Remaining Anonymous (Extra)

I had never heard about the massive hacktivist group Anonymous until the other day in class.  We came to learn that these hacktivists hate censorship and want free-access to all information. As videos showing individuals in Guy-Fawkes masks dictate the groups agenda, the Anonymous initiative remains untouchable.  The group is composed of many, anonymous individuals working in unison toward a common goal; no apparent leader is present.  This way the blame cannot be put on any one individual.  That combined with the fact that what they are doing is nonviolent keeps Anonymous thriving and conjuring up more effective forms of hacktivism.

Hacktivism also is used to prevent any monopoly control of technology, something Anonymous definitely exhibits.  There have been videos by Anonymous where the group says it will make Facebook crash because it is growing too powerful, greedy, and commercialized.  One of these threatening takeovers was supposed to occur on November 5th, Guy Fawkes day, but as we know that date has passed and Facebook is still intact.  Recently, Facebook was attacked with spam on people's walls; the culprit was assumed to be Anonymous.  Pornographic and violent images were posted on user's accounts which people feared was the "Fawkes Virus" (Albanesius 1).  Yet an article by Chloe Albanesius states that the link to Anonymous is not credible.  The two threatening videos by Anonymous said that it would strike Facebook with a virus that "sends out malicious links and gains access to your account" but the takeover's stated deadline was never fulfilled (1).  The voiceover in the videos warned that "Anonymous would use the Fawkes Virus to tackle corruption and groups that oppose its organization. The video, however, did not discuss pornographic or violent images" (1).  One characteristic of Anonymous is that the group explicitly states what it is going to do.  The Facebook virus's goal was to completely destroy the website, not litter it with annoying, crude images. 

The popularity of Facebook is certainly a force to be reckoned with and Anonymous acknowledges that with a vengence.  As of now, the group is focusing on more critical movements such as Occupy Wall Street (2).  Once it aims it's complete focus on Facebook, the impact will be extremely severe.  Zuckerberg's be warned, Anonymous still has work to do.