'Occupy' Movement Threat Level Elevated to 'High' for November 5th Weekend

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The ListenLogic Social Listening Intelligence Center (SLIC) today elevated the 'Occupy' threat advisory level for large U.S. corporations to "High" for the upcoming November 5th weekend.  Ongoing ListenLogic analysis of several million online posts has identified a significant increase in support for key Occupy events during the November 5th weekend, as well as increases in:

• Threats made by protesters, with a 25% increase during the past week alone; of the threats, nearly 70% target police. The other most commonly targeted groups include: politicians (10%), corporate executives (8%), and reporters (3%).
• Interest in online Occupy videos depicting acts of violence, destruction, and/or arrest activity. Over 80% of Occupy-related videos viewed on YouTube for the 30-day period ending November 4^th include such acts.
• Posts 'by' protestors who have been actively involved in marches stating that they will avoid weekend activity because of the potential for violence or harm.
• Calls for violent action, flash mobs, and vandalism 

Currently, there are over one million posts per day online regarding the Occupy movement.  ListenLogic analyzed this social media activity to identify events of growing popularity and concern set to take place during the November 5th weekend.  These include:  

• Bank-Focused Flash Mobs: Occupy protesters are organizing flash mobs to convene at branch banks in the U.S. and Canada beginning the afternoon of November 4th.  While officially deemed, "Dance on the Banks," increases in bank-related arrests, as well as vandalism of bank signs, windows, and ATM's suggest that mob activity may turn violent.
• Nov. 5 Bank Transfer Day/Move Your Money Day: Designed to encourage people to switch their accounts from "big" banks to local credit unions. On Facebook alone, over 75,000 users have joined related Facebook groups. Marches to bank branches are being organized throughout the U.S.  
• Nov. 5 Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfires Day: Annual commemoration of anarchist Guy Fawkes' plot to blow up the English parliament.  Guy Fawkes masks are used by Occupy protesters to symbolize anarchist intentions and, more recently, to maintain anonymity while being destructive. Occupy protesters with anarchist intentions are planning bonfires in city streets throughout the country. 
• Nov. 5 Operation Foxhunt: Hacktivist group, "Anonymous" and others have threatened to shut down Fox News in support of the Occupy movement.

"The Occupy movement is now targeting a wider range of banks and corporations because of their high profile and/or geographic proximity to Occupy protests.  November 5th has historically been an important date for anarchists worldwide because of its connection to Guy Fawkes and street bonfires. The addition of Bank Transfer Day, Operation Fox Hunt, Dance on the Banks, and several other activities has the potential to create a 'perfect storm' this weekend that could escalate into further hostility," explained Vincent Schiavone, ListenLogic co-founder & chairman.  "As ListenLogic continues to monitor this situation with a real-time SLIC for its clients, we feel it is necessary to elevate the threat level so that the public and all of corporate America are aware of the alarming social activity we are witnessing."

Throughout the country, Occupy protesters have planned marches in cities from L.A. to Philadelphia and Atlanta to Denver to take place this weekend.  In many of these cities, protesters have already engaged in civil disobedience, vandalism, and occasional confrontation with police, with over 3,000 protesters having been arrested to-date.  Nationally, Occupy organizers are citing recent arrests and headlines in Oakland to rally protesters with calls for violence and civil disobedience.  While the official mandate of the Occupy movement remains peaceful non-violence, more militant elements have been increasingly turning toward violence and vandalism.  Tens of thousands of people are planning to participate in Occupy protests this weekend.

Because of the evolving risks of this situation and the need to understand potential threats of the Occupy movement, ListenLogic has setup a publicly-available Occupy Threat Center that will provide current threat level assessments, geographic social media activity, and a current news feed. This public resource will provide continuously updated information on this issue.

Occupy Threat Center: www.listenlogic.com/threatcenteroccupy

Media Note: Social intelligence, privacy, and information security expert, Vincent Schiavone, is available to provide press interviews, further details and examples, and ongoing analysis of the Occupy movement.  Media representatives should contact Matt Donaruma at [email protected].

About ListenLogic
ListenLogic is the leading social business intelligence company helping Global 1000 companies manage risk, engage with customers and drive innovation. Our Social Listening Intelligence Center (SLIC) provides enterprises with real-time risk, threat, crisis and influencer monitoring of critical issues that emerge from social media.  ListenLogic Social CRM and Structured Data Stream products intelligently classify the social media firehose for real-time customer engagement and marketing outreach. ListenLogic Social Analytics and Insight products deliver deep understanding of consumer attitudes and preferences to help drive product and marketing innovation.  For further information, visit www.listenlogic.com | http://www.listenlogic.com/blog, or @listenlogic on Twitter.

About Vincent Schiavone
Vincent Schiavone, ListenLogic co-founder and executive chairman, has been involved in social business intelligence, privacy, and information security since 1996.  Prior to ListenLogic, Vince was the Co-founder and Chairman of Turntide Inc., an anti-spam technology company, which was acquired by Symantec Corp., co-founder and Principal of InfoSec Labs, an information security company, which was acquired by SafeNet. Vince was also a founding board member of The International Association of Privacy Professionals.

SOURCE ListenLogic