Incident Response, Network Security, TDR, Threat Management

Anonymous escalates offensive against Trump, declares ‘total war’

Hacktivist group Anonymous has doubled down on its threats to interfere with Donald Trump's presidential campaign, declaring “total war” against the candidate in a YouTube video.

In the online video, Anonymous establishes April 1 as a target date to launch a cyberattack against TrumpChicago.com, the official site of Trump's Chicago-based condominiums, and attempts to recruit the hacker community at large to take down other Trump online assets and dig up dirt on the controversial businessman.

"Dear Donald Trump, we have been watching you for a long time and what we see is deeply disturbing," an individual donning a Guy Fawkes mask stated in an electronically altered voice. "Your inconsistent and hateful campaign has not only shocked the United States of America, you have shocked the entire planet with your appalling actions and ideas."

“You say what your current audience wants to hear but in reality you don't stand for anything except for your personal greed and power,” the voice in the video continued.

A link in the YouTube video sent users to a Ghostbin page listing the following Trump websites, as well as support sites: DonaldJTrump.com, Trump.com, TrumpHotelCollection.com, TrumpTowerNY.com, TrumpVegasCondos.com, DonaldTrump2016online.com and CitizensforTrump.com. The webpage also lists Trump's alleged Social Security number, birth date, cell phone number and other personal information.

Anonymous fired its first salvo against Trump in December 2015, claiming to execute a DDoS attack on the Trump Tower website in reaction to the Republican candidate's proposal to ban all Muslim immigrants from entering the U.S. The hacktivists behind this most recent video, who purported to be from a different branch of Anonymous than the one that originally targeted Trump, called this latest development a revival of that operation “on a far larger scale.”

The group is even recruiting non-hackers to help the cause by re-uploading the video to their own channels and sharing it with others.

“We need you to dismantle his campaign and sabotage his brand,” the person in the video stated.

Bradley Barth

As director of community content at CyberRisk Alliance, Bradley Barth develops content for SC Media online conferences and events, as well as video/multimedia projects. For nearly six years, he wrote and reported for SC Media as deputy editor and, before that, senior reporter. He was previously a program executive with the tech-focused PR firm Voxus. Past journalistic experience includes stints as business editor at Executive Technology, a staff writer at New York Sportscene and a freelance journalist covering travel and entertainment. In his spare time, Bradley also writes screenplays.

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