Hackers linked to Anonymous and AntiSec jacked two websites belonging to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Friday morning.
The hackers compromised the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection’s Business Center, along with a site promoting National Consumer Protection Week in apparent retaliation for the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
Both site home-pages were temporarily replaced with a German-language video depicting a man in a ski mask shooting people for downloading copyrighted music.
“If ACTA is signed by all participating negotiating countries, you can rest assured that Antisec will bring a fu**ing mega-uber-awesome war that rain torrential hellfire down on all enemies of free speech, privacy and Internet freedom,” the hackers wrote in an online communiqué posted to PasteBin.
“We will systematically knock all evil corporations and governments off of our Internet. And just think, as you’re reading this statement, we are already sailing into new waters with our allied shiny epic lulzfleet. Don’t fret, we’ve already prepared treasure chests of stolen booty, diamonds and pizzas for our next raid.
“There is no doubt that ACTA is more dangerous and detrimental to our rights than SOPA,” they continued. “ACTA will further spread the contagion of stricter copyright enforcement worldwide, at the expense of our essential liberties and basic freedoms of speech, expression and privacy. ACTA is a downright shitty act. We must kill it. With fire.”
Commission spokesperson Cecelia Prewett confirmed the hack, saying the FTC took the “malicious acts” quite seriously.
“The sites have been taken down and will be brought back up when we’re satisfied that any vulnerability has been addressed,” she said.
Unsurprisingly, Prewett did not comment on claims that Anonymous had extracted a significant amount of personal data related to Trade Commission employees, including passwords, addresses, online dating details, e-mails and even banking information.
