Who are Anonymous? The most famous hacker group | NordVPN

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Anonymous hackers have declared cyberwar against Russia, following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. But who are Anonymous? What do Anonymous attacks against Russia mean? Check out this video on the story of Anonymous.

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Contents:

00:00 Intro
00:37 Who are Anonymous?
01:03 What’s their story?
02:17 Criticism of Anonymous
04:09 Outro

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If you haven’t been living under a cybersecurity rock, you’ve probably heard of this group. Anonymous is a hacker group that has been making life a bit harder for Putin lately.

Anonymous is not an official organization. It’s a loose, decentralized group of hackers and activists who sometimes refer to themselves as Anons. Anyone can carry out an attack under the group’s name.

That’s what makes many of their attacks hard to verify. Not to mention, hackers are quite limited in what evidence of an illegal attack they can provide without revealing their own identity. But you can recognize them in public. They’re the ones wearing the Guy Fawkes masks from V for Vendetta.

Anonymous started in 2003 on 4chan. The group worked towards loosely defined goals, usually pranks for their own entertainment. One of the group’s first well-known hacktivist projects started as a series of attacks against the Church of Scientology for the church's alleged mistreatment of its members.

The attacks included prank-calling the church’s hotline, sending black faxes designed to waste ink cartridges, and launching DDoS attacks against its websites.Anonymous members also joined simultaneous real-life protests at the Church of Scientology facilities around the world. These protests were also the first time Anonymous members started wearing Guy Fawkes masks.

From then on, the group’s targets became more political. In 2012, Anonymous carried out a number of actions in support of the Arab Spring. In 2014, the group organized cyberprotests against the Minneapolis police in the wake of the fatal shooting of unarmed African-American Michael Brown. The group has also declared war on groups like al-Qaeda, the Ku Klux Klan, ISIS, and QAnon.

But Anonymous attacks have also received criticism. In 2008, Wired News reported on a raid on an epilepsy support forum that was allegedly carried out by Anonymous. JavaScript code and flashing computer animations were posted with the intention of triggering migraine headaches and seizures in photosensitive and pattern-sensitive epileptics.

While 4chan administrators denied the connection between the attacks and Anonymous, in 2021 Aubrey Cottle, one of the group’s most well-known founding members, admitted that Anonymous was, in fact, responsible.
In 2012, Anons carried out a barrage of DDoS attacks against the U.S. government and copyright organizations, shutting down the sites for the RIAA, MPAA, Broadcast Music, and the FBI.
It was a response to the shutdown of the file sharing site Megaupload for allegations of copyright infringement.

Which brings us to the present day. On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine. In response, Anonymous declared cyberwar on the aggressor. The group announced multiple cyber attacks against Russia’s media channels, government agencies, and companies. While the group’s intentions seem noble, some experts are worried about the rise of vigilante hacktivism.

What if an attack accidentally damages critical infrastructure of civilian life? Or unintentionally hurts those it’s aiming to protect? Following protests in Sri Lanka against its president, Gotabaya Rajapakse, Anonymous has stepped in to support the movement. The group attacked government websites, but as part of the attacks they also released private data of Sri Lankan citizens. The release of their personal information makes them way more vulnerable to attacks from cybercriminals.

This begs the question — are the risks worth it? Having a decentralized group of activists that keeps the people in power sounds almost utopian. But even with the best of intentions, cyber attacks can go wrong. And what if some malicious actor infiltrates the group? So, what do you think — are they digital Robin Hoods, or cyberterrorists?

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