Whether you applaud their Robin Hood - style ideology of defend free speech or hate their foolhardy disregard for the consequence of their natural action , it ’s undeniable that Anonymous has become a force to be suppose with in recent year . From hacking politician ’ emails to taking down administration websites , many of the group ’s action seem to straddle the line between good and evil . mayhap you may figure out which side of the fence they land on after reading these nine fact .
9. It’s Not an Organization
The website4chanis an image message board where hoi polloi can gather to discuss , crab about , or confess pretty much anything they want . To facilitate the sharing of perchance incriminating matters , users on the /b/ discussion dining table loosely used the screen name “ anonymous ” and from that , a subculture of standardized - disposed individuals with a strong sense of Department of Justice and desire the to touch thing up eventually became what we be intimate today as Anonymous . But the grouping has no leader — a fact symbolise by their brainless man logotype — and they follow no legitimate guideline or computer code of conduct . Members just get along and go as they please and contribute as much or as little as they care . According to journalist and former member Barret Brown , the most powerful mass in Anonymous are those who can call up others to their cause and have establish their chop skill .
8. Anyone Can Join
No authority is going to essay and stop you from joining Anonymous . But if this is something you ’re seriously considering , it might be a effective idea to first join up with an activism mathematical group that obey the constabulary . This way you could get a flavor for what ’s involve without gamble involvement in any type of illicit behavior . After that , if you still wish to charter with Anonymous , there ’s a websiteyou can go to that explain how you may encrypt your computer so you may contact them in camera over internet relay chats ( IRCs ) . Be advise that it can take several age to construct the relationship with the community need to gain access to the more serious hacktivist discussion , and there are likely people linger in the assembly who are n’t who they claim to be . Although Anonymous does have members who truly want to do good , the fact that anyone can get together means that moral value probably vary wildly . There are some event where naive member have cease up doing jail time because they trusted the wrong anons .
7. Most Members Aren’t Actually Hackers
It ’s a misconception that everyone in Anonymous is a sovereign hacker with the power crush multinational corporations with nothing more than a laptop and modem . In fact , due to the proportional simpleness of entry , the average Anonymous penis belike has very few skills that pass into the realm of hacking . However , that ’s not to say that those member do n’t contribute , since many of the infamous hacker carried out by the group consist of distributed - denial - of - military service ( DDoS ) attacks that use the processing power of every data processor available to them . In a DDoS attack , internet are overloaded with an influx of entropy which causes them to crash and consequence in associated websites being take offline . These types of tone-beginning can be very frustrating for website administrators and user who are unable to access affected websites until the web traffic homecoming to normal . In the real world , this would be the equivalent of go in to ferment and being denied access to the job web site by a group of angry protesters .
6. How to Become an Active Participant
After you ’ve encrypt your computer and link up the Anonymous biotic community , the next thing to consider , if you have n’t already , is rule a cause that you support . For instance , if you wanted to get involved with the operation against the Islamic State in Syria ( ISIS ) , the first affair you should do is find the IRC schmoose way dedicate to that mental process and pledge your support there .
When they need to twist their musculus , Anonymous utilise a special piece of package known as a “ low - orbit ion cannon ” ( LOIC ) to launch DDoS attacks . The software enables a figurer to make a large - shell flack on any web site . Targets are prefer through a ballot system and launching an attack is a simple as accede a URL and then inputting the bit of hit you need to send ( typically enough to overload the mesh ) . However , if you disagree with a selected target , you have the option of take your information processing system from the botnet , thereby decreasing your engagement and soften the power of the ion cannon .
5. Using the Low-Orbit Ion Cannon Can Put You at Risk
It should be noted that no legal ramifications should ensue from you link Anonymous or confab with others who take affiliation , but once you get involved with the deployment of the LOIC , there ’s a chance you could be look at jail meter .
In 2008 , Anonymous orchestrated a routine or protests against the Church of Scientology . Some of the prank - similar flak included flooding the Scientology central office with prank calls , transmit various departments all - black facsimile machine to consume their ink , and even a physical protest with player dawning bandanas and Guy Fawkes mask to conceal their identities . But the actual setback add up when Anonymous used the LOIC to take the Scientology website offline . Unfortunately , many anon newbie did n’t make that the LOIC attacks were trackable and , consequently , some of them , like 18 - twelvemonth - old Brian Mettenbrink , ended up attend a yr in prison and cough up $ 20,000 in damages to the Church of Scientology .
4. They Can Use Malware to Create Massive Botnets
A botnet is a issue of Internet - tie computers communicating with other interchangeable machine in an effort to nail repetitious tasks and objectives . This makes them perfect for cyber attacks that involve spamming , oversupply email inboxes , spread virus , and , of course , lot - denial - of - divine service . The bot are any computers being controlled or programmed by an external source . The assailant typically win access to the “ zombie spirit ” connection of computers by way of a virus or some piece of multifaceted code .
In 2010 , PayPal , under weighty insistency from the administration , cut off its help to WikiLinks after the document leak internet site began release hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatical cablegram . In reaction to the berth , Anonymous went after PayPal ’s independent site , but the reinforced web hold the LOIC attack . They just did n’t have enough force to bring down PayPal ; that is , until two hackers going by the aliases “ Snitch ” and “ Civil ” used a virus to bring a legion of electronic computer under their command . With the a raw army of living dead computers at their disposal , Anonymous had the ion cannons it need to take down PayPal ’s main transaction site . PayPal reckon that the damage be them near to $ 6 million .
3. They Gave Birth to LulzSec
Now that Anonymous could check zombie botnets , a host of members was no longer necessary to carry out DDoS attacks . This might have been what prompt a few of the most skilled hacker to break off and form an elite team . hollo themselves LulzSec , the novel group was led by “ Sabu , ” who was largely considered the most skilled cyber-terrorist in the total Anonymous crew .
Having rise commonplace of all the activism Anonymous was getting involved in , LulzSec was more interested in messing around and cause lawlessness just for the merriment of it . Their first exploit came at the expense of Fox when the personal information of over 70,000X Factorcontestants was leaked online . PBS became the next object when a hacker posted a fake news story stating that the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac were still alive and living together in New Zealand . But it was n’t long before LulzSec dispensed with the humble - risk crime and started go after government websites belonging to organization like the CIA and FBI .
2. They Detest Any Form of Censorship
In 2010 , several Bollywood companies hired a software company called Aiplex to launch DDoS attacks on sites that were pirating their motion picture . This directly grabbed the attention of the hacktivists who detest security review in all its form . They responded by unleashing a wave of cyber - attacks on a identification number of anti - piracy and pro - copyright organization .
