I’m sure that everyone has heard about the Internet hacktivist group Anonymous. The hacker group is known for its high-value targets and untraditional methods. What people don’t realize is that the group was not always about social justice, but were rather on a search for the lulz. The expression "lulz" is etymologically derived from lol, or laugh out loud. Lulz came from a specific Internet subculture known as trolling. Trolls are those people who like to start online dumpster fires. They are the ones who try to evoke an emotional response from people by arguing or making an outlandish statement. Typically, trolls only troll because they are bored with nothing else to do, which is exactly how Anonymous was born within the dark underside of the 4chan /b/ board chat room.
4chan is an online chat space that had different subjects boards, yet the /b/ board had no specific topic. What first started as innocent joking and chatting evolved into elaborate pranks. The most novel prank was on an online game for children called Habbo Hotel. Each Anonymous member who joined looked identical: Black man, brown suit, and a very large afro. They would have hundreds of characters in a single area, where they would arrange themselves in the shape of a swastika, and block entrances to certain areas. This elaborate prank would soon pale in comparison to their flagship raid, Project Chanology.
Anonymous had set their aims on the Church of Scientology after a propaganda video of Tom Cruise emerged. The church issued a cease and desist letter to all the news outlets that uploaded the video online. The /b/ chatroom soon burst into excitement and began planning their attacks on Scientology. This marks Anonymous’s first shift from internet trolldom toward hacktivism. Anonymous launched major campaigns to crash the Scientology phone lines, sent hundreds of pizzas to ranking members, and prank called many top officials. The most controversial attack was a DDoS, or a distributed denial-of-services attack. A DDoS will basically flood a web page with so much traffic that it eventually crashes. Although a DDoS is technically Illegal under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, it does not cause any data loss or significant harm. After the DDoS gained significant national attention, Anonymous was labeled “hackers on steroids.”
During these attacks, Anonymous launched a YouTube video with a robotic voice urging the Church of Scientology to reform, and at the end they mark the threat with their signature slogan: “We are Anonymous. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.” This slogan would inspire more action on the ground. Several Anons organized protests in front of Scientology centers all around the world. Although there were initial doubts about the turnout, thousands of people showed up in support. Many people wore Guy Fawkes masks from the famous graphic novel and movie "V for Vendetta," which is a representation of fighting tyrannical regimes. This would soon become a symbol for a more coordinated social movement towards advancing human rights.
Operation Payback was a 2010 DDoS attack against Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal as revenge for shutting down donation payment methods for WikiLeaks. It was at this point that Anonymous really honed in on battling totalitarian governments. They believe that free flow of information is critical to sustain fundamental human rights because often times the most abusive regimes are the ones that control this flow.
By 2011, this fight would be taken across the Atlantic to the Middle East. Anonymous was instrumental in the success of a few Arab Spring countries, especially Tunisia and Egypt, where there were massive Internet shutdowns. It was no coincidence that the Egyptian police started shooting protesters with live ammunition at the same time that the Internet went down. As a result, Anonymous worked with thousands of individuals within these countries to establish safe connections to the Internet. Without Anonymous, there would have been no organized protests, nor documentation of brutality.
Overall, Anonymous seemed like it was untouchable, but this wouldn’t last long. Among hackers, trust is fundamental because no one reveals their true identity. In 2012, news media published reports of an F.B.I. informant within Anonymous. Hector Monsegur, who went by the screen name of Sabu, essentially spilled the beans on top ranking members of Anonymous who were eventually arrested. Although this sent shock waves through its members, Anonymous still remains a force to be reckoned with. Today they are very heavily involved in LGBTQIA rights, both domestic and international.
