Anonymous Wikileaks avengers walk among us all

As the Operation Payback continues their cyberwar in defense of WikiLeaks operational integrity, more people are scrambling to figure out who Anonymous really is.

The stereotypical depiction of a hacker is generally a young male with impaired social skills who spends most of his time on his computer in his parent’s basement. While this week’s arrest of a 16-year-old Dutch male who turned out to be Operation Payback’s IRC Operator only seems to enforce that stereotype, the reality of the Anonymous demographic might surprise you.

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According to a recent interview with a member of Anonymous by Jon Newton of P2P.net, there are some members who fit into the geeky misfit category, but there are many more from all walks of life who have been brought together by a common bond.

“Many of us do have very strong ideals, others are just in for the riot. A lot of people in there do have the “geekyness”, where others are rather interested in our motivations. Anonymous are all of us, geeks, normal people, children, parents, politicians,” the source told Newton. “What everybody has in common, is that they think that something should be done about the corporations exploiting both artists and customers.”

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Newton then brings up a fitting quote from Chuck Palahniuk’s popular book-turned-movie, Fight Club:

“Remember this. The people you’re trying to step on, we’re everyone you depend on. We’re the people who do your laundry and cook your food and serve your dinner. We make your bed. We guard you while you’re asleep. We drive the ambulances. We direct your call. We are cooks and taxi drivers and we know everything about you. We process your insurance claims and credit card charges. We control every part of your life.”

“Does any of this ring bells with you?” he asks his source.

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The quote fits in this context perfectly,” is his unidentified source’s reply. “This is just a small angry mob among many. Right now, the entertainment industries are suing their own customers. Eventually, it will end with their customers all in prison, broke or refusing to pay, or — as in this case — they start a rebellion against them. We hope that they see it not just as an angry mob, but as a reason to decide to find alternate ways.”

With tens of thousands of downloads of the DDoS toolkits Operation Payback uses for its attacks downloaded in just the past few days, some at a rate of 1,000 an hour, the ranks of Anonymous are growing and, undoubtedly, diversifying.

Now, with a reported change in tactics from Operation Payback to Operation Leakspin, with a mission of uncovering information in the leaked cables rather than participating in DDoS attacks, it is likely that there will be an even greater diversification among the ranks of Anonymous.

So if you don’t think that your friends of family could be a part of this “angry mob among many”, think again. Anonymous is everywhere.

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