Are they simply supporters of Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks movement? Sure. Are they more interested in freedom and use of the Internet? Sure. And they’re willing to wage a cyber war vs. anyone who will stand in the way of the use of the Internet? They are…and have.
The group known appropriately as Anonymous, possessing ties to the well known 4Chan message board, have hacked and disabled enemies of Assange, even disrupting the sites of Visa, Mastercard, PostFinance, PayPal and Julian Assange’s Swedish Prosecutor–this in a battle waged as “Operation Payback.”
The Week magazine suggests potential new targets of Facebook and Twitter, for putting a freeze on the Anonymous accounts. Perhaps the group should consider taking all Anonymous promotion to MySpace, before the grand merger?
Regardless, I’m sure Anonymous loves Manolith, and we’d be happy to enjoy their presence here–please, just don’t shut us down. WordPress is complicated, you know?
Personally, I love vigilantism so long as no one is bleeding, bruised, broken or dead. I’m confident that Anonymous holds the upper hand in this battle vs. their opponents of freedom of exchanged information on the Internet, whether they’re the IT crew for Mastercard, or the best of the best in the FBI. I’m sure the FBI and CIA wish they had a few folks from team Anonymous working for them.
That being said, the Fed has gone after sites being used to organize Anonymous activity, serving up a just dessert, when considering all things love, war and cyber-smack.
Will it get worse before it gets better? Perhaps it’s the tip of the iceberg in the battle between the “enemies of the State” and the enemies of the Assange. Whose side are you on?
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