But that would overlook some of the genuinely good deeds the group — whose members identify themselves with the Vendetta mask — has done.
Whether it's retaliating against kiddie porn sites, helping to identify Chinese military cyber-attacks, or targeting the digital properties of various hate groups, Anonymous can sometimes be a force for good.
1. Just this month, Anonymous began "Operation Free Korea." It's the group's effort to get "controversial leader Kim Jong-un to resign," "install free democracy," "abandon nuclear ambition," and grant "uncensored internet access" to its citizens. On April 3, Anonymous released all 15,000 usernames and passwords for the government's web services and threatened to wipe its data.
2. The Steubenville rape case — in which images of the high school victim were disseminated in social media — obviously got a lot of attention earlier this year. Anonymous released incriminating video, tweets, and emails belonging to accused players on the school's football team.
3. On August 13, 2012, tensions were rising in Uganda as the country's laws were increasingly intolerant on LGBT issues. Anonymous defaced two Ugandan government sites in protest.
4. Operation DarkNet was the group's campaign against child pornography in October 2011. Because pornographers were incredibly effective at using technology to hide themselves, Anonymous used technology to put them out of business.
5. The Westboro Baptist Church is notoriously hateful and intolerant. Anonymous successfully took down the Westboro Baptist Church's website in February 2011 in protest.
6. Anonymous released user information from a major hacking forum in February 2011, and security firm Mandiant was able to use this data to link the Chinese military to cyber-attacks against the U.S. this year.
7. Beginning in January 2008, Anonymous kicked off "Project Chanology," its attack on the Church of Scientology, a cult-like religion which allegedly imprisons its dissident members. They launched denial of service attacks against the organization's websites, gamed the link-sharing site Digg to more prominently display anti-Scientology pages, and even physically protested — showing up in person — many church events.
8. In December 2006, Anonymous took down the website of white supremacist radio show host Hal Turner. The attack ended up with Turner paying some very expensive bandwidth bills and dropping a lawsuit a year later.
Licenciada en Bellas Artes y programadora por pasión. Cuando tengo un rato retoco fotos, edito vídeos y diseño cosas. El resto del tiempo escribo en MA-NO WEB DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT.
MENSAJE
OPERACIÓN EJECUTADA
We use our own and third-party cookies to improve our services, compile statistical information and analyze your browsing habits. This allows us to personalize the content we offer and to show you advertisements related to your preferences. By clicking "Accept all" you agree to the storage of cookies on your device to improve website navigation, analyse traffic and assist our marketing activities. You can also select "System Cookies Only" to accept only the cookies required for the website to function, or you can select the cookies you wish to activate by clicking on "settings".
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be disabled on our systems. They are generally only set in response to your actions in requesting services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or completing forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you to these cookies, but some areas of the site will not work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can assess the performance of our site and improve it. They help us know which pages are the most or least visited, and how visitors navigate the site. All information collected by these cookies is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies to be used, we will not know when you visited our site and will not be able to assess whether it worked properly
Functional Cookies
These cookies allow the website to provide better functionality and customization. They may be set by our company or by external providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies to be used, some of these services may not function properly
Targeted Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to profile your interests and display relevant ads on other sites. They do not directly store personal information, but are based on the unique identification of your browser and Internet device. If you do not allow these cookies to be used, you will see less targeted advertising