Introduction to Cyber-Warfare - Proiect SEMPER FIDELIS

ANONYMOUS—ON IMAGE, STRUCTURE, AND MOTIVATION77and IRCs) if only for communication and information purposes. At the time of this writing,worldwide Anonymous groups with a presence on the Internet include but do not suffice AnonymousSweden (Twitter @AnonOpsSweden, Facebook: Anonymous-Sweden), AnonymousMexico (Facebook: AnonMex), Germany (Facebook: OfficialAnonymousGermany, anon-ger.blogspot.com, berlinonymous.wordpress), USA (Facebook: AnonUSA), UK (Anonymousuk.org), Romania (Anonymousromania.com, Facebook: anonro, Anonymous-Romania), and China(Twitter: @AnonymousChina). In Germany, Anonymous has launched a Web site (nazi-leaks.net)exposingdonors,aswellasemailsandpersonaldataofmembersoftheneo-Nazipoliticalparty and other politically far-right extremist groups as part of Operation Blitzkrieg. 72Some members of the now highly publicized strands of Anonymous appear to be young romanticidealists who set out to protect the Internet—as an arena of true democracy, free speechand information, and transparency. Hence, any institution, be it a government or a religiousorganization, and any individual whose actions are perceived to counteract these idealsbecomes a possible target mainly of DDoS attacks or Web site defacement. Taking much inspirationfrom popular culture, Anonymous often cites popular culture such as the movie “FightClub” 73 when described by self-professed members. In an apparent contradiction to whatAnonymous has set out to defend and protect—transparency—self-professed Anons holdthemselves to a rule resembling the first two rules of “Fight Club” r : “Do not talk about Anonymous.”74 The headless suit, a ubiquitous graphic that has come to symbolize Anons, is thoughtto be adopted from a painting by Rene Magritte. 75 Another popular culture token prevalentwith these groups is the Guy Fawkes mask. Wearing Guy Fawkes masks in real-world protestsmay be inspired by Alan Moore’s illustration for the comic book series (and 2005 movieadaptation) “V for Vendetta.” The main character in the comic book series, who just callshimself “V” and wears a Guy Fawkes mask at all times, is determined to bring down the totalitariangovernment of a dystopian near-future Great Britain. While he is portrayed as an anarchiccharacter in the original comic book series, the movie paints him more as a revolutionaryand freedom fighter (see figure 6.4 for slogans reminiscent of this cultural reference). The filmculminates in the blowing up of the Palace of Westminster in the night of November 5 inreference to the historical Gunpowder Plot in 1605. 76The adoption of the mask into the realm of Anonymous—like Anonymous itself—came byway of 4chan’s b-board coinciding with the release of the movie, “V for Vendetta,” in 2006. 77In a discussion thread, the mask is found by an existing fictional protagonist s who fails ateverything he attempts (hence, he is called the epic fail guy). With the first real-world protestin Project Chanology, the masks first appeared worn by protestors to conceal their identity.Combined with a black business suit, white shirt and black tie, the mask has subsequentlybeen identified with the movement. The masks depiction as well as references to the movie,“V for Vendetta,” repeatedly appeared in the collective’s communication.In May 2012, Anonymous launched “Operation Mayhem Code Tyler” in obvious referenceto the cult movie “Fight Club”. 79r The first two rules Fight Club members have to adhere to are: “The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talkabout Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: you do NOT talk about Fight Club” (Chuck Palahniuk. 1996(2005) “Fight Club”, Norton, p. 50).s Like a meme, characters like this appear repeatedly through bloggers posting about them in another contextor situation (much like a running gag).