Anonymous Explained: How a Web Movement Was Born

[steve2470]

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2381113,00.asp

What happens when you put together thousands and thousands of creative, intelligent, and varied people on a community Web site with a broad scope and few rules? For starters, you get a massive exercise in group psychology and the meme concept put forth by Richard Dawkins. You get a factory for a majority of the Internet's fads, pastimes, and jokes. You get an amorphous antagonist of religious, industry, and political leaders. You get Anonymous.

Anonymous has received some attention recently for its cyber-attack on HBGary Federal security services and its threats and scattered actions against Koch Industries' Web sites and the Westboro Baptist Church. Anonymous has ben called everything from activists to hackers (and, yes, hacktivists) . They're viewed by some as folk heroes, by others as terrorists. But who are they? Well, they're Anonymous.

Anonymous first garnered national attention over three years ago when it formed to take on the Church of Scientology. Anonymous staged protests against the church and promoted Project Chanology's own anti-Scientology campaign, decrying the church's tactics and ideals. I covered one of Anonymous' protests at the Church of Scientology near Times Square in New York. Hundreds of Anonymous came out wearing Guy Fawkes masks inspired by the graphic novel and film V for Vendetta, holding up signs protesting the Church of Scientology.

Since the Scientology protests, Anonymous has adopted other causes. It helped Iranian protesters in 2009 with the creation of the Anonymous Iran support site. It hacked the sites of businesses with anti-Wikileaks policies in 2010. It spammed YouTube with pornography. It attacked the Australian government over censorship. It took down the web site of white supremacist radio personality Hal Turner. It vandalized the Epilepsy Foundation of America's forum. It got an accused child molester arrested. And all of these things were done by different people from different places, at different times. Yet, they were all Anonymous.

[yodermon]

1. still awaiting something besides DDoS's and various annoyances.

When they pull off a Stuxnet-level event then I'll be impressed.

[backscatter712]

3. They did pwn the hell out of HB Gary...

They exposed their tactics, embarrassed the hell out of the company, and probably caused significant damage to its future revenues.

DDOS attacks are but one attack that Anonymous' hackers can make.

[Buns_of_Fire]

2. "When 4chan users see a cause that calls to them..."

"...they reach out and become Anonymous..."

Sort of like Captain Planet and the Planeteers, with a touch of Speed Racer.

[tblue37]

4. Why this?

"It vandalized the Epilepsy Foundation of America's forum."

Why would they do that?

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Some people are sociopaths

And they decided to try to cause seizures in epileptics, and used the 'Anonymous' name to do so. The quote from the article sums up the point about 'Anonymous':

“Anonymous, peacefully campaigning against the Church of Scientology, condemn this attack. There is also little doubt that those who would attack a site such as this (EFA), and unprovoked, are the same 'Unnamed People' who covered the anti-Church of Scientology Campaign wiki page, … with the most horrendous filth porn and human gore imagery to be found online,” another Anon post adds.

“Sadly anonymity is a catch all, literally anyone can and will say, "I am Anonymous", even The Church of Scientology is "Anonymous" when they connect to public FTPs. You can not have the security of anonymity both inside and out, without the problems of defending against anonymous insurgents, just ask Wikileaks. Condolences to any harmed. This attack, as any violent attack, is condemned by Anonymous,” the posting concluded on Slashdot.

http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200814/568/Targeted-physical-attack-takes-aim-at-Epilepsy

What capitalising Anonymous has done is given the impression that it's one stable grouping; but it's not. In many ways, the reports might give a more realistic impression if they just called them 'hackers'.

[joshcryer]

6. They're not really libertarians, they're discordians, which is why the "yay anon" falls flat.

Yes sometimes they do cool stuff but you don't want to be on their bad side! Just for fucks sake!