{"id":25613,"date":"2011-11-14T14:32:00","date_gmt":"2011-11-14T12:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=25613"},"modified":"2011-11-14T17:22:19","modified_gmt":"2011-11-14T15:22:19","slug":"anonymous-takes-credit-for-sophisticated-facebook-virus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/business\/25613-anonymous-takes-credit-for-sophisticated-facebook-virus","title":{"rendered":"Anonymous takes credit for “sophisticated” Facebook virus"},"content":{"rendered":"

So who remembers when earlier this year hacktivist group Anonymous vowed to take down Facebook<\/a> on 5 November, 2011?<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything you do on Facebook stays on Facebook regardless of your \u201cprivacy\u201d settings, and deleting your account is impossible, even if you \u201cdelete\u201d your account, all your personal info stays on Facebook and can be recovered at any time. Changing the privacy settings to make your Facebook account more \u201cprivate\u201d is also a delusion,\u201d read the official OpFacebook announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are not safe from them nor from any government. One day you will look back on this and realise what we have done here is right, you will thank the rulers of the internet, we are not harming you but saving you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe riots are underway. It is not a battle over the future of privacy and publicity. It is a battle for choice and informed consent. It\u2019s unfolding because people are being raped, tickled, molested, and confused into doing things where they don\u2019t understand the consequences. Facebook keeps saying that it gives users choices, but that is completely false. It gives users the illusion of [choice] and hides the details away from them \u201cfor their own good\u201d while they then make millions off of you. When a service is \u201cfree,\u201d it really means they\u2019re making money off of you and your information.\u201d<\/p>\n

So yea, that didn’t happen.<\/p>\n

\"Anonymous<\/a><\/p>\n

Anyways, a tweet from the @Anon_Central account links to a YouTube video which claims that the group has created and released a “sophisticated” viral worm which is potentially able to gain access not only to a user’s Facebook account, but their entire PC. According to the video, Anonymous did “not expect the intensity in which it would spread.”<\/p>\n

“Anonymous would like to welcome you to the Fawkes virus which was fully written by Anonymous programmers,” says the video using Anonymous’ trademark robotic voice-over.<\/p>\n

“After the worm is under control Anonymous will use this to its advantage against corruption and as an alternative attack against its opponents”.<\/p>\n

I have not directly encountered the virus, but do have Facebook contacts who have seen it in action.<\/p>\n

Remember kids, as a general rule, if you come a across a weird looking link on Facebook promising to show you a girl’s breasts or let you see who looks at your profile the most, DO NOT CLICK IT.<\/p>\n

Facebook has not officially commented on the virus.<\/p>\n