A pro-WikiLeaks hacker has stated that an Internet insurgent group will continue targeting companies that oppose the whistleblowing website.For the first time, the cyber-insurgent "Bass" from the group Anonymous spoke on camera, revealing details about their operations and their expanding membership.
"Our pool of targets is actually very limited," the masked spokesman told Sky News. "We are going after the agencies that were directly involved in the censorship of WikiLeaks.
"They include PayPal, which cut off services and withheld funds, Visa and MasterCard for similar actions, and Amazon for terminating their service support.
"We don't attack the media, even those critical of us. We don't target any news outlets," he emphasized. "Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks, despite some actions against us, are not our targets."
In their last attack, the group mobilized 9,000 volunteers as part of a "hive-mind" effort, likening themselves to angry bees overwhelming the websites of companies withdrawing support from Julian Assange's WikiLeaks.
"The software itself has been downloaded over 300,000 times," Bass told Sky News. "Someone proposes a target, we conduct intelligence on them, considering the pros and cons and many other factors."
These Internet attacks are illegal in most Western countries, which is why Anonymous spokesmen refuse to reveal their identities. They pledged to continue their attacks and are developing new, more sophisticated types of malicious software.
The U.K. Metropolitan Police have been investigating the group for months, looking into recent attacks on Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal. With its assault on major credit card firms, Anonymous has escalated Internet aggression from hacking to cyber-insurgency.
Meanwhile, revolutionary figurehead Julian Assange appeared in London's High Court today as part of his ongoing battle against extradition to Sweden. The cyber whistleblower has categorically denied claims that he raped or sexually molested two Swedish women.