Could Anonymous shut down the Bahrain Grand Prix?

By Peter Ward

Last Sunday, Anonymous, which has previously attacked targets such as the Pentagon and News Corp, released a press release addressing Formula 1 boss Bernie Eccleston directly. "Anonymous will not stand by and allow you a race fuelled by the blood of our freedom loving comrades in Bahrain," the statement read.

The group has threatened to publish the personal information of anyone attending the race and has named Bahraini government websites and the official Formula 1 website among its targets.

The race is scheduled to go ahead this weekend, but anti-government groups have engaged in daily protests over the race. One opposition group, calling itself the February 14 Movement, claimed responsibility for an explosion in the financial district of the country's capital Manama.

The group reportedly used a gas cylinder to burn a car, causing it to explode, and has since claimed on social media sites that further "actions" will be taken before the race. The movement takes its name from the date in 2011 that protestors took over Pearl Roundabout in Manama, in an attempt to force out the Bahraini Royal Family.

The Bahrain Grand Prix went ahead last year despite similar threats and anti-government protests. Anonymous carried out cyber-attacks on the race, and managed to take down the F1 web sites for a few hours, but the group's effect was limited. This year, Anonymous is adamant it will shut down the race completely.

"This will be a global attack on a small range of targets, going for three days. There will be a great deal of disruption to those targets," Commander X, one of the leader of Anonymous, said by email. "We are the final boss of the Internet, we will take it all down. The race will be shut down."

According to Commander X, Anonymous will be cooperating with the protestors on the ground in Bahrain. "The physical race will be targeted by activists on the ground, with whom we are coordinating closely. The cyber-attacks will be timed to coincide with those ground protests."

Cyber conflict experts believe Anonymous has sufficient power for race organizers to take extra security precaution. "Anonymous is funny because a lot of their stuff is kind of Mickey Mouse and not very serious," said Jason Healey, Director of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative at the Atlantic Council. "However, there have been other times when they've really had their blood up and they've taken the time to intrude into their target, learn what their target is about and then dismantle it."

"F1 is so high tech that I would hope it is taking [the cyber threat] seriously enough to look at making sure that those systems are not connected to the internet at all," he added.

The Bahraini government claims it is ready to repel any cyber-attack. "We are aware of the new cyber threats and are ready to defend hacking attempts," an official from the Interior Ministry's Cyber Crimes Unit said.

Last year Anonymous had little impact on the race, but that is not to say that the organizers can dismiss the threat this year. The group will need collaborators on the ground and inside the event to do real damage to the race, and the news that Anonymous has been working together with protestors should be worrying to the authorities, given that this weekend Bahrain will be under the global spotlight.