Reports are emerging today that a group of "cyber attackers" using the title "Anonymous" have supposedly uncovered a plot involving up to eight separate attacks on November 22nd, 2015 (archived). Among the supposed targets are:
- WWE's Survivor Series in Atlanta, Georgia
- Five Finger Death Punch Concert in Milan, Italy
- Feast of Christ the King celebrations in Rome and elsewhere
- One Day One Juz, a Celebration of the Koran in Indonesia
- University Pastoral Day at Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Lebanon
- Three different planned gatherings in Paris, France
The timing of this announcement, and its attribution to the title "Anonymous" raises serious concerns about the actual sourcing and credibility of this information. By its nature "Anonymous" does not denote any particular group or groups of persons, even though the popular technology press most frequently uses the title in the singular to describe disparate and varied groups which organized on image boards and other internet media. In another earlier use "Anonymous" and the shorter form "anon" is the designation of a social organization of friends of Bill W. united by a desire to quit drinking. The friends of Bill W. elevate anonymity as a spiritual necessity making their twelfth tradition:
Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
The "Anonymous" associated with Bill W. was not including information on sounding a warning over potential attacks in its chatter as late as 3:00 UTC November 21st according to anonymous sources.
It can not be authoritatively determined whether or not the groups popularly referred to by the popular press as "Anonymous" uncovered these potential terror threats. There is the strong possibility, given the rapid uptake by the press, that the label "Anonymous" is in this case being used by one or more national "intelligence" agencies in order to create plausible deniability for their investigatory tactics, as a hedge due to low confidence in the quality of their information, or simply to sow fear in order to create a heightened public sense of need for their services.