Hackers claiming to belong to the "hacktivist" collective Anonymous have declared war on the New York Stock Exchange in a new video titled "Operation Invade Wall Street: A Message To The Media". On October 10 at 3:30 PM, hackers plan to overwhelm the exchange’s website, NYSE.com, with requests in a DDOS attack to temporarily break the site, The New York Observer reports.
The stated reason in the video:
"For too long, the crimes of Wall Street bankers, CEOs, and a corrupt political system have created economic injustices that has gone unchallenged. A new civil rights movement has begun," a distorted voice says in the video.
According to the Observer, a serious attack on the NYSE’s infrastructure would devastate global trade.
But according to The Village Voice, other people claiming to represent Anonymous say Operation Invade War was posted by impostors. From a statement:
Citizens of the world
We are Anonymous! Recently something very disturbing has come to our attention. You must take all notices and information claiming to be 'Anonymous' with a grain of salt. Consider EVERYTHING.
Operation Invade Wall Street is bullshit! It is a fake planted operation by law enforcement and cyber crime agencies in order to get you to undermine the Occupy Wall Street movement. It proposes you use depreciated tools that have known flaws such as LOIC.
Anonymous would never tell you to use LOIC - Not after the arrests and failures of Operation Payback.
Anonymous wouldn't attack NYSE on a HOLIDAY - It is debatable if Anonymous would ever even attack NYSE.
Be wary friends!
Anonymous declared their support of the #OccupyWallStreet protest a week before demonstrators gathered in Zucotti Park and previously threatened to attack the NYPD after a viral video showed NYPD cops pepper-spraying a group of protesters.
They also recently declared war on Facebook, calling for a massive attack on November 5, Guy Fawkes Day.