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Anonymous Explains Pro-Wikileaks Campaign, Unveils Softer Tactics

by Amar Toor on December 10, 2010 at 04:20 PM

Who is Anonymous?
The group attacking Visa, PayPal and MasterCard want the world to know that it has absolutely no intention of wreaking widespread havoc -- it just wants to defend Wikileaks, that's all.

The group, known as Anonymous, issued a press release today, and reassured average consumers that the so-called 'Operation: Payback' definitely won't put their personal data at risk. "We do not want to steal your personal information or credit card numbers," the statement reads. "We also do not seek to attack critical infrastructure of companies such as Mastercard, Visa, PayPal or Amazon. Our current goal is to raise awareness about WikiLeaks and the underhanded methods employed by the above companies to impair WikiLeaks' ability to function."

Anonymous had its Facebook and Twitter accounts taken down on Wednesday, and was thus forced to diffuse its social media campaign across several accounts. Today, one of those accounts reiterated the organization's commitment to not do too much structural damage to any of its targets, adding that the attacks on PayPal, in particular, are "not damaging their ability to process payments," but "are successful in slowing their network down just enough" to get people's attention, thereby "raising awareness."

The user also made it clear that Anonymous didn't want consumers to feel "threatened" by their DDoS attacks. "Simply put, attacking a major online retailer when people are buying presents for their loved ones, would be in bad taste," reads the tweeted release. BoingBoing even dug up what appears to be a mission statement for the so-called 'Operation: Leakspin.' The image calls upon Anonymous members to turn their attention toward exposing only "the best, least exposed leaks" from Wikileaks' trove, implying, perhaps, that the group may be taking a more surgical approach to their staunch Wikileaks defense.

Clearly, then, Anonymous has become self-aware. The 'hacktivists' realize that the media hasn't cast them in an especially positive light, and that most consumers, as a result, probably don't hold them in very high esteem. 'Hacker,' after all, isn't exactly a term of endearment. And the recent arrest of a 16-year-old Dutch member certainly didn't help the group's efforts to clean its image.

But it's still reassuring to see that Anonymous actually has a conscience, and seems to be committed to an entirely legitimate cause that goes beyond riding Julian Assange's tidal wave of attention. An online "shock and awe" campaign may raise awareness, but this softer, more nuanced approach is a lot more likely to raise the level of conversation.

Tags: anonymous, ddos, hack, Julian Assange, JulianAssange, politics, press release, PressRelease, security, top, web, Wikileaks

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