4 times Anonymous acted for good

They have been criticised for hacking into governmental systems, police departments and high profile personal email accounts. But, since the Paris attacks, the organisation has won back some of its detractors after it waged cyber war on Isis, announcing it was launching the ‘biggest operation ever’ against them. The hacker group said on Twitter that ‘#Anonymous is at war with #Daesh. They have since hacked ISIS-related websites, identified and contributed to the closure of more than 3,000 Isis-related Twitter accounts and released a guide to help others fight ISIS online. How much they can actually do to harm Isis is yet to be determined. While there’s no doubt that Anonymous can hack into pretty much anything they want – nothing with a digital fingerprint can be hidden from them – some analysts fear that their involvement may encourage ISIS to up their security game. What is certain though is that many have applauded Anonymous for their quick and decisive action. It’s not the first time Anonymous have used their hacking skills to fight what they consider to be the enemy of the masses. Here are six times Anonymous have acted for good – despite their methods being not entirely above board.

1) When they fought for LGBT rights in Uganda 

Anonymous have used their hacking powers for the good of the LGBT community. In 2012, it targeted Ugandan government websites for its repressive stance towards its gay and transgender community, with the government trying to pass an anti-homosexuality law. The organisation wrote a message on the Ugandan prime minister’s website saying how the ‘violations of the rights of LGBT people have disgusted us’.

2) When they protested against the picketing of funerals 

The anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church is known for its controversial views. In particular, its tendency to picket funerals. Last year, they had plans to arrive at the funeral of comedian Robin Williams as he played a gay character and a cross dresser in his long career. But in 2015 after the Charleston church shootings where nine people died, Anonymous took a stance. They threatened to hack the Westboro Baptist Church who announced on Twitter their intention to picket the funerals of the victims, blaming Hilary Clinton and controversially saying God had ‘sent the shooter’.

3) When they closed down child pornography websites In 2011,

Anonymous completed a mass operation against child pornography, claiming that it had managed to take down 40 sites or groups that used the Tor network to conceal the users’ locations. They also published the details of users on the web. The posting of the details in particular was criticised by technology experts. Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security firm Sophos, told the BBC it had the potential to hinder police efforts to prosecute through lack of evidence. ‘Take-downs of illegal websites and sharing networks should be done by the authorities, not net vigilantes,’ he said.

4) Revealing China’s responsibility in U.S cyber attacks In 2011, 

security firm Mandiant released an explosive report that linked the Chinese military to a number of cyber attacks made on the U.S. What’s more, Anonymous had a key part in the exposure of the information. Profiles of individual hackers came to light when Anonymous hacked major forum rootkit.com. It published the data of 40,000 users online, information that Mandiant said they were ‘fortunate’ to have.