Why “Anonymous” is completely irrelevant • Chronicle.SU. By kilgoar, on February 15th, 2011 Anonymous refuses all definitions, yet a close look at their actions is all one needs to understand what they are all about. Anonymous is not a group of socially minded and technologically savvy internet users that want to change the world for the better. They are not a group at all.
Instead, they are a loose federation of loud mouths and hackers who mostly want to make a buck or achieve the goal of inflating their selfish pride-albeit anonymously. In the most sophisticated achievement to date, Anonymous has managed to cripple and embarrass HBGary, a security firm that insulted Anons everywhere by infiltrating their IRC channel and figuring out the handles of those responsible for deployment of the LOIC. Not only is this attack childish, spiteful, and pointless, but it shows that Anonymous is most willing to use their potential for positive change instead for self-aggrandizing and meaningless pursuits. Anons are weak and pitiful for remaining anonymous. Anonymous on FOX11. What is Anonymous? - Are Anonymous Anarchists? - On RT Commander X: Anonymous infiltrated by the FBI. Who is Anonymous? - Documentary Trailer. Anonymous: the new face of cyber-war. Anonymous (group)
Anonymous (used as a mass noun) is a loosely associated international network of activist and hacktivist entities. A website nominally associated with the group describes it as "an internet gathering" with "a very loose and decentralized command structure that operates on ideas rather than directives". The group became known for a series of well-publicized publicity stunts and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on government, religious, and corporate websites. Anonymous originated in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, representing the concept of many online and offline community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic, digitized global brain.[3][4] Anonymous members (known as "Anons") can be distinguished in public by the wearing of stylised Guy Fawkes masks.[5] In its early form, the concept was adopted by a decentralized online community acting anonymously in a coordinated manner, usually toward a loosely self-agreed goal, and primarily focused on entertainment, or "lulz".