Who are Anonymous?
"HACKTIVIST" group Anonymous has sprung back to life, vowing an all-out "cyberwar" on Vladimir Putin's media.
The cyber vigilantes have attacked other groups in the past including the KKK and the Minneapolis police department in the wake of George Floyd's death.
Who are Anonymous?
Anonymous started in 2003 as a collective of web jokers hitting sites for fun - but their activities have taken a more sinister turn.
It is now known as an anti-establishment group whose targets have ranged from big business and government departments around the world to child sex abuse sites.
Anonymous swamps sites, tricks targets into revealing details with “phishing” emails and uses computers to crack passwords.
Years ago, the shadowy group vowed to destroy the online recruitment service of ISIS, crippling its ability to brainwash would-be members.
It has already taken down more than 1,000 terrorist websites as retaliation for the jihadis’ war on free speech.
Members come from all over the world and all walks of life, discussing ops in secret online chatrooms.
Who have Anonymous hacked?
Anonymous has attacked several groups since 2003 and been behind the take down of government agency websites and child pornography pages. They have attacked numerous government agencies in the US, Israel, Tunisia and Uganda and corporations such as PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, and Sony.
Church of Scientology
In 2008, the group conducted a number of hacks on the Church of Scientology as part of its "Project Chanology" campaign.
The group carried out a number of denial-of-service attacks, prank faxes and calls in response to what it claimed was the Church's attempts to censor criticism online.
They also targeted the Westboro Baptist Church
The Klu Klux Klan (KKK)
In November 2021, the group hacked the Twitter account of the KKK after the white supremacist group distributed flyers threaten "lethal" force against protesters in Ferguson.
George Floyd - Minneapolis Police Department
On May 2020, a Facebook page claiming to be affiliated with Anonymous posted a video aimed purely at Minneapolis Police Department.
The clip features an unnamed person, wearing a Guy Fawkes mask.
In an altered voice, they warn that its hacktivists “will be exposing your many crimes to the world”.
They add that the “brutal killing of George Floyd… is merely the tip of the iceberg in a long list of high-profile cases of wrongful death at the hands of officers in your state.”
Vladimir Putin
Anonymous has vowed to carry out an all-out "cyberwar" against Vladimir Putin and his government in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.
The group has already targeted the despot's private mega yacht and taken down several state-run media websites.
Why is the Guy Fawkes mask associated with Anonymous?
The Guy Fawkes mask has become a symbol for Anonymous - the same style of mask used in the V for Vendetta movie of 2006.
The strangely stylised mask of Guy Fawkes with a moustache and pointy beard in the 2006 movie uses Fawkes as a role model in his quest to end the rule of a fictional fascist party in the UK.
The Guy Fawkes mask has since become popular method of hiding faces during anti-establishment protests around the world.