starting with sites for embassies.

“Our first target will be the website of the Syrian Embassy of China: Syria.org.cn,” the group stated. Attacks are expected to include everything from “take-downs, defacements, data dumps, E-Mail bombs and black fax attacks.”

“By turning off the Internet in Syria, the butcher Assad has shown that the time has come for Anonymous to remove the last vestiges of his evil government from the Internet,” the hactivist group said. “Soon, his people will remove him from the world.”

Ellen Messmer is senior editor at Network World, an IDG publication and website, where she covers news and technology trends related to

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