Anonymous, LulzSec, AntiSec, Etc.: A Brief History of Hacktivism

Members of Anonymous defaced the Websites of several local chapters of the Church of Scientology and launched distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against them. Anonymous targeted the Church of Scientology after the church forced Websites to remove a Scientology video featuring Tom Cruise. Anonymous viewed the church’s forceful effort as censorship and a threat to Internet freedom.

Anonymous launched DDoS attacks against PayPal and other financial services companies that shut off donations to WikiLeaks after the news organization published classified cables from the U.S. State Department. In a poster (pictured) for “Operation Avenge Assange” that Anonymous circulated over the Internet, the group wrote that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange “deifies” the principles that the hacktivist collective holds dear.

The Peoples Liberation Front struck Santa Cruz County’s Website with a DDoS attack that took it offline. According to a press release from the U.S. Justice Department, The Peoples Liberation Front executed the attack after several protesters, who had staged a demonstration at the Santa Cruz County Courthouse, were arrested. Law enforcement officials arrested them because their protest violated restrictions on camping within the city.

Joshua John Covelli (pictured) was indicted on September 22, 2011 for his alleged role in the DDoS attack against Santa Cruz County’s Website. He was previously brought up on charges for his suspected role in the DDoS attack on PayPal.

When Anonymous got wind that Aaron Barr, then CEO of security firm HBGary Federal, planned to unveil the identities of top Anonymous operatives at a security conference, the hacktivist collective made sure that didn’t happen. They hacked into HBGary Federal’s Website and seized highly sensitive emails that they posted online. The email exchanges revealed, among other things, Barr’s schemes to discredit WikiLeaks and Salon.com writer (and WikiLeaks’ supporter) Glenn Greenwald. The revelations from these emails sent the company into a tailspin. Anonymous succeeded in sending a menacing message of what can happen to people who try to mess with them.

This picture shows HBGary’s booth, which Anonymous vandalized at an RSA conference last year.

LulzSec aimed its Low Orbit Ion Cannon at the CIA and launched a DDoS attack against the CIA’s Website that incapacitated it for several hours.

Exphin1ty, a hacker associated with Anonymous and AntiSec, accessed the member database for CLEAR (Coalition of Law Enforcement and Retail) and posted online the names, phone numbers, email and home addresses, and hashed passwords of more than 2,400 law enforcement, federal, military, loss prevention and corporate professionals, according to Exphin1ty’s PasteBin dump.