Anonymous Hacktivist Group
Anonymous is an international group that is dedicated to computer hacking, using the Internet as their main weapon. They were formed in the years between 2003 and 2004 originating from an imageboard web site named 4chan. Their members’ real identities are not known, as they are always maintaining anonymity within their operations and messages. They are represented by a logo of a headless suited man, than instead of a head has a question mark. The group has become famous for its forms of hacktivism, including forms of social engineering, web defacement, distributed-denial-of-service attacks (DDoS), and malware software.
They are known to release videos using Guy Fawkes masks, a mask popularized by the movie V …show more content…
One example of a case concerning a DDoS attack by Anonymous is the one on Sony’s PlayStation Network in 2011, including their website and their online store. The members of Anonymous called this “Operation Sony”. This became potentially dangerous for the members of PlayStation Network (PSN), because the hackers gained access to usernames, passwords, addresses, e-mail addresses, and credit card information, which could be used in a very lucrative manner if that was the purpose. Additionally, gamers of the PSN weren’t able to play online games while the system was down, causing frustration among them.
Many websites on the Internet claim that Anonymous denied the attack on the PSN, however, many others do say it is true, so it is very probable that the attack was effectively carried out by Anonymous. However, it could have been a sophisticated criminal hack, using the ongoing Anonymous operation as a cover (as criminals in Mexico, for example, use the drug cartels’ cover to scare and steal from people).
This case can be related to Strand 1 seen in first partial, as it caused a social impact and with ethical significance. Reliability of data in the PlayStation Network had been lost because of data being stolen by the group. Data integrity was also lost because PSN failed to effectively safeguard the stored data of their network as it was compromised.
Security refers to the protection of hardware, software, machines and networks from