The infamous hacker group, Anonymous, is one such organization whose side I want to be on. They are an international network of activists and "hacktivists". For companies and organizations that are targeted, Anonymous must be a terrifying threat. But for citizens who have been jaded or treated unjustly by these corporations, Anonymous can be seen as a group of heroes. They have retaliated against anti-digital piracy campaigns, tracked down internet predators and threatened Mexican drug cartels. Aside from this, they have also attacked the pentagon, threatened to shut down Facebook and waged war on Scientology.
Anonymous has no official leadership, but rather a group of people working together to accomplish various goals. One characteristic of the group, which I admire, is the fact that their motivation always comes from an unrelenting moral stance on issues and rights. I feel as if these hackers are looking out for the greater good and give voices to those who are unable to be heard. Even if action is not taken, sometimes the threat is all that is needed. And their threat is fairly intimidating:
Great post, well spoken.
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ReplyDeleteHello Samantha, I liked your post about hacking. Hacking is a very controversial concept. Anonymous, a hacking group, seems to be pretty ruthless which is why I do not understand why took Anonymous' side. I just feel that when a group does not forgive, it is unjust in itself. On the other hand, your switch between sound hacking vs bad hacking and telling a small story about Anonymous, made me interested in learning more about them. To create a better post, your post could talk about the benefits that the public gets from Anonymous' involvement with corporate companies. It would be good to talk about the relationship between hacking and computer science. That would be a fantastic connection to make. People do not know associate hackers with people who have advances skills in programming. Hacking is a term that often refers to Black Hats hacking or a group of people whose purpose is to profit. There are safe hackers called White Hats, they find and crack system vulnerabilities and do it for fun only but not to access sensitive data. Governments employ hackers to spy on foreign countries, so without hackers, society would not be as advances as they are now.
ReplyDeleteHey Samantha, first time checking out your blog and I like what I've read so far! I like what you've done with this prompt. Your detail on hacking groups and how general perception of their actions depends on who you're asking is very interesting. Most 'hactivism' groups see themselves working for good. Hackers in general don't see their own actions as bad, or at least unjust. They tend to act in self interest, but that's where these groups differ! Your post was very readable, and I could follow what you were trying to lead to. Great post!
ReplyDeleteExcellent read Samantha! Very informative about what the Anonymous group. I like how you went into depth about what the group stands for and what it has done in an unbiased manner. I have heard of Anonymous but never really knew what the group was. It is great that Anonymous has a voice and purpose which can get attention by just mere intimidation. Thanks for the great read.
ReplyDeleteI thought Anonymous was a very interesting topic. They are a well-known group, but little gets said about them. I like how you went over the good things they do, and also how they could make enemies with big corporations and the government. I also admire their decentralized organization. There doesn’t seem to be one person at the top calling the shots, so it is heavily based on a group design. I think you did a good job discussing this controversial topic. Well done.
ReplyDeleteHi Samantha, I find this article to be very informative and well spoken. I agree with you that hacking is not bad by nature and there is one side that does bad things and the other side that does good things. I think hacking is a great weapon in this digital age. If you abuse it then it is bad but if you use it to defend your country or your rights or the rights of others then it is good.
ReplyDeleteHi Samantha, this is a great post on Anonymous, easy and fun to read. I like how you bring out another view that hacking might not be a simple action, but more of a threat that can be used in negotiation. I learned a lot about this organization from your post. It is invaluable that such organization would act out of moral stance instead of some real-world profits.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, well-written and keep the good work! The only thing I would say is that the post can be even better formatted with nicer line breaks and hyper-links :)
Hey Sam,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting article, Sam. I don't often see people who can side with Anonymous or other similar hacktivists. It's definitely a complicated situation. Even with a group like them just nagging a troublesome individual or organization, changes can begin to occur. Hacking isn't always meant to be malicious to society, though much of the time that's all that people think of. If it can be used in the right way, then there really isn't much wrong with it.
I actually heard an interesting theory behind Anonymous which implies there is no leadership at all. I know you also mentioned this, but what I mean to say is that each act of "Anonymous" is actually a completely random act that someone chose to do with no one asking him or her to do it. So when "Anonymous" hacks into Facebook or any other site, it's just really a person or group acting independently using the name "Anonymous" since the no one will come out and say no we are "Anonymous". Basically, no one runs "Anonymous" its just random acts of hacking. Great post, really gets me thinking about all the stuff hacking can allow someone to do.
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