Anonymous Mexico, which sought to highlight the dangerous conditions facing bus passengers on highways, cut short its 24-hour cyber attack last night due to the earthquake in Guerrero.
A spokesperson for Anonymous Mexico told the Daily Dot via private Twitter messages that the attack was called off for reasons of “compassion” and solidarity with the people of Guerrero.
Anonymous Mexico asked bus companies roughly two weeks ago to install various safety measures in their buses, including GPS tracking, cameras, and a silent alarm system that would alert authorities once organized crime elements boarded illegally.
The cyber attack was a result of these demands not being met, Anonymous said. It was dubbed “Operacion Carreteras Seguras,” or “Operation Safe Roads,” in English. A spokesperson for Anonymous Mexico said in an earlier Daily Dot article that the attacks will hopefully “teach” bus companies that “safety is profitable.”
Anonymous Mexico, in conjunction with other Anonymous collectives from various countries, attacked a dozen government websites, as well as insurance and bus company websites for 20 hours straight yesterday. Bus companies Transpais, Estrella Blanca, and Autobuses Del Oriente were targeted, as was insurance company ING Mexico, and the national police website Secretaria De Seguridad Publica. According to SinEmbargo, a Mexican web publication, 33 websites were affected.
ING Mexico was “hacked for two hours for keeping silence with the bus companies on crimes on our roads” wrote the Anonymous spokesperson. The attack and defacement of the SSP website was important for the Anonymous Mexico movement as it “demonstrated everyone is within reach.”
Operacion Carreteras Seguras was a multi-national effort, with Anonymous hackivists from 25 countries including Ireland, England, Sweden and Iran participating, said the Anonymous spokesperson. “ANONYMOUS is a community so it is not unusual to get help from other countries, later they will ask [for] our help” he or she wrote. The “teams” worked in three hour shifts around the clock.
A Facebook post written by Anonymous Chihuahua thanked the following Anonymous groups for their support during the 20 hour operation:
“Anonymous Mexico and the respective pages of the states in which stand Mexico Anonymous Tamaulipas, Anonymous Chihuahua, Guanajuato Anonymous, Anonymous Coahuila Mexico, DF Mexico Anonymous, Anonymous Veracruz, American Hackers, Anonymous EUA, anonymous El Salvador, Anonymous Argentina, Colombia Anonymous, Anonymous Germany, Spain Anonymous, Anonymous Europe, Ibero Anonymous and Anonymous Asia.”
Despite curtailing the attack four hours earlier than intended, the Anonymous spokesperson said Anonymous members still consider the “Operacion Carreteras Seguras” effort a “success.”
“The media coverage in Mexico was excellent as well as in the USA” wrote the spokesperson. “It demonstrated to our people that there is a resistance movement in the middle of a war zone, we are the voice of the people, which are a 3rd party in this war between the government and the criminal factions.”
