Hippies to Hacktivists:
The Wave
of Hackers,
Hacktivists
and Anonymous
James Ford
Nussbaum
Understanding
New Media
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Professor
Lance Strate
December,
2012
c.
2012 GALILEO PRODUCTIONS, LLC
“We
are Anonymous.
We
are Legion.
We
do not forgive.
We
do not forget.
Expect
us.”-
The Anonymous Mantra
Since
the early 50’s computer scientists and code writing experts have had their ownbrand
of internal fixers. People who harbor
the knowledge to be able to use their
computer
skills to openly repair and mend a technical problem that is computerbased
beyond the scope of what many of us can accomplish using computers andthe
Internet. They also have the power to
destroy and reek havoc through their actions online. These individuals over the years have
developed in what many see ascomputer
hacktivists, hackers with altruistic motives dedicated to preserving theintegrity
of the Internet and the freedom’s that are available online. Perhaps the Hippiemovement
of the 60’s has evolved online to find and define a new movement thatwe
now call hacktivism and in many circles they are perceived as guardians of the
new information
world over the Internet….modern day Robin Hoods. In order to understand this
new breed of hacktivism we must take a closer look at the hacker and his psyche along
with the ways they have evolved into a new grouping of online hacktavists who claim
to be keepers of our freedoms over the internet utilizing terroristic methods
online attempting
to protect out freedoms of speech while preventing censorship. From this group
of cyber techs comes a whole new group that we will explore. They call themselves
Anonymous and to this day they claim to protect even more of our freedoms by
singling out certain online communities that they regard as dangerous to our
online Internet
freedoms. To better understand this
grouping of advanced online new age Hippies
we must first understand the mindset of the hacker and how they have evolved into
what is now known “hacktivistically” as Anonymous. Let this journey begin. Many
hackers of today are not only fixers that have arisen from the 1969 creation of
ARPANET,
the prototype for a series of computers with intercontinental connectionsdeveloped
for military communications by the US Department of Defense but theyalso
carry with them a manifesto or code of hacker ethics that many of them believe
inand
live by through their actions over the Internet. Are they Robin Hoods of the
computer
era willing to try anything for a few hours of notoriety? Are they autisticgeniuses
or angry adolescents? Perhaps political
activists? Whatever they may bethey
have taken what many of the 60’s Hippy movement accomplished in that time andbrought
many of the same tactics to the playing field of the Internet where their
skills
can
be tunneled into devastating proportions of manipulation sometimes for the sake
of a
cause or sometimes just for the sake of getting that high by solving complex
computer codes
and unraveling websites. They then place
their banners for thousands to see and view
once their pirating charade has been accomplished. Hackers have had their own language
and jargon over the net that has evolved into what many people refer to as
the computer hacktivist. Some of the
terms make complete sense and follow a common
profile of computer guru’s who enjoy creating havoc and chaos. The HACKER is followed
by a group that is similar called CRACKERS.
The difference lies in their motivation. Hackers CREATE while crackers DESTROY. Antifork, an Italian hack research
group (www.antifork.org)
defines hackers with “superior knowledge, research and
ultimate perfection.” These bands of
fixers require planning and organization as well
as acuteness and inventiveness. Many
came out of computer science developers from
MIT and University of California at Berkeley.
Their movements have been based on
the OPEN SOURCE protocol of the 1990’s mostly those who knew the intricacies
of UNIX based computer programming. To be a hacker you must be engaged in
work that constantly challenges the user both on a code breaking level and
website innovation
strategy. Most of what became the Hacker
Manifesto was established by Lloyd
Blankenship written immediately following his arrest and first published in January
of 1986. Anger is directed towards the
STATUS QUO. Solidarity comes by
knowing you are part of a group or hacker community seeking solidarity. The hacker
emerges as being part of an underground Internet community well versed in
decoding and breaking through any kind of Internet code or website. According
to Raoul Chiesa and Stefania Ducci in their book PROFILING HACKERS the
creed is broken down into several sub categories for better understanding. They are:
*TOOLKIT/NEWBIES:
the techno novices that pose little know-how and
technical savvy*CYBER-PUNKS:
capable of some programming writing skills that may beused for defacing websites and robbing
credit card numbers whilealso spamming.*INTERNALS:
used within corporations to solve complex computer codes andproblems. *CODERS: Designers of
codes that can write them to destroy Internet entities. *OLD GUARD HACKERS:
Their interest lies in intellectual and cognitive sidesof hacking. They’re mostly from the school of the
original hackers andusually don’t seek to
destroy but mainly base their craft on curiousity.*PROFESSIONAL CRIMINALS AND CYBER TERRORISTS: This groupingusually is the most
dangerous and can be seen breaking into governmenthigh security agencies
while reeking havoc on many government militaryinstallations.
Hackers
are also usually profiled in unique ways that better identify them to law
enforcement
agencies and Internet watchdog groups.
They primarily go by a setof
motivational characteristics that include:
1) a dependency and compulsive need tohack.
2) Curiosity as to what can be found on
the Net. 3) Boredom of offline life andgoing
for the adrenaline rush they achieve by conducting illicit activity. 4) Seekinghighs
from hacking into government agencies, bank and many other institutional
organizations. 5)
Peer group recognition with acceptance in their hacking communityand
advancement in their hierarchy. Finally,
6) achieving a certain type of pride andgenerosity
by finding holes and uncovering them in more secure systems. Much ofwhat
is mentioned above was originally discovered and studied by the HPP-HackersProfiling
Project which began between 2003 and 2004.
Much of this study was
instituted
by the UNICRI-United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice ResearchInstitute.
(http://www.unicri.it). More and more the political activists motto
that was
followed
so closely by the Hippy movements of the 1960’s have found their ways intothe
profiling of modern day hackers who at some later time evolve into what wemight
now label as hacktavists dedicated on using their skills to communicate a
political
message or gain some kind of social goal within our world. Over the yearswe
have seen this evolution take shape as the more intense and grand acts ofcyber
hacking and cyber terrorism become more socially motivated. The extendedversion
of hacker identities have also been broken down into three groupings as well
known
as: 1) White hats-those who hack for what they believe are good
causes, 2)Black hats-Those
who hack for shear havoc and chaos motivated reasons and 3) The
Gray Hats
which combine their motivations for hacking for both good and bad reasons.
According
to the New York Times (Thursday, December 6th, 2012; Section B)
there is
yet
a newer wave of hacker that has been associated with the hacktivist group
Anonymous
seeking to wreak havoc through a lucrative online crime called RANSOM-WARE. Here the hackers have found ways to break
into a person’s computer onlineleaving
a message that they have caused a DDoS
or Distributed Denial of Service
within
a computer usually leaving a ransom message demanding that the computerowner
send a particular amount of money to an online address in order to continue use
of their computers. This Ransom ware
stops a person from using their system and prevents
them from being able to access valuable software and programs while online. The
hostage is your PC and the hackers have developed savvy ways to take control of
your computer causing the owner to seek out technicians that must completely wipe
away the contents of a hard drive and sometimes cause the loss of valuable information. This has been the latest rash of terroristic
attacks taking place over the Internet
with many victims falling prey right here in the United States. This form of Ransomware
has been attributed towards one of the largest and most politically hacktivistic
lurkers on the Internet. They call themselves
ANONYMOUS and ride again with
the mantra motto:
“We
are Anonymous.
We
are Legion.
We
do not forgive.
We
do not forget.
Expect
us.”-
According
to Andy Greenberg author of THIS MACHINE KILLS SECRETS, definingthe
Anonymous hacktavists is as follows: “They
are more than a traditional
organization,
it functions as a loosely organized movement, or even an elaborate
participatory
memes
(a catchphrase or image that has become
inadvertently popular,
thanks to the viral quality of the
Internet, and whose meaning is typically lost on
mainstream Web users. Often serving as in jokes for Anonymous
supporters, many
memes, computer games originate from discussions
on bulletin boards and cyber chat
rooms.)”
Those who took
part in the groups and anyone called Anonymous joined in crowd-sourced
swarm attacks on whatever target offended its values, tenets like
freedom
of speech and anti corporation values.
Some
of the victims over the years since the movement emerged have included TeaParty
and its billionaire corporate supporters, the Koch brothers, the
anti–homosexualextremist
Westboro Baptist Church, Sony Corporation, Mastercard and Paypal. Thegroup
has gone as far as to attack the Church of Scientology which they believed wasbullying
a smaller entity or acting with corrupt impunity. The Anon (Anonymous)attacks
have gone so far as to “flood their victims servers with fraudulent data
requests that
paralyzed the machines like flies choking the mouth and nostrils of a Goliath elephant”,
according to Greenberg.
The
HPP of most Anonymous members appears to be revealed as young teens someas
young as fifteen years old. Police have
attempted to squelch these individuals only to
be greeted by Anon to recruit more and harden the groups culture of stronganonymity. According to Greenberg Anonymous relays the
activist cry, “Anonymouswants
you…Get your ass behind a proxy and join the raid.” Specific
raids on the Church of Scientology have gone on to warn:“Hello
Scientology. We are Anonymous. Over the years, we have been watching you.Your
campaigns of misinformation, suppression of dissent, your litigious nature, all
ofthese
things have caught our eyes….Anonymous has therefore decided that your
organization
should be destroyed. For the good of
your followers, for the good of
mankind—for
the laughs—we shall expel you from the Internet and systematicallydismantle
the Church of Scientology in its present form”….”Knowledge is free…Weare
Anonymous. We are Legion…We do not
forgive…We do not forget…Expect Us.”Furthermore
many of the members of Anonymous carry themselves with the trademark
of the Guy Fawkes mask that was so adorned in the motion picture “V for
Vendetta”,
produced by Uber producer Joel Silver and his company Silver Picturesthrough
Warner Brothers. This mask has been
carried and seen at many rallies ofprotest
including the Occupy Wall Street Movement that took place in cities mostrecently
nationwide. The reference to Guy Fawkes
is interesting as it refers to the
radical
anarchist that was put to death on November 5th for his acts against
government. Anonymous
has somehow grabbed onto this trademark to help them identify themselves
to the larger masses of Internet users and establish themselves as a force to
be reckoned with online. The movement of
Anonymous has been systematic while they
fiercely guard their names and identities openly congregating in online chat
rooms and
crowd sourced documents that use pseudonyms.
While
it is obvious that hackers sometimes do their mischief just for the thrill and
excitement
of the act, Anonymous attacks can be observed as having specificallypolitical
motivation taking hacking to an entirely new level in an attempt to makewhat
they call greater change and protect our freedoms over the Internet. Whetheryou
believe this mantra motto or mission statement the obvious still is relevant inthe
listing of attacks that have taken place over the internet by Anonymous. Hereare
just a select listing of specifically motivated attacks that Anon has takenresponsibility: (Courtesy of Parmy Olson’s WE ARE ANONYMOUS, Little
Brown and Company, NewYork,
2012):
2006-2007:
*Habbo Raids-this
amusement site was hacked by Anonymous due to the fact that
they
barred a two year old toddler affected by AIDS from entering their parks or
swimming
pool. Their site as taken over and
plastered with Internet slang whileflooding
the site.
*Hal Turner raid: White supremacist Hal Turner had his website
hacked and was
forced
to pay thousands of dollars in bandwidth bills due to it. He attemptedto
sue for his bills but the case eventually ran out of steam in court. No legal actionprevailed.
2008:
*Sarah Palin Email Attack: September of 2008 saw to the hacking of Sarah
Palin’s
website
by well known Anonymous member Rubico.
His attempts to invade Ms. Palin’semail
account turned out to be frivolous in trying to find incriminating information
that
she
might have passed on during her political career. Her passwords and email
information
were revealed publically on various websites worldwide.
2009:
*No Cussing Club Invasion-January
2009 saw to it in attacking the website of the
No
Cussing Club in California run by teen McKay Hatch, a website against
profanity.Hatch’s
home address, phone numbers and other personal information were disclosedover
the internet along with a series of hate mails and obscene phone calls that
were
made
to the homes of members. Also, bogus
pizza and pornography deliveries weremade
using members credit card numbers.
*Iranian Protests Against
the Current Elections:
Anonymous launches an Iranian
Greet
Movement Support site with the help of
Pirate Bay and other Iranian hackersto
protest the rigging of elections of Iranian presidential candidates. Thousands ofprotestors
took to the streets as the Iranian government attempted to censor news
about
the riots over the Internet.
2010:
*Zimbabwe Attacks: Website of the government of Zimbabwe were
systematically
attacked
by anonymous and flooded with spam, flames and other information to
jam
their site in protest of censorship due to Wiki Leaks documents.
2011:
*Attacks on Fine Gael
Website:
Anonymous systematically attacks the Irish political
parties
website Fine Gael, a labor party group in Ireland replacing many of their
pages
with text that reads: “Nothing is safe; you put your faith in this political
partyand
they take no measures to protect you.
They offer you free speech yet they censoryour
voice. WAKE UP!”
*Arab Spring Activites: Many sites were hacked and defaced during the
Arab Spring
movement
as Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Middle Eastern governmental websites weresingled
out. Many of these attacks coincided
with what was happening in Egypt asmany
demonstrators utilized Facebook to organize and rally. Tunisian governmentofficials
attempted to respond by arresting online activists and bloggers within theircountry
while questioning the attacks. The
retaliation effected Anonymous directlyas
their website was placed into DDoS around January 5th of last year.
*Occupy Wall Street: Many Guy Fawkes masks were observed during
the Occupy
Wall
Street movement rallies that occurred worldwide in many countries. The maskedprotestors
use of these masks were a clear message that they had connections to
Anonymous
and were involved with illicit hacking activity during the course of the
movement.
The
continued hacking attacks by Anonymous have once again proven that thehacktivist
movement worldwide over the internet has greatly evolved from a smallgroup
of techno savvy computer users that have just been using their skills for kicksnot
really attempting to cause much harm and doing most of their mischief for thesensation
of the hack while acting out as a band of vandalizing youth. Hacktivism andthe
Anonymous movement have evolved into a lethal and very threatening force overthe
Internet evolving into a movement beyond the scope of just hackers. Anonymousclearly
has patterns and select motives for their attacks and has taken hacking intoan
entirely new level using their skills the same way the Hippie Movement of the
sixties
used demonstrations and riots to protest the war and other political decisionmaking
that occurs inside large government and bureaucratic organizations. We
have seen since the 1950’s and beyond a movement of protestors that can nowtake
their politically motivated mischief to an entirely new level hoping to make
change. In
some ways by doing this online, the risk to human life similar to what happened during
the sixties movements occurs less but there are much greater financial and technical
consequences that take place due to the work of Anonymous and its bandof
computer pirates. Most of what Anonymous
and many of the hactivists protest are
in response to groups that are looking to censor and prohibit certain freedoms over
the Internet. In some ways this might
lead to more positive and less restrictive attempts
by governments to control the internet and prevent freedoms of speech
.Either
way you look at it, there must be some sense of observation that Anonymousand
Internet hackers hold a particular space….a particular function and role over
theworld
wide web in helping to control and keep the web safe for some of the billions
ofusers
that have taken their campaigns to the bandwidth hoping to muster up changethrough
global dissemination of information that the Internet provides to us all. Are the arrests
of these individuals a test of how free the internet remains or are they signsthat
the Internet may be eventually controlled by governments and politically mindedbureaucrats? These are questions that will continue to
arise as we evolve over the
Internet
as a better educated and closer knit global village takes its course online.
Hackers,
hacktivists and Anonymous play a large role in helping us protect some ofthe
freedoms we’ve learned to nurture online and in some ways take on a GuardianAngel
role to the online community. Either way
they have become the new RobinHoods
of a vast movement that has evolved online and effectively learned howto
use their skills to help rob from the rich and give to the poor-in some cases
usingtheir
political viewpoints to help guide any kind of restrictions to our web browsing
freedoms. Until there is some kind of larger entity out
there to help retain thesefreedoms,
Anonymous and online hacktivists are the new and subtle voices ofour
freedoms to speak without being censored.
Good or bad, they are everywhere.
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