There are many theories about us. That we\u2019re anarchists, kids, crazy film-buffs that saw one too many superhero movies. The truth is, we are all these things. Anonymous is a symbol, like the flag a country flies. The flag is the symbol of the country. Our masks are our national identity. We are not Anonymous \u2013 we represent the ideals of Anonymous. Truth, freedom and the removal of censorship. Like any symbol, we affix it wherever we go, as you have seen\u00a0from street protests.<\/p>\n
We have no leaders, civilians or soldiers.\u00a0We are all one. We run operations because that is what the group decides to do. We choose targets because that is what the people who represent the ideals of Anonymous want to fight for.\u00a0The world is in trouble. We see it every day \u2013 war, poverty, murder. Every day we are bombarded with news and images, as we sit at home safe in the knowledge that we are powerless, that \u201cbetter\u201d minds are dealing with the situation.<\/p>\n
But what if you could be the change you want to see?
\nI\u2019m 25 years old. I went to school and college. I fought for my country then got a job and paid my taxes. If you met me on the street I wouldn\u2019t even register on your radar. I am just another person in a sea of faces.<\/p>\n
But in cyberspace we are different.\u00a0We helped free the people of Egypt. We helped fight against Israel as it attempted genocide. We exposed more than 50,000 paedophiles around the world. We fought the drug cartels. We have taken to the streets to fight for the rights you are letting slip through your fingers.<\/p>\n
We are Anonymous.<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s world we are seen as terrorists or at best dangerous anarchists. We\u2019re called \u201ccowards\u201d and \u201cposers\u201d for hiding behind masks, but who is the real poser? We take away the face and leave only the message. Behind the mask we could be anyone, which is why we are judged by what we say and do, not who we are or\u00a0what we have.<\/p>\n
We exist without nationality, skin colour or religious bias.<\/p>\n
You wage wars, lie to us and try to make us believe it\u2019s for our own good.
\nYet we\u2019re the criminals?<\/p>\n
We spend our time within a structure we created, the sum total of human experience spread throughout the world in ones and zeros. When CERN created the internet backbone,
\nthe goal was to freely share knowledge and learning with others throughout the world.
\nYou fear us because you do not understand us. You see the results but not the minds behind it. When we took down PlayStation you saw your personal details, your bank details
\n\u2013 the things which society says makes up you
\n\u2013 disappear into the ether, but ask yourself this.
\nIf we could do it so easily, what\u2019s to stop someone else?<\/p>\n
We stole the information and then publicly took responsibility. Not a single penny was stolen. The purpose wasn\u2019t financial gain but to show the world who you put your trust in. Every day you send yourself off into our world without a thought. You trust a faceless website with information about you that you wouldn\u2019t give to your best friends. We took advantage of holes in this system, but we didn\u2019t sneak in and take a few details, take out loans and credit cards, buy speedboats and cars. We told you and the world how insecure the system was, and now you trust a bit less blindly. The real criminals that hack computers for a living live off the backs of people like you. Where there\u2019s money, there\u2019s someone looking to take advantage of it. We had been telling PlayStation for years that there were holes in their security, but because they didn\u2019t want to look weak they ignored us and allowed criminals to abuse your details\u00a0without your knowledge.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s biggest issues are really the same as ever and that is knowledge.\u00a0In the UK a paedophile would get ten years, while the hacker that exposes the paedophile would get 20. Even DDoSers can face years in prison, and for what?<\/p>\n
A DDoS (distributed denial-of-service attack) is no worse than a virtual sit-in.\u00a0If anything it\u2019s better, because it requires no police, ambulance, fire or any form of external services. An attack begins and the website goes down, the attack ends and the website goes back up. The problem is that hackers and hacktivists are portrayed as\u00a0boogiemen. Not much has changed since the days of Kevin Mitnick, imprisoned in solitary confinement because the American police thought he could whistle nuclear-missile launch\u00a0codes down a phone.<\/p>\n
Today, technology is everywhere, in banks and ATMs, TVs and games consoles, streetlights and hospitals. Computers rule the modern world. Yet most people who use computers every day don\u2019t know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n
You use a computer like it\u2019s a toy, a pet.\u00a0You feed and play with it but the second anything goes wrong, it\u2019s off to the vet. This wouldn\u2019t matter so much if it wasn\u2019t for the fact that your pet is responsible for the lives of at least 20 other people.<\/p>\n
Take Nerdo (his name is now public knowledge but I will continue to use his online handle), a church volunteer and student at Northampton University. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison for \u201corganising\u201d a DDoS attack on PayPal that, the company said, cost \u00a33.5 millon.\u00a0But what did he actually do, and what happened to the money?<\/p>\n