Gregg Housh, founder of the international cyber group Anonymous, made a documentary in which he revealed many unknown details about the group. Housh explained how the organization grew from a small group of online trolls in a chat room to an international movement.
Housh said that Anonymous started as a group of just 10 people in the early years and then grew to thousands of people in powerful positions, including government officials and government advisors. Anonymous is known for high-profile cyberattacks, often focusing on social and political issues, and is known for their secrecy.
Joshua Tanner, the documentary's producer, emphasized how open and detailed Housh was about the group's history. Housh said that they founded Anonymous in 2006 as an online tech forum where everyone was anonymous, and that the early years of the group were spent simply trolling each other.
FIRST MAJOR ACTION
In 2008, Anonymous' war against the Church of Scientology was the first major step in the group's transition to hacktivism. After a video of Tom Cruise promoting Scientology was posted online, Anonymous republished the video and launched a major campaign against the church. Housh said that the re-release of this video by Anonymous put Scientology in a very difficult position and attracted a lot of media attention.
In 2011, Anonymous organized global protests against Scientology and participated in demonstrations wearing masks, during which Scientology buildings were shut down. It was also reported that an Australian senator asked Anonymous for help in blocking a prohibitionist bill and that Housh promised not to leak the emails.
HP GARY ATTACKS
Anonymous took action after Aaron Barr, an employee of the security company HBGary Federal, claimed to hold a list of names and phone numbers of the group's leaders. However, when Anonymous gained access to HB Gary's system, it was revealed that the data did not belong to members of the group, but to innocent individuals.
Housh said that Anonymous today occupies various centers of power, some of its members hold positions in journalism and politics, and the group's sphere of influence has expanded. “Today, the answer to the question 'who is Anonymous' is anyone who says they are Anonymous. We are literally everywhere,” Housh said.
SUPPORT FOR WIKILEAKS
When the WikiLeaks documents came to light, the world learned about US diplomatic secrets. In Operation Avenge Assange, Amazon, PayPal, MasterCard and PostFinance were subjected to DDoS attacks as part of the pressure against Assange.
In support of WikiLeaks, Anonymous launched DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks on the websites of these organizations. These actions were carried out in support of WikiLeaks' disclosures and in protest against these organizations' obstruction of cooperation with WikiLeaks.
IMPACT ON THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
During the crisis in Ukraine, Anonymous organized cyber actions against Russia's military activities in Ukraine, attacking various Russian government and private sector websites.
The group's most well-known public description of themselves is:
“We are Anonymous. We are the army. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Wait for us.”
