#IMWeekly: November 28, 2014

Hong Kong: Largest cyber-attack in history hits pro-Hong Kong websites supporting Occupy Central protests

Over the last few months, Apple Daily and PopVote, two websites that have been covering the Occupy Central protests, have suffered a series of DDoS attacks. The attacks have reportedly hit 500 gigabits per second, becoming the new largest DDoS attack to be recorded in the history of Internet.

USA: Twitter reacts to Ferguson grand jury decision

Following the non-indictment of Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown on Monday, November 24th, more than 3.5 million tweets were sent mentioning the Ferguson decision. #FergusonDecision remained the top trending topic on Twitter on Tuesday the 25th.

USA: Massive hack takes down Sony Pictures’ computer system

Sony Pictures Entertainment’s computer network has been hacked, allegedly resulting in a complete shut down of the company’s systems. According to a image uploaded by an alleged ex-Sony Pictures employee, the system was hacked by #GOP, standing for hacker group Guardians of Peace.

Ecuador: National Conference on Internet Governance in Ecuador

On November 27, Experts gathered in Quito for a National Conference on Internet Governance to discuss the situation of Internet governance in Ecuador, regionally and globally. According to the schedule, topics such as Internet access, infrastructure, content, surveillance, privacy and security were discussed.

USA, UK, Germany: Snowden leaks show how Vodafone subsidiary aided GCHQ’s surveillance program

Previously unpublished documents from the Snowden leak show that UK telecom company Cable & Wireless, a Vodafone subsidiary, played a key role in establishing one of the GCHQ’s surveillance programs. Investigations based on leaked documents reveal that Cable & Wireless provided the most data to GCHQ mass surveillance program, and received millions of pounds in compensation.

#imweekly is a weekly round-up of news about Internet content controls and activity around the world. To read more, click here.