What is Anonymous? How the infamous ‘hacktivist’ group went from 4chan trolling to launching cyberattacks on Russia
A person standing outside the White House wearing a Guy Fawkes mask as part of a 2013 protest featuring supporters of the hacking group Anonymous.

For nearly two decades, one of the world's most infamous hacker groups has operated under the name "Anonymous." And the mysterious online community is making headlines once again. After Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February, a Twitter account with 7.9 million followers named "Anonymous" declared a "cyber war" against Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. Since then, the group has claimed responsibility for various cyberattacks that disabled websites and leaked data from Russian government agencies, as well as state-run news outlets and corporations. Often called "hacktivists," Anonymous employs coordinated cyberattacks against various world governments, corporations or other groups, often in the name of social or political causes. In a Feb. 24 tweet, the "Anonymous" account — which says it "cannot claim to speak for the whole of the Anonymous collective" — called on hackers around the world, including in Russia, to "say 'NO' to Vladimir Putin's war." Over the years, actions linked to Anonymous have inspired both Hollywood filmmakers and other hacker groups around the world. Here's a look at the murky group's origins, some of its most notable cyberattacks and the philosophy that allegedly steers its decisions:

Anonymous origins

Anonymous' origin story begins in the online message forums of 4chan, the anonymous social community website founded in 2003. Even today, posts on 4chan from users who don't specify a username are labeled as written by "Anonymous." In the website's early days, users often organized group pranks called "raids," flooding chat rooms in games and other online communities to cause disruptions. 4chan began cracking down on the raids after critics accused participants of cyberbullying and posting offensive content. Those raids formed the basis of Anonymous' operations: a decentralized movement of like-minded online users who would communicate in encrypted chat rooms to plan online disruptions. At first, those plans were largely about cheap entertainment. Eventually, they began to revolve around social or political aims.

The group's most prominent early instance of "hacktivism" came in 2008, when 4chan users led by early Anonymous hacker Gregg Housh launched a coordinated effort against the Church of Scientology, using tactics like denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on the church's websites, prank phone calls and faxing the church black pages to waste their printer ink. The cyberattacks, which Anonymous labeled "Project Chanology," were retaliation for what the hackers deemed as attempted censorship: The church had legally threatened Gawker after the media outlet published a leaked video of actor Tom Cruise speaking enthusiastically about Scientology. A series of worldwide protests against Scientology soon followed, with many Anonymous-supporting protesters wearing white-and-black Guy Fawkes masks, depicting the 17th century British insurrectionist. Those masks have since become closely associated with hacking group.

Philosophy and targets

Supporters and critics