Anonymous hacktivists hacked into the official website of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on January 11, 2014 to mark first death anniversary of Aaron Swartz, the internet prodigy and also a fellow student at the MIT. This is their third intrusion into the website, the first being shortly after his suicide and the second one on January 22, 2013.
The hackers left a deface note reminding the institution of the role it played in prosecution of Aaron and that they would never forget his death. The server of Co-generation project website of the MIT was defaced for one hour and the page read:
- “Remember The Day We Fight Back, Remember. Never Forget, We Never Surrender, Expect Us.”
It was undersigned as “OpLastResort”—a shortened form of Operation Last Resort which is a movement started by the Anonymous group protesting against Swartz’s suicide and federal prosecution.
The hackers also used this occasion to spread a word about their oncoming protest on February 11, The Day We Fight Back, against unprecedented NSA surveillance.
- “The day of activism was announced on the eve of the anniversary of the tragic passing of activist and technologist Aaron Swartz. The protest is both in his honor and in celebration of the victory over the Stop Online Piracy Act two years ago this month, which he helped spur,” a press release quoted (https://thedaywefightback.org/)
Reddit Creative Commons and Demand Progress co-founder, Aaron Swartz, committed suicide by hanging himself in his Brooklyn apartment. Aaron was arrested in July 2011 and charged with 13 counts of felony hacking in September 2012 for downloading 4 million copyrighted JSTOR (Journal Storage) online archived articles. The articles were made public
His father, Bob Swartz, who works at MIT could not save his son despite endless plea negotiations and strongly alleges his suicide to the active role played by the institution, rather than the neutral role it declared, and the overzealous Department of Justice prosecution.