Anyone remember "Anonymous"?

[SHRED]

Did they ever accomplish anything besides idle threats?

Just curious what happened to them.

[riverine]

1. Yes - they are a complete failure

I remember they were going to take down Bank of America.

All hype.

[912gdm]

2. they morphed into the 'trigger the libs' brigade.

and joined the Donald subreddit

[John Fante]

3. They're the Avanetti of hacking groups.

Whole lotta talk, but little else.

[doc03]

4. Who? nt

[SHRED]

5. Exactly

[PatSeg]

6. Unfortunately

it appeared that more than one person/group took on the mantle of "anonymous", so it is hard to know who was the original. I think some of the impersonators were not particularly nice guys, but I can't remember the details anymore.

Here's a short article I found from last year that sums it up a bit.

"Whatever Happened to Anonymous?"

Anonymous broke onto the scene in 2006 with a number of purposefully offensive 'trolling' campaigns to frustrate and annoy web users. It wasn't until 2008 that the group found international acclaim for Project Chanology, a globally coordinated effort to protest the Church of Scientology and its overly restrictive and litigious methods through cyberattacks and highly visible 'in real life' protests.

As the energy of Chanology began to wear off, the group faced its first major schism. Was Anonymous meant to be a moral force or a vexation for anyone who took the internet too seriously?

Just a few months later, Anonymous (allegedly) launched a dramatic attack on an epilepsy support website, resulting in seizures for several members due to rapidly flashing colors that took up the whole screen. It was clear that not everyone was onboard with the new "moral**g" direction of Anonymous.

Since then, Anonymous executed dozens of 'operations' in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement, Julian Assange, Arab Spring and more. It has also launched attacks on private businesses, hate groups, police officers, terrorist groups and cybercriminals. Anonymous has been described in cybersecurity news as a "digital Robin Hood" and "cyber-lynch mob."

More at the link........


https://cyberpolicy.com/cybersecurity-education/whatever-happened-to-anonymous

[BlueSpot]

7. Funny, I was just thinking the same thing earlier today

I had MSNBC on they were talking about "the" video being posted to 8chan (eightchan? Creeper web is not my forte) from where it was re-posted all over. They described the site as the place where people went when they were banned from everywhere else on the web for being so awful. I thought that sounded like it should be a good target for Anonymous which made me realize I hadn't heard about them in ages.

I was thinking maybe they all got to job/marriage age and the activism sort of faded away as other life things moved to the front burner.

[mopinko]

8. as a former mod here, and an old timer, that comment cracked me the fuck up.

i have lost count of the number of message boards that sprung up every time du took out the trash. like clockwork.
addicted to anger. just looking for something to lash it to.

and i tell ya, the shit we saw in the back room here, it makes me despair for my species.

[dweller]

9. one needn't

be a mod here, but at least semi aware to despair for our species
on a daily basis...

ymmv,

✌🏼️

[mopinko]

11. that is true.

but it really was a walk through the disordered minds among us. i should have been more worried about spanky getting elected considering how much i know about the deplorables.

even so, this is so much worse than i thought it would be.

[Hekate]

10. Oh hell yes, the spinoffs from DU are legion. I am a member of some rational ones, very pleasant ...

...to hang out in when DU loses its collective mind, and I feel kinship.

But the OMG ones like JPR, Old Elm Tree, and the Conservative Cave, that are just obsessed with all things DU -- oh my. If they still exist, that is.

I was never a mod like you, mopinko. Do you miss the hot tub days?

[mopinko]

12. sometimes. it does wear on you after a while, tho.

i feel for the folks who do that shit on the time clock. we were always allowed to take a break when we needed to.

it did teach me not to get too sucked into stuff on the interwebs.

the cave still exists, last i looked. i was a fave there for a while when i was in the news a couple years ago. my local troll goes there, i think.
soooooo much crazy. so much free floating anger.
i worry about that shit. it's just everywhere. and it is so damaging.

the hot tub was a lot of fun, tho. made my best friends here in those days.