2. Anonymous and Social HacktivismT

2. Anonymous and Social Hacktivism
The popular conception of hackers is one of young men sitting in dark basement rooms for hours upon
end, surrounded by empty takeout containers: alone and unaffiliated. Individual hackers rarely influence history,
the actions of large corporations, or the governments of the world—unless they can somehow work together and
form a collective. The hacktivist group Anonymous seems to have achieved this goal.48
The group’s beginnings can be traced back to 2003, when individual hackers began posting proposals for
collective action on an Internet forum called 4-chan, a simple image-based bulletin board where anyone can post
comments and share images—and one of the least regulated parts of the Internet in the early 2000s. At first, the
idea was the adoption of a decentralized online community that could act anonymously, but in a coordinated
manner. Group actions were usually aligned toward some nebulous goal, with the primary focus being on the
members’ own entertainment. For example, Anonymous members hacked the copy-protect codes of DVDs and
video games and posted them online. This action enabled other hackers to disable the copy protection and copy
these products for free. As the movement grew, some members began to see the potential for greater social and
political activity, and social “hacktivism” was born.49
Anonymous has no leader or formal decision-making mechanism. “Anyone who wants to can be
Anonymous and work toward a set of goals…” a member of Anonymous explained. “We have this agenda that we
all agree on and we all coordinate and act, but all act independently toward it, without any want for recognition.
We just want to get something that we feel is important done…”50
Anonymous’ first move toward a political action came in the form of a distributed denialof- service
(DDoS) attack on the Church of Scientology in 2008. The church had made an attempt to remove an interview
with Tom Cruise, a famous church member, from the Internet.51 The church felt the video injured its image. It
succeeded in removing the video from YouTube and other Web sites, but Anonymous posted the video on the
Gawker Web site.52 The effort gave Anonymous a sense of the power it could harness.53
As the movement grew, Anonymous expanded its targets and attracted media attention. After the Web site
WikiLeaks, which relied on donations to support its operations, released large collections of classified American
military documents and diplomatic cables, PayPal, MasterCard, and Bank of America announced that they would
no longer process donations to WikiLeaks. This action threatened to put the WikiLeaks Web site out of business.
In response, Anonymous launched major DDoS attacks on the Web sites of these financial companies. In 2012,
Anonymous published the names and credit card information of the subscribers to a newsletter published by the
international security think tank, Stratfor, which Anonymous viewed as a reactionary force both online and in the
real world. Stratfor customer credit cards were used to make over $500,000 in fraudulent donations to various
charities.54 Also in 2012, Anonymous attacked the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In this instance,
Anonymous went beyond DDoS attacks on government sites and actually set up satellite transmission stations in
all the major cities across Syria to serve as independent media centers in anticipation
of the Syrian government’s efforts to cut off its citizens from the Internet.55
In response to the suicide of Internet activist Aaron Swartz in early 2013, Anonymous briefly corrupted
the Web site of the U.S. Sentencing Commission and threatened to release sensitive information concerning the
U.S. Department of Justice. Anonymous blamed the justice system for Swartz’s suicide, claiming that prosecutors
were pursuing “highly disproportionate sentencing” in cases against some of its members and others, like Swartz,
who championed open access to online documents. Swartz was facing federal charges that he stole millions of
online documents and could have served up to 35 years in prison.56
The group’s strategy of using DDoS attacks and publishing personal information is illegal and has exposed
numerous members of the collective to police inquiry and legal problems. The Interpol international policing body
has been particularly active in its pursuit of Anonymous members. In early 2012, as part of Interpol’s efforts, 25
Anonymous members were arrested in four different countries.57 Furthermore, an influential member of the
collective, known online as “Sabu,” was recently outed as an FBI informant. After participating in the Stratfor
hack, Sabu gave information to the FBI leading to the arrest of several Anonymous senior members.58 However,
after the revelation that one of their own had cooperated with the FBI’s efforts against the group, one member
posted the following: “Don’t you get it by now?#Anonymous is an idea. #Anonymous is a movement. It will keep
growing, adapting and evolving, no matter what.”59
Discussion Questions
1. If you had an opportunity to join Anonymous, would you? Why, or why not?
2. Would you say that Anonymous’ actions in support of WikiLeaks were legal? Were these actions ethical? What
about their actions to set up satellite transmission stations across Syria?
3. How serious of a threat does Anonymous pose to organizational and government Web sites?

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

2. anonim dan sosial cardingKonsepsi yang merakyat hacker adalah salah satu dari orang-orang muda yang duduk di ruang bawah tanah yang gelap ruang untuk jam setelahAkhirnya, dikelilingi oleh kosong bungkus makanan wadah: sendirian dan terafiliasi. Hacker individu jarang mempengaruhi sejarah,tindakan perusahaan besar, atau pemerintah dunia — kecuali mereka entah bagaimana dapat bekerja sama danmembentuk sebuah kolektif. Hacktivist kelompok anonim tampaknya telah mencapai goal.48 iniGrup awal dapat ditelusuri kembali ke tahun 2003, ketika hacker individu mulai posting proposal untuktindakan kolektif pada forum Internet disebut 4-chan, sederhana berbasis gambar papan buletin mana siapapun dapat mengirimkomentar dan berbagi gambar- dan salah satu bagian paling tidak diatur internet di awal 2000-an. Pada awalnya,ide adalah adopsi dari komunitas online yang terdesentralisasi yang dapat bertindak secara anonim, tetapi dalam yang terkoordinasicara. Tindakan-tindakan kelompok biasanya selaras menuju beberapa tujuan yang samar-samar, dengan fokus utama padaHiburan anggota sendiri. Sebagai contoh, anggota anonim hacked kode copy-protect DVD danvideo game dan diposting mereka secara online. Tindakan ini memungkinkan hacker lainnya untuk menonaktifkan perlindungan salinan dan SalinProduk ini untuk gratis. Sebagai gerakan tumbuh, beberapa anggota mulai melihat potensi sosial yang lebih besar dankegiatan politik, dan sosial "carding" adalah born.49Anonim tidak memiliki pemimpin atau mekanisme pengambilan keputusan formal. "Siapa pun yang ingin dapatAnonymous and work toward a set of goals…” a member of Anonymous explained. “We have this agenda that weall agree on and we all coordinate and act, but all act independently toward it, without any want for recognition.We just want to get something that we feel is important done…”50Anonymous’ first move toward a political action came in the form of a distributed denialof- service(DDoS) attack on the Church of Scientology in 2008. The church had made an attempt to remove an interviewwith Tom Cruise, a famous church member, from the Internet.51 The church felt the video injured its image. Itsucceeded in removing the video from YouTube and other Web sites, but Anonymous posted the video on theGawker Web site.52 The effort gave Anonymous a sense of the power it could harness.53As the movement grew, Anonymous expanded its targets and attracted media attention. After the Web siteWikiLeaks, which relied on donations to support its operations, released large collections of classified Americanmilitary documents and diplomatic cables, PayPal, MasterCard, and Bank of America announced that they wouldno longer process donations to WikiLeaks. This action threatened to put the WikiLeaks Web site out of business.In response, Anonymous launched major DDoS attacks on the Web sites of these financial companies. In 2012,Anonymous published the names and credit card information of the subscribers to a newsletter published by theinternational security think tank, Stratfor, which Anonymous viewed as a reactionary force both online and in thereal world. Stratfor customer credit cards were used to make over $500,000 in fraudulent donations to variouscharities.54 Also in 2012, Anonymous attacked the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In this instance,Anonymous went beyond DDoS attacks on government sites and actually set up satellite transmission stations inall the major cities across Syria to serve as independent media centers in anticipationof the Syrian government’s efforts to cut off its citizens from the Internet.55In response to the suicide of Internet activist Aaron Swartz in early 2013, Anonymous briefly corruptedthe Web site of the U.S. Sentencing Commission and threatened to release sensitive information concerning theU.S. Department of Justice. Anonymous blamed the justice system for Swartz’s suicide, claiming that prosecutorswere pursuing “highly disproportionate sentencing” in cases against some of its members and others, like Swartz,who championed open access to online documents. Swartz was facing federal charges that he stole millions ofonline documents and could have served up to 35 years in prison.56The group’s strategy of using DDoS attacks and publishing personal information is illegal and has exposednumerous members of the collective to police inquiry and legal problems. The Interpol international policing bodyhas been particularly active in its pursuit of Anonymous members. In early 2012, as part of Interpol’s efforts, 25Anonymous members were arrested in four different countries.57 Furthermore, an influential member of thecollective, known online as “Sabu,” was recently outed as an FBI informant. After participating in the Stratforhack, Sabu gave information to the FBI leading to the arrest of several Anonymous senior members.58 However,after the revelation that one of their own had cooperated with the FBI’s efforts against the group, one memberposted the following: “Don’t you get it by now?#Anonymous is an idea. #Anonymous is a movement. It will keepgrowing, adapting and evolving, no matter what.”59Discussion Questions1. If you had an opportunity to join Anonymous, would you? Why, or why not?2. Would you say that Anonymous’ actions in support of WikiLeaks were legal? Were these actions ethical? Whatabout their actions to set up satellite transmission stations across Syria?3. How serious of a threat does Anonymous pose to organizational and government Web sites?