Anonymous hacker

Anonymous:

Anonymous is a decentralized international activist/hacktivist collective/movement that is widely known for its various cyber attacks against several governments, government institutions and government agencies, corporations, and the Church of Scientology.

Anonymous is a loose network of hacktivists (hacker activists) who aspire to change the status quo. They’re strongly against any and all forms of censorship, as well as government surveillance. The group is said to have originated in 2003 when a few random users came together to talk about anarchy, oppression, and the  state of things on 4Chan image boards. 

“We are Anonymous. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”

In 2006, they caught their first glimpse of attention after infiltrating the Finnish social networking hub Habbo and blocking access to certain parts of the site. Reports had surfaced how the site had been racially profiling certain users, so Anonymous decided to strike back. 

They made a name for themselves, but it would be another two years before anyone outside of 4Chan circles would recognize it.

Anonymous Reached Near Divinity When They Hacked the Church of Scientology

Flash forward to 2008 when Anonymous made headlines by releasing a macabre video declaring war on the Church of Scientology. In the video below the group claims the church had been exploiting its members for years and therefore deserved to be brought down.

“For the good of your followers, for the good of mankind—and for our own enjoyment—we shall proceed to expel you from the Internet.” 

A series of DDoS attacks and various waves of in-person protests followed. Thousands of protesters wearing Guy fawkes masks flocked to Scientology centers around the world, forever damning the church’s reputation and costing millions in damages.

The church suffered massive attacks to their website, but worse they suffered irreparable damage to their credibility.

This was the first time hacktivists united under the same banner, for the same cause, and it set the stage for what was to happen next.

Avenging Assange and Toppling Government Oppression

In 2010, the U.S. tried to close the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks by forcing sites like Amazon, PayPal, and MasterCard to remove their services from the site. By doing so, the government could block off any and all access to the site’s public funds. 

In response, Anonymous launched an attack named “Operation Avenge Assange”, where they temporarily brought down PayPal’s, Visa’s, and MasterCard’s websites.

PayPal estimated the damages had cost the company $5.5 million, which subsequently led to 14 Anonymous arrests.

13 out of the 14 hackers  pled guilty to the attack, but WikiLeaks lives on.

Fighting Oppression and Giving Back to the People

Shortly after,  Anonymous took to Tunisia in support of the Arab Spring by launching numerous DDoS attacks on Tunisian government websites. They also helped empower the Tunisian people by providing them with the proper tools and information needed to hack the government (one of which being the Tor browser). 

This led to a massive government uprising which eventually helped topple the dictatorship.

Similar attacks occurred in Egypt, where Anonymous helped restore certain parts of the Internet that were being censored by the government. The group also hacked and took down numerous government websites. These sites remained offline until then-president Hosni Mubarak officially resigned.

Countless other attacks have been documented–including the famous Westboro Baptist Church hacking, where Anonymous released the names, numbers, email and home addresses of many of the church’s members in a tweet. 

by-Sai Aditya meher