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Hackers declare Scientology D-day
Leo Shanahan
February 7, 2008 - 11:27AM
The Age
New videos claiming to be from Anonymous have been posted on YouTube, naming February 10 as an international day of protest against Scientology.
Graphic: Janna Mamar
Anonymous internet users who have previously crashed Church of Scientology websites have named February 10 as a worldwide day of protest in a bid to "destroy" the controversial religion.
The group - called Anonymous - which includes skilled computer hackers, has posted a message on YouTube declaring war on Scientology, accusing it of trying to censor the internet and conducting "campaigns of misinformation".
The apparent catalyst for the attack was YouTube's decision to remove a video of Hollywood star Tom Cruise - one of Scientology's most high-profile recruits - espousing the religion's virtues after the church asked that it be pulled.
"Anonymous has therefore decided that your organisation should be destroyed, for the good of your followers, for the good of mankind, and for our own enjoyment," the statement says.
"We shall proceed to expel you from the internet and systematically dismantle the Church of Scientology in its present form," it continues.
The message, read by a computerised voice and set against a grey cityscape, finishes with the ominous statement: "We are Anonymous. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us."
Last week several major Scientology websites crashed in the United States and Britain. The FBI was asked to investigate after envelopes of white powder were sent to 19 Scientology churches in the Los Angeles area.
While Scientology websites now appear to be functioning normally, Anonymous, which has warned "that it does not expect its campaign to be completed in a short time frame", may yet be saving its largest attack for February 10.
New videos claiming to be from Anonymous have been posted on YouTube, naming February 10 as an international day of protest against Scientology.
Named Project Chanology, the protests are being organised through Facebook groups and online chat rooms, with official Scientology websites and even its buildings being touted as targets.
Protests are organised for cities including Sydney, New York, Los Angles, London, Vancouver and Stockholm.
A former hacker turned security analyst for government departments and large companies told The Age Anonymous was not an organised group of hackers, but a mass of people - probably young men - joining message board groups and targeting organisations they saw as impeding free speech and expression.
"They are anonymous message boards, which means they can post anything without fear of reprisal," the analyst, who asked not to be named, said.
"They'll do something like all join a Ku Klux Klan website at once and stuff it up."
Given nature of the organisation, the action planed for February 10 could involve just "a few kids in glasses showing up and asking stupid questions" - or "really radical elements".
"You can't pin it on a person or a group of people. You've thousands of people engaged to do anything they can against Scientology.
"But what you may well get is the Church of Scientology using this to encourage authorities to go after the concept of anonymity on the internet."
A spokeswoman for Scientology in Australia said authorities were dealing with the threats.
The spokeswoman said the church wanted the Tom Cruise video removed from YouTube because it was a pirated version of footage that Scientology held copyright over.
"The pirated and edited excerpts of Mr Cruise were contained in an official church event in 2004, an event attended by 5,000 Scientologists and their guests.
"Having presented these selective and out-of-context excerpts with the intent of creating both controversy and ridicule, nevertheless resulted in people searching for and visiting Church of Scientology websites.
"Those wishing to find out the Church of Scientology's views and to gain context of the video have the right to search official church websites if they so desire."
[youtube]JCbKv9yiLiQ[/youtube]
Leo Shanahan
February 7, 2008 - 11:27AM
The Age
New videos claiming to be from Anonymous have been posted on YouTube, naming February 10 as an international day of protest against Scientology.
Graphic: Janna Mamar
Anonymous internet users who have previously crashed Church of Scientology websites have named February 10 as a worldwide day of protest in a bid to "destroy" the controversial religion.
The group - called Anonymous - which includes skilled computer hackers, has posted a message on YouTube declaring war on Scientology, accusing it of trying to censor the internet and conducting "campaigns of misinformation".
The apparent catalyst for the attack was YouTube's decision to remove a video of Hollywood star Tom Cruise - one of Scientology's most high-profile recruits - espousing the religion's virtues after the church asked that it be pulled.
"Anonymous has therefore decided that your organisation should be destroyed, for the good of your followers, for the good of mankind, and for our own enjoyment," the statement says.
"We shall proceed to expel you from the internet and systematically dismantle the Church of Scientology in its present form," it continues.
The message, read by a computerised voice and set against a grey cityscape, finishes with the ominous statement: "We are Anonymous. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us."
Last week several major Scientology websites crashed in the United States and Britain. The FBI was asked to investigate after envelopes of white powder were sent to 19 Scientology churches in the Los Angeles area.
While Scientology websites now appear to be functioning normally, Anonymous, which has warned "that it does not expect its campaign to be completed in a short time frame", may yet be saving its largest attack for February 10.
New videos claiming to be from Anonymous have been posted on YouTube, naming February 10 as an international day of protest against Scientology.
Named Project Chanology, the protests are being organised through Facebook groups and online chat rooms, with official Scientology websites and even its buildings being touted as targets.
Protests are organised for cities including Sydney, New York, Los Angles, London, Vancouver and Stockholm.
A former hacker turned security analyst for government departments and large companies told The Age Anonymous was not an organised group of hackers, but a mass of people - probably young men - joining message board groups and targeting organisations they saw as impeding free speech and expression.
"They are anonymous message boards, which means they can post anything without fear of reprisal," the analyst, who asked not to be named, said.
"They'll do something like all join a Ku Klux Klan website at once and stuff it up."
Given nature of the organisation, the action planed for February 10 could involve just "a few kids in glasses showing up and asking stupid questions" - or "really radical elements".
"You can't pin it on a person or a group of people. You've thousands of people engaged to do anything they can against Scientology.
"But what you may well get is the Church of Scientology using this to encourage authorities to go after the concept of anonymity on the internet."
A spokeswoman for Scientology in Australia said authorities were dealing with the threats.
The spokeswoman said the church wanted the Tom Cruise video removed from YouTube because it was a pirated version of footage that Scientology held copyright over.
"The pirated and edited excerpts of Mr Cruise were contained in an official church event in 2004, an event attended by 5,000 Scientologists and their guests.
"Having presented these selective and out-of-context excerpts with the intent of creating both controversy and ridicule, nevertheless resulted in people searching for and visiting Church of Scientology websites.
"Those wishing to find out the Church of Scientology's views and to gain context of the video have the right to search official church websites if they so desire."
[youtube]JCbKv9yiLiQ[/youtube]
