Anonymous Hackers Protest Wikileaks' Julian Assange Extradition: Revenge Attack Expected

Breaking from its support for the Occupy movement, the hacker cell of Anonymous has issued a statement attacking UK authorities' decision to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, leading to speculation of a possible revenge attack by the hacktivist collective.

Anonymous issued its first statement via its AnonOps Twitter feed. "Julian needs all of our help. Spread the Word! We will not forgive or forget. EXPECT US!" read AnonOps' initial tweet.

Despite being a call-to-arms asking for donations to help fund Assange's legal fees, the addition of the group's standard "We will not forgive or forget. EXPECT US" rhetoric has since led to concerns that the collective may mount a revenge attack to protest the court's decision.

Anonymous' statement came after Lord Justice Thomas and Justice Ouseley rejected Assange's lawyers claims that extraditing the 40-year-old Australian would be "unfair and unlawful."

The decision means that Assange will be forced to return to Sweden Wednesday to answer accusations of raping one woman and "sexually molesting and coercing" another in Stockholm.

Assange's lawyers have since clarified their intent to appeal the decision at the Supreme Court.

The accusations against Assange were initially mounted in August 2010. Assange has since vehemently denied the charges, suggesting they are a politically motivated plot against him.

Anonymous' latest statement comes as a part of its ongoing support for Wikileaks. Prior to its latest statement, alongside LulzSec, the collective had spear-headed a boycott against PayPal's parent company eBay, in part for its decision to cut payments to Wikileaks.

Though Anonymous has not overtly threatened UK authorities with revenge cyber attacks such behaviour would be consistent with its past exploits.

Previously the collective had enacted revenge hacks and distributed denial of service attacks against a number of governments and companies for what it perceived as crimes against the general public.

These crimes had included everything from reform policies that could monitor or censor the internet, to law enforcement agencies arresting alleged Anonymous members.