Anonymous Vow To Kill Facebook Most Likely a Hoax, IT Expert Says

An information security specialist said Wednesday that alleged threats by hacker collective Anonymous in a YouTube video to take down social networking site Facebook in November is most likely a hoax.

"The news around #Anonymous to attack #Facebook on Nov 5 most probably is fake," tweeted Eugene Kaspersky, chief executive and co-founder of Kaspersky Lab. an information security specialist, adding, "pay attention to the strange Twitter name they used and links to websites with adverts."

Media outlets around the world picked up stories about the two-week old video, which went viral this week. The video first appeared on July 16 when a newly created YouTube channel -- FacebookOp -- uploaded the video "Message from Anonymous: Operation Facebook, Nov 5 2011."

The manifesto urges the audience to kill Facebook over privacy-related concerns.

The speaker in the video claiming to be Anonymous encouraged hacktivists to "join the cause and kill facebook [sic] for the sake of your own privacy."

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"Everything you do on Facebook stays on Facebook regardless of your privacy settings, and deleting your account is impossible," the posts read. "Even if you delete your account, all your information stays on Facebook and can be recovered at any time."

"Facebook has been selling information to government agencies and giving clandestine access to information security firms so they can spy all the people from all around the world," the post added.

Anonymous has neither confirmed nor denied it is connected to the video.

In recent months, Facebook has faced criticism about its privacy-related policies. In May, a Senate panel questioned Facebook executives for allegedly failing to prevent underage people from having access to the network. Security software company Symantec also has said third-parties like advertisers had access to sensitive data of millions of Facebook users for years.

Facebook has denied there was any security breach, saying no private information could have been passed to third parties. The site also said the Symantec report had ignored contractual obligations of advertisers and developers that prohibit them from obtaining or sharing user information in a way that violates its policies.

The questionable video:

Must Read: Anonymous Threatens to Slash Facebook on Nov. 5