Anonymous Announce ‘LulzXmas’: Threat or Yuletide Treat?
What will Anonymous do for LulzXmas, hack or DDoS attack? Image Source: AnonOps

The hacker cell of the Anonymous collective has released a new video announcing "LulzXmas," leading analysts to question whether the group is planning a series of hacks this Christmas.

The video appeared Saturday on the collective's AnonOps Web site. Beginning with a light air, the video started with a retrospective look chronicling Anonymous' and its brother group LulzSec's 2011 activities.

Running from the 4Chan-esque prank on Oprah Winfrey that saw the collective post a fake statement pretending to stem from a known paedophile ring, to the widely publicised attacks on NATO and the CIA, it later took a darker tone, showing incidents of police brutality against Occupy protesters.

Following the images, the collective posted an ominous message stating: "Epic year, isn't? And it was just the beginning. Please fasten your seat-belt for this LulzXmas." The video then re-ran Charlie Chaplin's iconic speech from "The Great Dictator."

The dark tone of Anonymous' final word in turn led to speculation that the collective was planning a Christmas series of hacks. The collective had recently shown a return to its hacktivist roots, breaking from its ongoing support of the Occupy movement to renew its campaign against biotech giant Monsanto.

A complete summary of the collective and its activities can be found in the International Business Times UK's "2011 The Year of the Hacktivist: When Anonymous Finally Grew Up."