Anonymous, is it a threat? ~ Repainted Writes.

Anonymous, is it a threat?

Online group Anonymous has threatened to release a list of influential public figures with ties to the Ku Klux Klan. The release of the list coincides with Guy Fawkes Day, whose face has been used to symbolically represent the group, in the form of a stylized mask.
Not unlike Guy Fawkes himself, Anonymous has been called dangerous, disruptive, and infamous. So what exactly do we know about Anonymous, and just how powerful are they?
Well, Anonymous is an interesting phenomenon. While many media outlets refer to them as a concentrated group, they can be more accurately described as a loose movement. Anybody can join, and there is no central, singular representation of the group. There are certain themes more common to Anonymous members, such as internet activism and obviously, anonymity. But there is no way to ascribe broad qualities to the group, or even know how many members are there. The problem with quantifying Anonymous is that there is no criterion for being a member. What we do know, is that anonymous began in the early 2000’s on the image and message board 4chan. It naturally representated the internet’s inherent ability to promote anonymous discussion. Within this framework, popular ideas gained more traction, regardless of their origin. And without the negative consequences associated with being identified, the group became increasingly provocative and chaotic and raised public sentiments. Touting anti-establishment values and a disruption of the status quo. They first gained attention in 2008 for organizing an online attack on Scientology i.e the Church of Scientology. Although the attack consisted of mostly juvenile pranks, like faxing black paper to the organization, or making crank calls, the sheer number of contributors was overwhelming. The ability to collectively overpower a common target to their most consistent tool: DDOS attacks. In a nutshell, DDOs, or “distributed denial of service” is when a website receives more requests than it can handle, causing it to crash. Through this method, Anonymous has been able to take down websites belonging to any groups they disagree with. But of course, taking down a website is relatively inconsequential, so is Anonymous really all that powerful?

Well as the group has evolved, it has attracted member with the ability to do more than simply annoy or disrupt. A spin-off organization, known as “LulzSec”, has been implicated in hacking and releasing personal information, leading to considerably more real-world effects. E-mail accounts and passwords belonging to people connected to Sony Pictures, and the US Senate were made public; even the CIA’s website was briefly shut down. This resulted in the arrests of several leading member of LulzSec. However, those tactics, alongside existing “internet activism:, have led to global events like the Arab Spring, which was only possible through co-ordinated and anonymous planning amongst a huge number of like-minded people. It might be misleading to ask “How Powerful is Anonymous”, when what Anonymous really represents is the changing nature of collective action, vigilante justice, and communication fostered by the internet. One of Anonymous’ most powerful symbols is the peculiar mask their members wear known as the Guy Fawkes mask or Vendetta.
Anonymous has also taken up steps against racism and have won the sentiments of a great number of people. One incident is that the Core group of Anonymous hacked Donald Trump’s Voicemail, Changes Greeting and released the messages. Anonymous first declared war on Trump back in December. The hackers allegedly accessed Trump’s voicemail, listened to the saved messages and recorded a new greeting in which they refer anyone interested in making “America great again”.
Video of the hackers reportedly accessing Trump’s voicemail and resetting the greeting appeared on Youtube but the authorities haven’t been able to identify and locate the hackers. This action against an alleged racist figure has won the sentiments of many black Americans and since the group has seen a boom time in their popularity.

With popular support still Anonymous has faced trials and cases all over the world. Since 2009, dozens of people have been arrested for involvement in Anonymous cyber attacks, in countries including the US, UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Spain, and Turkey. The biggest controversy involving Anonymous was its support from the Hermit Kingdom or as we know it North Korea. Sony Pictures controversial yet comedy movie ‘The Interview’ insulted the Supreme Leader of North Korea and since then Sony has been the target of many cyber attacks. Sony and CIA cyber security teams traced more than 400 attacks to single government buildings in Shanghai and Pyongyang. Well the future for Anonymous is uncertain but it is sure that the next type of warfare that is the cyber warfare will be fought in this century and will be fought by Geeks and Tech Savie’s from different countries, representing different views, different factions and different agendas.