Anonymous threatens Facebook takedown anew

Hacktivist group Anonymous is threatening anew to take down social networking giant Facebook, this time over a row over social game maker Zynga.

 

The group said the planned takedown is on Nov. 5 - the same date it had threatened to take down Facebook last year, Wired.com reported.

 

For this year, the group said it would release Zynga's games for free download if Zynga does not reverse its alleged plans to lay off 1,000 employees and outsource work.

 

Zynga earlier announced the closure of its Boston office even as employees at its Austin branch had only two hours to clean out their desks.

 

Wired.com said the company had also indicated its British and Japanese offices might close, and that it may outsource maintenance of The Ville to its India base.

 

This came after a 75-percent drop in Zynga's share price over the past year.

 

However, Anonymous pointed out Zynga also admitted having a $1.6-billion stash in cash and equivalents.

 

Wired.com cited a YouTube video where the group claimed it had been targeting Zynga for the "outrageous treatment of their employees and their actions against many developers," though the video was taken down.

 

Calls for sobriety

 

But security vendor Sophos said Facebook users should not panic over the threat, saying a similar threat by Anonymous to bring down Facebook on November 5 last year did not come true.

 

"Do you remember what happened then? Of course, you don't. Because nothing happened. Nothing at all. Facebook just carried on working, ticketyboo," it said in a blog post.

 

It added it is "extremely unlikely" that Facebook will be hacked or brought down on November 5, since announcing such a move would be questionable.

 

Besides, it said Facebook has "lots of smart security people working for it, and I'm sure that they will be just as security-conscious on November 5th as any other day." — TJD, GMA News