Anonymous Declares War On Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s seemingly inevitable rise to power in the United States may be about to hit a fairly major obstacle in the form of an Anonymous cyber-attack.

The hacking collective, which has been behind a number of major attacks against individuals or companies it considers to have done wrong to the public, has said it is preparing a DDoS attack against Trump’s campaign website.

The “declaration of war” was set out in a video posted to YouTube which says that the attacks, dubbed #OpTrump, will take place on April 1, targeting websites including trump.com, donaldjtrump.com andtrumphotelcollection.com.

“Hateful campaign”

“Dear Donald Trump, we have been watching you for a long time and what we see is deeply disturbing,” the video says. “Your inconsistent and hateful campaign has not only shocked the United States of America [but] you have shocked the entire planet with your appalling actions and ideas. You say what your audience wants to hear but in reality you don’t stand for anything except for your personal greed and power.”

“We need you to shut down his websites, to research and expose what he doesn’t want the public to know. We need to dismantle his campaign and sabotage his brand. We are encouraging every able person with a computer to participate in this operation. This is not a warning, this is a declaration of total war. Donald Trump – it is too late to expect us.”

In a separate written message posted online to accompany the video, Anonymous also listed what is claims are personal details belonging to Donald Trump, including his social security number, personal phone number and the contact details of his agent and legal representation.

The animosity between Anonymous and Trump dates back to December 2015, when the former officially ‘declared war’ on Trump after a radical speech in which he said Muslims should be banned from entering the United States, which saw a number of Trumps’ websites taken offline.

Anonymous has not been shy to wage war on opponents in the past, most famously attacking terrorist group Isis last December following the terrorist attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead.

Earlier that month, the group also published the details of a thousand alleged KKK sympathisers as part of its #HoodsOff campaign, which it described as “a form of resistance” against racial violence, following earlier major cyberattacks which included posting several messages on the KKK’s official Twitter feed, and taking control of another account affiliated with the Klan.

Are you a security pro? Try our quiz!