Tech firms face netroots uprising

In the wake of SOPA, everyone hailed the new power of the tech lobby to rile up the online masses and stop Congress in its tracks. But now, the netroots are turning on tech companies.

Facebook, IBM and other firms — along with lawmakers — have been targeted this week in attacks on Twitter and Facebook, via email and online petitions and threatened by hackers for backing a cybersecurity bill that opponents claim would facilitate spying on Web users. Tweets are one thing, but Anonymous used support of the controversial bill last week as an excuse to disable the websites of trade groups TechAmerica and USTelecom. “Cyberbullying,” one tech company insider dubbed it. “Knowing you could be hacked or have your Facebook swamped with complaints makes it harder to express any opinion in the policy process, whether you’re conservative or liberal,” the company insider said. “It’s hard to even tell if the protesting emails and petitions are legitimate or manufactured.”

The virtual masses already have a litany of crossed-out names on their hit list: SOPA, the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the American Legislative Exchange Council. Now, companies that have weighed in on the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act are being attacked on social media by savvy cyberactivists who have figured out that they can have more sway over Washington with smartphones and catchy hashtag phrases than with high-priced lobbyists. Worse yet, the hacker collective Anonymous last week lent some freelance muscle, unleashing denial-of-service attacks on the websites of Boeing, TechAmerica and USTelecom in response to their CISPA support. More attacks have been threatened.