Many media outlets reported a possible PayPal hack as well, however PayPal issued a denial, stating they had no evidence of a breach.

Additionally, credit for the Symantec hack may go to a hacker or group of hackers called HTP, not the larger de-centralized mass of Anons.

The ImageShack hack appears pretty comprehensive. In a Pastebin post of ImageShack data, the hackers wrote that "ImageShack has been completely owned, from the ground up. We have had root and physical control of every server and router they own. For years." The data dump included pages of code, email addresses and encrypted passwords.

In addition to the hacks, Anonymous is re-enacting the final scene from the movie V for Vendetta, from which the group was inspired to adopt its now-iconic Guy Fawkes mask. The peaceful action is taking place in Trafalgar Square in London. On the Facebook page for the event, Anonymous writes that the event "is the centrepiece of a worldwide Anonymous operation of global strength and solidarity, a warning to all governments worldwide that if they keep trying to censor, cut, imprison, or silence the free world or the free internet they will not be our governments for much longer. Change is coming."

Anonymous includes an important disclaimer at the bottom of the page: "We will NOT blow up Parliament." A long-standing rumor that Anonymous would target Facebook today is also false:

Again... regarding the Facebook attack... it's FAKE! #kthx

— Anonymous Press (@AnonymousPress) November 5, 2012

So Parliament and Facebook are both safe, but our favorite photo websites circa 2005? Not so much.

Screengrab

A group claiming affiliation with Anonymous posted a bomb threat on its Twitter account Monday, saying it plans to detonate a bomb in a government building on November 5. The threat prompted disavowals from other Anon channels across the web.

The threat was linked from @FawkesSecurity, which posted the following message on several paste-up sites, as well as links to a seemingly typical Anonymous video with a masked and suited figure gesturing as a robotic voice said these words:

Dear citizens of the world, We are Anonymous.

As of today, 200 kilograms of composite Nitroglycerin and commercial explosives have effectively been concealed in a government building, situated in the United States of America. On the 5th of November, 2012, the device will detonate remotely via the transmission control protocol, leaving behind severe consequences. We would like to advise that the contraption is built inside a tamper-proof apparatus sensitive to physical intrusions or attempted disarmament, thus resulting in the desired effect, if the military grade device is found before the 5th of November. There is no intention, risks or circumstances whatsoever to cause harm to innocent people, but we can not say the same for the people who are the real terrorists, oppressors and war creators. [...]

Negative responses to the threat from the larger, Fawkes-masked and shifting sea of Anonymous have been trending on Pastebin, the most well-known programmers' paste-up site.

In one, titled "Anonymous response to false #OpV attack," the author of the message writes that FawkesSecurity has been seeking "fame by reuploading (sic) Anonymous videos [...] for almost a year" and suggests the bomb threat may be a disinformation campaign by the authorities or a "disinfo fucktard."

Another, more formal response was addressed "to the media." It said in part:

Let us be perfectly clear: Anonymous is not a terrorist organization. Anonymous does not use bombs. Anonymous does not condone violence in any way. Anonymous supports justice and universal equal rights. We support peaceful protest.

The Pastebin post addressing the media closed with another suggestion the bomb threat was disinformation intended to portray Anonymous as a terrorist group and concluded, "Either way, fuck whoever posted that threat."

The threatening message says it will detonate the bomb via "transmission control protocol," which may be a subtle signal that it is a hoax. Transmission control protocol is the TCP in TCP/IP. TCP is an application that supports secure and organized data transfer over the web.

However, the use of the term may also be the writer's attempt to suggest the bomb can be detonated by remote command, perhaps via cellphone.

The responses to FawkesSecurity's threat have sometimes referenced Project Mayhem 2012 and #OpV or #OpVendetta.

The latter operation will be a planned act of peaceful street theater in which Anons gather in London to recreate the final scene from the movie, V for Vendetta. In that scene, a mass of marchers enter Trafalgar Square in Guy Fawkes masks, then bombs go off under Big Ben in the U.K. Parliament building. Anonymous has said that it will not complete the re-enactment with explosives.

A page detailing FawkesSecurity's history since 2011 at KnowYourMeme strongly suggests it has a history of claiming responsibility for other hacks and DDoS attacks, as well as general trolling.

Anonymous Warning: 5th November 2012 - YouTube.

(Facebook/Anonymous UK-Ireland)

Members of Anonymous in the United Kingdom are planning a public action for November 5, 2012 that may spread to other capital cities around the world. The protest has been dubbed Operation Vendetta, or #OpVendetta, after V for Vendetta, the film that inspired much of Anonymous's ethos as well as the hacktivist collective's adoption of Guy Fawkes masks.

#OpVendetta appears to have been in the planning stages for some time and as InfoSecurity reports, it has the potential to make governments everywhere a little nervous:

Now the various Anonymous groups around the world are supporting each other "for what will be the strongest display of anonymous in the UK so far." While focused on the UK, it is intended to be a worldwide protest, both on the ground and in cyberspace. “On the 5 November 2012 the Anonymous Collective will engage in the largest orchestrated attack on the Governments of the World. The centerpiece will be the re-enactment of the Film V for Vendetta scene at the Houses of Parliament with ground and online protests across the globe," a spokesman from AnonATeam in the UK told Infosecurity.

Anonymous's talent for self-promotion can make it hard to gauge real-world support for their actions, but the Operation Vendetta Facebook page states 3,777 people plan to show on Nov. 5th. Over 1,400 more have indicated they may attend.

The U.K. #OpVendetta page links to a Facebook page for a November 5 event in America: "March on D.C." The U.S. page creators call the March a "Citizens Action" and say they "need to organize a citizens arrest of all parties involved in the various criminal acts that have put our country as well as our world in jeopardy." There could be as many as 2,000 people in attendance.

Naturally, since this is Anonymous we're talking about, the hacktivists told InfoSecurity that "quite a few online protests will be conducted" against government websites on November 5th as well.

We kind of expected that.

(Scene from V for Vendetta--the scene Anonymous U.K. plans to portray on Nov 5.)