Anonymous Declares War On Hong Kong Government By Hacking Websites

The 'hacktivist' group Anonymous declared war on the Hong Kong government Wednesday claiming that it has hacked several government websites. The group sent a video to news portal News2share which compared the use of pepper spray and tear gas against protesters by police in Hong Kong, to the methods used by police in Ferguson, Missouri during recent protests there.

In the video, Anonymous also threatened to publicly reveal the personal information of Hong Kong government officials and seize databases and e-mails if authorities continue to take violent action against protesters, who are demanding full democracy for the city's 2017 election for the post of Chief Executive.

“To the Hong Kong police and any others that are called to the protests, we are watching you very closely and have already begun to wage war on you for your inhumane actions against your own citizens. If you continue to abuse, harass or harm protestors, we will continue to deface and take every web-based asset of your government offline,” the group said, adding: “This is your first and only warning. The time has come for Democracy for the citizens of Hong Kong.”

Until now, the group has only hacked the websites of smaller organizations run by the government, which have blaring music, pictures of the group’s logo, and a block of text that reads, “We Are Sick And Tired Of your Bullsh*t! This is Operation HongKong. We Will Not Stop. We Will Not Give Up! Youve Pissed All The Anons Off #SaveHongKong #OpHongKong #Anonymous #Hacked,” according to the South China Morning Post.

The group had targeted a wide range of organizations in the past, including portals owned by Sony and Visa, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Scientology organization and the Israeli military, amongst others.

The group also achieved notoriety following the shooting of black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer Darren Wilson. Before Wilson's name was made public, the group had named another individual as being responsible for the shooting. It subsequently transpired that the name released by the group was that of a person who was not involved in the shooting, and not a police officer.