Anonymous does more than hacking. They staged a huge protest of Scientology in 08 I think it was. But mostly they’re about free speech on the Internet.
They also don’t like being fucked with, so honestly, don’t fuck with them.
I can guarantee you that there are many people in the Federal Government that also associate with Anonymous. Out of those, there is most likely is a decent portion with top secret security clearances. And I’m guessing there are at least some that are trained in cyberwarfare by the Gov. There are people who frequent m4c that also associate with Anonymous. They’re everywhere.
If you want to know their mindset, watch Fight Club and V for Vendetta. Apply the ideology of freedom on the Internet and use it to create a completely decentralized and leaderless organization. If enough members agree with an “operation”, they’ll start it up and whoever wants to can jump on board. Oftentimes it’s low level activism (hacktivism), but it sometimes evolves into something major, like the complete take down of HBGary, leaking huge databases of username/password combinations from sights that didn’t hash the passwords, and of course Sony/Visa/PayPal.
The fallacy is grouping them together in any sort of way. Because the whole point of Anonymous is being anonymous, you can’t always track who does what.
But I’d say yes, most of them are perhaps even more fanatical about freedom of speech than we are about gun rights. When Tsai (RECOIL editor) made a mistake, we didn’t do 25% of what Anonymous has done to people. Sure we donate money to the NRA and make threads and buy guns, but they actually do shit.
Most of them (probably 99%) are extremely liberal. They’re more likely to attack a site like this than help. Anonymous isn’t solely an American group, although Americans probably make up the plurality.
I don’t know that much about Anonymous but I know a couple of hackers. Not your typical “I know a little about computers and programming” types but the people who organize/run events such as DEFCON and all I can say is I sure wouldn’t want to fuck with them. (I was invited to attend some of their get-togethers to participate and learn but due to recent events I doubt I’d be welcome anymore.)
I hope that they actually take up our cause because, as many here have already pointed out, they could make a formidable ally.
Anonymous believes in as little government control as possible which is why they make videos like these when the government tries to put more control in place.
Actually I guess they’re more libertarian. All for gov’t getting out of your business, whether it be gay rights, freedom of speech, or anything. Or maybe anarchist, lol.
That’s pretty much it as I understand it. From what I have heard, supposedly from the top, the suggestion was that the south should grow a pair and secede from the union.
Beyond that… I’m not sure how closely related to Anon that this latest video is. Possibly a similar relation that the Yeager video has to the general firearms community.
One thing is for sure no matter how you look at any of this or want to define it. There is a lot of people from a lot of different walks of life with lots of different motivations thinking that our government is over stepping it’s bounds.
Again, the premise that they’re a single group is wrong. Referring to “Anonymous” as an entity is analogous to referring to anyone who probably is a heavy Internet/social media user who prefers to remain… well… anonymous. This person may or may not be an activist, may or may not be a hacker, may or may not be American, may or may not like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, etc.
There is no structure, no leadership, no central means of communication (used to be 4chan, but not anymore), nothing that binds the group together besides anonymity.
In the history of the world, there aren’t a whole lot of examples of a similar “group” so I can understand it’s difficult to grasp. The best analogy is a riot.
Agree. This is a spoof I believe and if it is a spoof; whoever made it must make clinging noises when they walk because thats one of the last groups you want to piss off.
I think the better analogy would simply be Web Rings where similar thoughts are presented on individual web sites. Not unlike this site and say a 1911 only site. There is still a central thought.
This 2A group can be thought of as defining their spot in the greater entity.
Right now though the greater heartbeat of Anon is focused towards all that revolved around Aaron prior to his death. from what I understand they are not done yet either.
So unlike a riot where you have people fighting just to be fighting and looting their neighbors… Anon has a more weblike branching out with much less chaos.
Thats why this video seems sort of not the real thing. Its simply an emerging piece of Anon web trying to figure what to connect to and exactly how to connect. That’s pretty much how hacking works. You read, study, learn… then take up a cause or task and define your place then teach it.
You’ve never heard the phrase “for the lulz” before?
They definitely do disruptive shit just because it’s hilarious. But they also sometimes take more political stands. Again, it’s not one homogenous organization and it’s not even really an “organization”.