It is official it’s just that it’s membership and leadership isn’t.
Anonymous is basically just a mask for greyhats to operate under when attacking targets who can backlash more specific groups.
Would not be surprised at all if some anonymous hacks were committed by already known hacker collectives who knew they had something big but wanted to avoid retaliation.
I prefer the term “hacker activists” which can include blackhats, greyhats, and sometimes whitehats that get angry enough that, even if they do not actively participate in an attack, they can provide resources of all sorts.
There never was, all the way back to day one. Any given “operation” may or may not have overlapped in membership. The name is literal, and always has been; but with it comes a set of meanings and tropes (the mask, “we will not forgive, we will not forget, we are legion”) that a given actor taking the name can invoke as a call to action for others, or use to simply mask their identity.
I mean, it’s an unofficial ‘group’ so there’s no reason at all that these are even the same people who have used the name before.
It is official it’s just that it’s membership and leadership isn’t.
Anonymous is basically just a mask for greyhats to operate under when attacking targets who can backlash more specific groups.
Would not be surprised at all if some anonymous hacks were committed by already known hacker collectives who knew they had something big but wanted to avoid retaliation.
I prefer the term “hacker activists” which can include blackhats, greyhats, and sometimes whitehats that get angry enough that, even if they do not actively participate in an attack, they can provide resources of all sorts.
I distinguish Blackhat and Greyhat along the morality of the act itself, rule breaking for noble cause is grey, and for selfish cause is black.
And you’d be correct. Also a white hat is someone who is usually paid by an org to pen test them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_hat_(computer_security).
If, outside of what they normally apply their hacking abilities to they are participating in this, they are all grey hats on this blessed day
It’s Edward Hopper painting characters in grey trench coats all the way down!
Ah my thought just went to the Gandalf epic sax guy in a rendering lab meme, but I’m a child of the internet
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=asjQNZn7vng
lol the second lab
Not hacktavists? One of the few portmanteaus that don’t drive me crazy :)
Is there any difference between “the hacker group Anonymous” and “an anonymous hacker group” now?
Yeah, whether anonymous puts a statement out taking credit
There never was, all the way back to day one. Any given “operation” may or may not have overlapped in membership. The name is literal, and always has been; but with it comes a set of meanings and tropes (the mask, “we will not forgive, we will not forget, we are legion”) that a given actor taking the name can invoke as a call to action for others, or use to simply mask their identity.
They’re almost certainly a sock puppet for state actors most of the time.