Anonymous hackers
Anonymous hackers
(also Anonymous, hacktivism)
Anonymous hackers definition
Anonymous hackers are an organized group of political activists who often engage in hacktivism. Anonymous hackers first came together on 4chan, a private internet chat room. “Anons,“ as Anonymous hackers are known, frequently conceal their faces in public with Guy Fawkes masks. Their group participation is straightforward but requires masking their identities online as well. If a member’s identity is revealed, they lose their membership.
Although Anonymous is not directly associated with any one online community, the group maintains strong ties through a web of related sites that includes notable image boards such as Futaba, 4chan and allied wikis, the Encyclopedia Dramatica, and other forums.
Real-life examples of Anonymous hackers
- Between 2003 and 2007, with identical avatars, a sizable contingent of 4chan users stormed the Finnish social networking site Habbo Hotel, preventing regular Habbo users from using the hotel’s pool and declaring it to be “closed due to failure and AIDS.“
- Project Chanology in 2008 resulted in 4chan users planning a raid against the Church of Scientology by prank-calling its hotline, sending out black faxes intended to waste ink, and initiating DDoS attacks against its websites.
- Operation Payback in 2010 resulted in the hacker group Anonymous conducting a DDoS attack that caused Indian software company Aiplex’s website to shut down for a day. The group then attacked the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), mainly using LOIC, and was successful in taking down both websites.