Who are hacktivists ‘Anonymous’?

WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange was arrested in London this week when he turned himself in to police to answer allegations that he committed sex crimes against two women in Sweden. The pair were only officially identified as Miss A and Miss W. Hacktivists uncovered their identities as part of a concerted effort to pressurise their hero's accusers. The Guardian quotes a blogger's call to arms: "Is [Miss A] a lesbian?", accompanying its text with photographs of Miss A alongside another woman. "If [she] is gay, and she sleeps with Assange, that's a contradiction. So, I'm inviting the blogosphere to look for the evidence. Be a WikiSleuth!" Whatever the truth of the rape allegations, the digital dirt-digging seems like cyber-bullying on a massive scale by people who are very careful to keep their true identities hidden behind hacker names like 'Coldblood' and are actually part of an organisation called 'Anonymous'!

Victimisation aside, the gross invasion of these women's privacy seems to have inadvertently demonstrated the limits to the public's right to know and reinforced the case for privacy, even if it is on a personal rather than governmental level. The American government and other critics of WikiLeaks argue that much of the secret information which has been released onto the Web was classified for a good reason, such as it could endanger the lives of informants or agents working for coalition forces in Afghanistan (although there seems to be no evidence for this assertion.) Hacktivists and other proponents of free speech argue that virtually all information should be made public - an argument that seems to apply more readily to the behaviour of publically elected officials, not the sex lives of two private citizens.

Another pair targeted by hacktivists this week were less easy to sympathise with; the powerful credit card duopoly of Visa and Mastercard. The aforementioned hacktivist collective Anonymous co-ordinated 'Operation Payback' which crashed the credit card giants' websites in retaliation for them withdrawing their payment facilities from WikiLeaks, meaning people could no longer donate to the site. This action was much more in keeping with their usual modus operandi. Previous to their support for Mr Assange Anonymous declared "War on Scientology" launched with a "Message to Scientology" on YouTube. Their weapon of choice was the DDOS (distributed denial of service) tool, which jams websites by flooding them with automated requests. Anonymous then emerged from their bedrooms and staged real world protests at branches of the cult in 93 cities around the world.

Other notable activity by hacktivists associated with Anonymous include hunting down the infamous Serbian puppy thrower who uploaded a video of herself launching canines into a canal, prior to which they had also found a man who filmed himself tormenting a cat. Alongside their love of cute animals they possess a sense of humour that ranges from the absurd to the obscene: the former trait was illustrated by the Internet phenomenon 'Rickrolling', meaning web users would click a link and inadvertently launch 'Never Gonna Give You Up' by Rick Astley. The latter vein of line-crossing rudeness and 'boys in their bedroom' japery came to the forefront on YouTube when masses of adult films were uploaded to the content sharing site to protest at the removal of music videos.

A Dutch boy of 16 was just arrested for his part in 'Operation Payback', which illustrates that the unfortunate targeting of Miss A and Miss W reflects the young male orientation of hacktivists rather than an inclination towards bullying. It also illustrates the David and Goliath nature of this cyber struggle which pits corporations and governments against youngsters who are using their understanding of the Internet not to scam credit card companies for cash but to attack their sites as part of a political campaign. Whilst their behaviour can be outrageous and misguided they seem genuinely concerned with the governance of the Web and the world.

31,000 more people downloaded a DDOS - an illegal programme - this week, equipping themselves with the main weapon in what one blogger called the 'first great cyber war.' It seems like only a matter of time before these sorts of digital protests are adopted by the student street protestors and aimed at elements of the coalition.