Information Week Calls Anonymous Hackers Hypocrites, Not Hacktivists
The hacker group Anonymous, which is less a coherent group of people working together toward a common cause than a random medley of hackers out to prank and disrupt the online world, has been busy these days. Multiple hacks on Bay Area Rapid Transit websites in response to BART's shutdown of the railway's underground cellular system have captured the attention of activists and technophiles alike. But even as the name Anonymous strikes fear into the hearts of many IT security workers, the group's political ambitions ring hollow.
Anonymous has a penchant for making grand--if sometimes dimly worded--proclamations about its motives. After the group initially hacked a BART website on August 14, it posted a message to the AnonOps blog that stated, "In the Bay Area, we’ve seen people gagged, and once more, Anonymous will attempt to show those engaging in the censorship what it feels like to be silenced." The group frequently issues demands in conjunction with its operations, and the BART hacks were no exception: "Anonymous demands that this activity revolving around censorship cease and desist and we know you are already planning to do this again."
