Anonymous to Attack GCHQ Site on April 21

On April 14, the official website of the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) was attacked by Anonymous hackers and their supporters, but at the time, the organization managed to defend it. Now, the hacktivists behind OpTrialAtHome reveal that they will make another attempt on April 21.

“OpTrialAtHome: DDoS attack planned by #Anonymous on gchq.gov.uk | Date: 21st April 2012, 8PM BST,” the hackers wrote on Twitter.

In the first phase of the operation, the online activists managed to take down the sites of the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, UK’s Prime Minister, and the one of Home Secretary Theresa May.


TechWeek Europe reports that GCHQ chose not to reveal the methods they used to counterattack the large number of requests that were sent their way.

However, hackers that operate under the Anonymous banner seem more determined than ever to take the site down over the upcoming weekend, so it will be interesting to see if the agency can manage to keep it online once again.

Operation Trial at Home was launched by UK hacktivists as a form of protest against not only the newly proposed online monitoring law, but also against the extradition treaties that exist between their country and the United States.

Three particular individuals sparked the anger of activists. First, the famous Gary McKinnon who may be extradited to the US where he faces charges related to his hacking activities. Next is Richard O’Dwyer, accused of running a website that hosted links to copyrighted content.

Finally, a retired businessman, Christopher Tappin, who is wanted in the United States for his professional relations with Iran.

For the upcoming weekend, hacktivists have made available a poster, urging their supporters to charge their “lazors” and point them at the GCHQ site. The target’s IP is provided for those who want to participate.

While many may be tempted to rely on easy-to-use tools such as LOIC or HOIC to take part in the attack, we remind everyone that the participation in such operations is considered illegal and if authorities track down their IP addresses, they will suffer the consequences.

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