Hacked! 'Anonymous' hacks BART website, calls for peaceful protest Monday, Aug. 15

Published on Monday, August 15, 2011
Last updated on 07:08AM, Thursday, August 18, 2011
HACKED! MyBart.org web site after Anonymous visited

HACKED! MyBart.org web site after Anonymous visited

Were you one of the people who thought it might be somewhat questionable for BART to ask mobile cell carriers to suspend service on Aug. 11, within BART stations, as a means to contain - and control - a protest? 

Well, you weren't alone. But some people took action, hacking into the MyBart website and releasing customer names and data. As reported by The Bay Citizen and many others the hacktivist group Anonymous hacked into the MyBART.org site and also posted names, emails and passwords that it harvested from the site.

"Thus below we are releasing the User Info Database of MyBart.gov, to show that BART doesn't give a sh-- about it's customers and riders and to show that the people will not allow you to kill us and censor us," the group said in a statement on a site they maintain.

Using the name #opBART on Twitter, the group has encouraged others to bombard BART’s fax machines, emails and phone lines - and file complaints with the Federal Communications Commission.

Anonymous called for a peaceful protest on Monday at 5 p.m. at Civic Center BART Station. In response BART issued a statement about the protest that reads: "BART’s online services including web, mobile web, email and SMS are used by nearly two million customers every month. We’re disappointed to announce that the BART website may be subject to an online attack today, Sunday, Aug. 14, between noon and 6 p.m., because this action will directly affect those customers who depend upon our site, as well as the developers who use BART's open data services to serve BART customers."

Anonymous is posting twitter alerts at #OpBART. Here's a Storify with social meda data from this incident:

 

 

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"Thus below we are releasing the User Info Database of MyBart.gov, to show that BART doesn't give a shit about it's customers and riders and to show that the people will not allow you to kill us and censor us," the group said in a statement.

Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/132ef)

Thus below we are releasing the User Info Database of MyBart.gov, to show that BART doesn't give a shit about it's customers and riders and to show that the people will not allow you to kill us and censor us," the group said in a statement.

Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/132ef)

Thus below we are releasing the User Info Database of MyBart.gov, to show that BART doesn't give a shit about it's customers and riders and to show that the people will not allow you to kill us and censor us," the group said in a statement.

Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/132ef)

 

About Susan Mernit
Susan Mernit is the founder of Oakland Local. She is also a circuit rider for The Community Information Challenge, a program of The John S and James L Knight Foundation, and a consultant to non-profit and community organizations. Susan lives in North Oakland, near the Santa Fe school, with her partner, her housemate, a rescue dog named Cazzie, and a yard full of ants. She is an aspiring gardener, a long-time blogger & entrepreneur, and a recovering journalist who's found home in Oakland.