The Anonymous Group: What is it and How big is it
Research proved that Anonymous hacktivists group is relatively much bigger than you anticipated and become quite popular among people all over the world but how did it all start?
The Anonymous group has been gaining a lot of attention in the past few years. This is mainly due to the way they act and the way they portray themselves. People donning Guy Fawkes masks and taking down the government and non-government agencies are sure to attract some attention, and because the activity of Anonymous is not restricted to a single country, they have gained global attention.
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With many people talking about the hacktivist group, people have often wondered just how big the group is, given their widespread activities. However, that question is not easy to give a definitive answer to. As to what the group is, we take a look at that here.
BEGINNING
Anonymous first came in existence in 2003 when unknown users who were tagged as Anonymous posted images on 4chan’s /b/ board. The images were about random things but the Anonymous tag soon gained popularity on the website. The group then escalated their activities to internet pranks, troll events, and raiding websites like that of Habbo Hotel, a hotel in Finland.
In 2004, they started to use the website of Encyclopaedia Dramatica as a platform for their activities. For some years, they did little more than mass pranks and take action against communities that supported anti-piracy acts.
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CHANGE OF STANCE
In 2008, Anonymous started Project Chanology, a direct campaign against the Church of Scientology. The campaign included repeatedly carrying out DDoS attacks on the Church’s website, the Anonymous members, or Anons as they are called, used to make prank calls to the Church’s hotline, and sending black faxes to them to waste their ink cartridges. This project resulted in the group gaining global criticism from the media and authorities and global appreciation from casual internet users.
Gloss