Skip to main content

Anonymous hackers strike back against governments of Egypt, Yemen

Shadowy “hacktivist” group Anonymous retaliated against the governments of Egypt and Yemen this week in a show of support for antigovernment protesters in those Middle Eastern countries.

According to a report in The New York Times, about 500 Anonymous hackers managed to shut down the websites of Egypt’s Ministry of Information, as well as that of embattled President Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party. The website take-downs come just a day after Egypt’s Internet service provers brought the country back online after a five-day Internet and mobile phone blackout.  It also follows simlar Anonymous-credited attacks on the websites of the Tunisian government, which fell due to uprisings earlier last month.

“We want freedom,” Anonymous spokesman Gregg Housh tells the Times about why the group is launching the digital attacks. “It’s as simple as that. We’re sick of oppressive governments encroaching on people.”

Anonymous followed up the Egypt attacks late Wednesday by taking down the websites of Yemen’s Ministry of Information, as well as Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, reports Gawker. The strike coincides with a “day of rage” protest in Yemen meant to mimic the protests that have engulfed Egypt over the past week.

The loose-knit hacker group, which originated on website 4chan.org, first came into the national spotlight after it launched successful attacks on Paypal.com and the corporate websites of Visa and Master Card, to show its support for WikiLeaks and founder Julian Assange. These attacks prompted an investigation into Anonymous by the FBI.

While the WikiLeaks attacks made major headlines worldwide, Anonymous’ most recent round has taken a back seat to the bloody uprising on the ground in Egypt, where protesters continue to face violent opposition from allegedly pro-Mubarak activists.

The hacker group has managed, however, to become part of a bigger story about the role of technology in times of political upheaval.

Both Twitter and Facebook have played crucial parts in helping protesters get their stories out to the rest of the world. And Google even created a custom Speak2Tweet service, which allowed Egyptians to phone-in Twitter updates while the country remained in the digital dark.

Regardless of Anonymous’ impact on the future of the Arab people it supports, it’s obvious that the online realm has become the new battlefield of the 21st Century, where fights between citizen and government can truly be won or lost.

Andrew Couts
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Features Editor for Digital Trends, Andrew Couts covers a wide swath of consumer technology topics, with particular focus on…
What is an RSS feed? Here’s why you should still use one
A person using a HP ENVY x360 2-in-1 15.6-inch Touch-Screen Laptop sitting on a bed.

With so much new content on the web added daily, it can be tough to keep up with what's happening online. People try several different ways, including visiting specific websites every day, doing Google searches, or relying on social media to keep them informed. One solution that sometimes gets overlooked is an old-school one: The RSS feed.

What is an RSS feed? It's a technology that has influenced many modern internet tools you're familiar with, and its streamlined, algorithm-free format could make it your next great tool for reading what you want online.
What is RSS?

Read more
Best laptop deals: Save on HP, Lenovo, Dell and Apple
Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 playing Cyberpunk 2077.

Buying a new laptop can be very daunting, especially with how saturated the market is with dozens of options from nearly a dozen brands and various configurations of each of those laptops. Even worse is trying to navigate the maze of available laptop deals across various retailers, and for those who don't want to do all that legwork, you're in luck! We've used our experience to collect the best deals in various categories to ensure you get the best bang for your buck. All you need to do is have a general sense of what specs or brand you want, and we'll likely have a deal for it listed below.

Best Laptop Deals

Read more
M2 MacBook Air vs. M1 MacBook Air: things have changed
A man holds the new Macbook Air (2022) in his hands.

The Apple MacBook Air M1 has been among our favorite MacBooks for some time now, and it's even held a place on our list of the best laptops overall. The new MacBook Air M2 is a significant redesign, bringing with it a new chassis and Apple's latest M2 processor.

Sometimes, it's easy to recommend the new model over the old one, especially when the new model brings significant improvements. The M2 MacBook Air qualifies, as it feels a lot more like a completely new model than a simple replacement of the old one. While Apple continues to sell the original M1 MacBook Air at a lower price, the M2 MacBook Air can often be had for only a little more money. That makes the choice between them a lot easier.
Specs
 

Read more