Anonymous Attacks Security Firm Symantec: Report

The hacking group Anonymous claims it successfully stole data from security firm Symantec on Monday, November 5, 2012. However, Symantec denies the claim.

Anonymous also claims to have gained access to servers belonging to ImageShack, a service that hosts pictures online. However, there has been no independent confirmation of that reported security breach, either.

November 5th is an important date for Anonymous because it marks the anniversary of Guido 'Guy' Fawkes' attempt to blow up the English Parliament buildings in 1606. In England the event is remembered as 'Guy Fawkes Day.'

Over time the Fawkes mask, which was featured in the film 'V for Vendetta,' has become a sign of anonymity and opposition to established power. Today it acts as Anonymous' logo.

Some observers had speculated that Anonymous would target major Internet companies to mark Guy Fawkes Day. If that was the goal, Anonymous' plan appears to have met with only mixed results.

Security Firm Says No Breach Took Place

While Symantec insists there is no evidence that any customer information was compromised, third-party analysts believe the hackers may have been able to breach the company's security defenses and access the user names and passwords of Symantec employees.

If Anonymous' claim is accurate, this breach would certainly be embarrassing for a security firm. (Source: csoonline.com)

It also appears Anonymous found a security flaw in ZPanel, a software service for managing websites. Knowledgeable insiders say the group figured out a way to fool the software's password reset tool and infiltrate the system.

This was initially misreported in some circles as Anonymous hacking PayPal.

Facebook Attack Fails to Materialize

Some rumored attacks don't appear to have materialized. For example, there was talk of Anonymous attacking Facebook and social video game developer Zynga.

The rumors said that Anonymous either released compromising documents or used a network of computers to attempt to bring those two sites down. (Source: manolith.com)

However, neither site appears to have suffered any noticeable downtime and no secret documents appear to have been published.

It's possible that any attempted attacks were unsuccessful, or that the original rumors were false, or that Anonymous members merely talked about such attacks as a misdirection tactic.