Comm455/History of Journalism

The Terrorists could black out cities. They could launch nuclear missiles in their silos! They could…shut down Facebook? In recent months Americans have been seeing this story develop on national news shows in the thirty to forty five second increments the major networks give to the short frill pieces that we all seem to care so little about. This Guy Fawkes Day, says one large group of hackers, it’s all going down.

The group “Anonymous” has vowed that this year on the 5th of November they will down the social networking giant Facebook. This particular date was chosen in honor of Guy Fawkes Day. Popularized in the hit movie and graphic novel V for Vendetta. This holiday, celebrated mainly in the UK, commemorates the efforts of Guy Fawkes, an English Catholic, who in 1605 tried and failed to blow up the British Parliament. Since then the date has always somewhat stood for a personal willingness to change what one sees wrong with society.

The reasons for this cyber attack are a suspicion by this group that Facebook is providing social and private information to the government. They are calling for mass cooperation from anyone who “just wants to protect the freedom of information,” in their endeavor. But can “Anonymous” really take down one of the largest websites in the world?

A few of Facebook’s practices do worry some internet security specialists. A 6 character password (their only requirement) is a “30 second job” according to Mandeep Khera, an internet security analyst for a large firm. Hacking has not been flatlining of late, as any Facebook user who has been hacked could tell you. And there is no shortage of them. There were 11,000 hacked accounts in 2008 alone.

Amidst such threats can Mark Zuckerberg keep us safe? No doubt Zuckerberg commands a veritable army of internet support staff as well as some of the largest servers in the Eastern Hemisphere. With a large organized association at his front door, however, Facebook’s openness to new members and its ergonomic interface could be its downfall. Regardless of the outcome, Facebooks over 750 million active users will all have cause to “Remember, remember, the 5th of November”