Anonymous Hackers Creates Countdown With #OpCharlieHebdo

PARIS — There has been a tragedy in Paris that involved the deaths of journalists. There has been a slew of social media posts about a website that has some unsettling features. The site is http://www.opcharliehebdo.com and it offers something that leaves many of the people who have visited it very uneasy. The site has a countdown clock and an image of the Islamic flag and it has a countdown timer. The date that the countdown is set to strike zero is January 9th, 2015. With the creator of the website not found this is still a mystery. The fear is what could happen when the timer on the website strikes zero. Could it be another attack or an indicator for an even larger plot?

Pastebin which is a known website where hackers post information have narrowed the owner of the site is actually based in France. Hacktivists have been known to help in many situations and in this case they are on the case trying to find the owner of this site. The owner of the site is Islamic judging from the hosting package that was purchased. The question begs, could the website be associated with the Charlie Hebdo shooters or even be their personal website used to taunt those who they have harmed?

If still unsure as to what transposed in Paris today, there was a shooting at the Charlie Hebdo’s office on January 7th, 2014. There were multiple shooters who killed 12 journalists and 2 police officers. The shooters shouted “Allah!” before they began shooting indiscriminately. The cartoonists for the magazine were killed along with the editor-in-chief.

Charlie Hebdo is a weekly magazine that relies heavily on satire and its headquarters are in Paris. This is not the first attack on this publication for its views, jokes, and cartoons that can be categorized as controversial. This publication on a weekly basis publishes content in a satirical form on the extreme right such as Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, Politics, and culture.

This is going down a slippery slope where people have to worry about publishing content that may offend a certain group. Worry about safety of an editorial staff for producing satire is something that might have to looked into or having increased security at headquarters.