The Importance Of Hacking

The internet is a technological wonder. It is whatever one makes it, shaped to whatever needs or interests each individual requires. It is a hard thing to explain, as one person might define it completely differently than the next. What most people seem to agree on is that it is to be a place of freedom. Where everyone can express their thoughts freely, where every opinion is allowed. Where all men are equal. However, there are some that aim to restrict the internet, and then there are those who fight to protect it, and some of those vigilantes like to refer to themselves as Anonymous. The purpose of the collective remains arguable, and people’s opinions of it range from heroes to criminals, but what remains unquestionable is the impact

Hacking, which is often referred to as computer crime, is not always illegal. Federal authorities such as the FBI frequently use hacking for their own benefit. Hacking usually has some sort of political impulse behind it, whether it be intentional or not. Hacktivism, or hacker activism, is when technology is used to bring to light injustice and defend human rights. Once described as ‘’hackers on steroids’’ by Fox news, the hacktivist movement referred to as Anonymous started out as internet jokesters that liked to spread mayhem. It stemmed from chat forums on the website 4Chan, which works in the way that you pick from a variety of topics, such as weaponry or origami, and can post an image or a comment in the thread of a chosen topic anonymously. It has been entitled as the best breeding ground for internet culture. There’s a topic thread called /b/, which is a very random, no restrictions thread, and from there origin some of the most famous jokes of the internet. Since its start on /b/, Anonymous has done some rather controversial things. Back in 2008, people of the /b/ thread invaded an online video game and made it their goal to agitate other users. To them, the idea that they could

Their most common forms of attacks are DDOS attacks and Doxing. DDOS attacks are when so many visit a website at once that it crashes, rendering it unusable for some amount of time. Doxing is a leakage of personal information, such as social security numbers and addresses, typically gathered in a text document, hence the name. These methods are highly critiqued and many participants have been arrested for these actions. They are labeled as cyber warfare, and prosecuted accordingly. Doxing is a leakage of personal information typically gathered in a text document, hence the name. (Coleman, 674-676) Another event that was quite formative for Anonymous was a claim that the CEO of the security company HB Gary Federal, Aaron Barr made. He claimed that he had information on the leaders of the movement and knowledge on how to take it down. Anonymous got their hands on the information he had, which was severely false. They took revenge on the official, hacked him repeatedly and took down his website until consequently he stepped down from his position. As seen with that scenario Anonymous is a popular target for security institutions worldwide, as humans commonly fear and attack what they do not understand. As common with any large organization, the goals of the participants in Anonymous vary, and some may participate in questionable, even illegal activities. That’s a minority of the