Who is Anonymous, the secret hacktivist group?

Team Udayavani, Aug 24, 2020, 5:39 PM IST

A few years ago, the hacktivist group anonymous were quite popular and were making a lot of buzz. But, later on they kind of disappeared and their activities were also reduced. Now they have made a resurgence.

On May 29, 2020, Anonymous took to Facebook and posted a video threatening to expose the Minneapolis Police Department’s crimes after the murder of George Floyd.

After which the group has been accused of carrying out a cyberattack on the websites of the city of Minneapolis and its police department

Who is Anonymous?

As per a report by Republic, Anonymous is one of the most famous collaborations of online hackers around the world. It is a decentralised organisation which is spread across the world and does not follow any form of hierarchy.

Anonymous group’s main characteristic is Guy Fawkes mask, portrayed in the  novel and film ‘V for Vendetta’, in which they fight against a fascist, white supremacist government wearing the mask

They come together time to time in order to send a political message. Also, they have immense support from the  public.

They do not have specific goals but there is an overarching desire to combat censorship, promote freedom of speech, and counter government control that sparks people in the so-called collective into action

In the past,  they held cyber attacks against companies working towards copyright preservation.  It has been associated with crashing Web servers, website defacement and leaking hacked private information.

According to Indian Express, Anonymous members have had several run-ins with the law, with government agencies making arrests for computer hacking, fraud, and cyber-stalking.

In 2017, American hacktivist James Robinson was sent to prison for six years after being convicted for carrying out DDoS attacks. Another hacker, Deric Lostutter, was sentenced to two years in prison after infiltrating the website of a high school sports team for exposing the alleged coverup of a 2012 rape case.