WikiLeaks supporters cripple Visa, Mastercard websites, hack Sarah Palin in 'Operation Payback'
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...at.html?r=news
The Pirate Bay logo was shown on the news in relation to the hacking.
So much for the death of Pirate Bay. Long live The Pirate Bay!
By Corky Siemaszko
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, December 8th 2010, 6:29 PM
Platt/Getty
Sarah Palin was a victim of WikiLeaks supporters, who hacked Visa and Mastercard Wednesday.
Related News
Shadowy supporters of jailed WikiLeaks wizard Julian Assange launched a barrage of cyber attacks on Wednesday that shut down the web sites of Visa and Mastercard.
The hackers, who call themselves "Anonymous," went on Twitter to declare war on the credit card companies for blocking payments to WikiLeaks.
"Operation Payback," their message read. "TARGET: WWW.VISA.COM :: FIRE FIRE FIRE!!! WEAPONS."
Visa temporarily went down at 4 p.m., around the time the Mastercard site was restored after being down most of the day.
In an online interview with Agence France-Presse, the hackers vowed to stage cyber assaults against anyone with an "anti-WikiLeaks agenda."
The group has also claimed credit for taking down the sites of PayPal, the Swiss Post Office bank, and other entities that have begun shutting off the WikiLeaks money spigot.
Sarah Palin told ABC News that she too had been hacked.
"No wonder others are keeping silent about Assange's antics," Palin emailed. "This is what happens when you exercise the First Amendment and speak against his sick, un-American espionage efforts."
The computer-based campaign was waged a day after Assange was thrown into a British jail after a judge denied him bail on a controversial Swedish rape rap.
His supporters call him an Internet hero and the victim of a U.S.-backed frameup to keep him from revealing more secrets on the web.
Meanwhile, the latest batch of WikiLeak-ed documents revealed that Libya bullied the Brits into releasing the Lockerbie bomber.
They warned the British government "flat out that there will be 'enormous repercussions'" if they didn't spring Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds, cables from the U.S. embassy in Tripoli revealed.
The Brits are caught "between a rock and a hard place," the Oct. 24, 2008, cable warned.
Less than a year later, the Libyan secret agent was released from a Scottish prison, over the objections of the U.S. government and outraged relatives of the 270 victims of the 1988 bombing.
The Brits insisted Al-Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, had three months to lives. They denied that Libyan dictator Col. Moammar Khadafy threatened to bar British companies from access to his oil.
Al-Megrahi, 58, is still alive more than a year after his release.
Most of the people aboard the doomed New York-bound flight were Americans, many from the metro area.
There were also 35 Syracuse University students on the doomed flight.
csiemaszko@nydailynews.com
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...#ixzz17a4qkFGh
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, December 8th 2010, 6:29 PM
Platt/GettySarah Palin was a victim of WikiLeaks supporters, who hacked Visa and Mastercard Wednesday.
Related News
- WikiLeaks: Libya pressured UK to release Lockerbie bomber
- WikiLeaks founder takes time to pony up cash for Army private
- Assange denied bail after arrest in England
- Cohen: Punish the leakers, spare the press
- A showdown for Wikileaks chief
- WikiLeaks has 'insurance' file should website get taken down
Shadowy supporters of jailed WikiLeaks wizard Julian Assange launched a barrage of cyber attacks on Wednesday that shut down the web sites of Visa and Mastercard.
The hackers, who call themselves "Anonymous," went on Twitter to declare war on the credit card companies for blocking payments to WikiLeaks.
"Operation Payback," their message read. "TARGET: WWW.VISA.COM :: FIRE FIRE FIRE!!! WEAPONS."
Visa temporarily went down at 4 p.m., around the time the Mastercard site was restored after being down most of the day.
In an online interview with Agence France-Presse, the hackers vowed to stage cyber assaults against anyone with an "anti-WikiLeaks agenda."
The group has also claimed credit for taking down the sites of PayPal, the Swiss Post Office bank, and other entities that have begun shutting off the WikiLeaks money spigot.
Sarah Palin told ABC News that she too had been hacked.
"No wonder others are keeping silent about Assange's antics," Palin emailed. "This is what happens when you exercise the First Amendment and speak against his sick, un-American espionage efforts."
The computer-based campaign was waged a day after Assange was thrown into a British jail after a judge denied him bail on a controversial Swedish rape rap.
His supporters call him an Internet hero and the victim of a U.S.-backed frameup to keep him from revealing more secrets on the web.
Meanwhile, the latest batch of WikiLeak-ed documents revealed that Libya bullied the Brits into releasing the Lockerbie bomber.
They warned the British government "flat out that there will be 'enormous repercussions'" if they didn't spring Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds, cables from the U.S. embassy in Tripoli revealed.
The Brits are caught "between a rock and a hard place," the Oct. 24, 2008, cable warned.
Less than a year later, the Libyan secret agent was released from a Scottish prison, over the objections of the U.S. government and outraged relatives of the 270 victims of the 1988 bombing.
The Brits insisted Al-Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, had three months to lives. They denied that Libyan dictator Col. Moammar Khadafy threatened to bar British companies from access to his oil.
Al-Megrahi, 58, is still alive more than a year after his release.
Most of the people aboard the doomed New York-bound flight were Americans, many from the metro area.
There were also 35 Syracuse University students on the doomed flight.
csiemaszko@nydailynews.com
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...#ixzz17a4qkFGh
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