Hacktivism and its Benefits (Anonymous: Hacktivist group)

Antz-Lee Francois, Julie Nguyen, Colleen Kilroy

Class period 2, December 16,2016, Mr.McSherry

Process Paper
Our group chose a topic on the benefits of hacking and it focuses on the Hacktivist
group anonymous. In the 21st century computer and technology have become

worldwide. New possibilities are being developed by using computers and technology,
but with every great invention there is the downside, a new type of war, a digital war.
The hacktivist group anonymous takes a stand in history because the belief is power to
the people, which civilians should have the rights to their privacy. The hacktivist group
has committed many acts for the public and we believe the government should use
them to stop and prevent such attacks from occurring.

Our teacher, Mr. McSherry assigned a National History Day theme to all the students.
Taking a Stand in History was chosen as a theme to create the NHD project. A site
called Weebly allowed us to create a high-quality website for the project. Our site
focused on a hacktivist group called anonymous. As the theme taking a Stand in
History, the group takes a stand against the government on how society is forced to
follow a rules and doesnt allow individuals to express themselves, the group also
committed many hacks for the people against corporations that were secretly trying to
hamper, purloin and scheme from civilians. Weebly helped organize and be the
foundation to present our topic on hacktivism.
Our topic Hacktivism and its benefits (Anonymous: hacktivist group) is related to the
theme Taking a stand in History, because the group takes a stand against the
government on how society is forced to follow a rules that doesnt allow individuals to
express themselves. Anonymous is a group that is associated with an international
network of activists or laconically hacktivists entities. Their reputation was dramatically
increased due to their well-known publicity stunts and denial-of-service attacks on the
government, terrorist and corporate websites. They exposed the actions of insidious
organizations that constantly dodge detainment from the government. Anonymous
takes a stand for justice and has taken many risks; therefore it is related to the theme,
Taking a Stand in History

Number of words:

Primary Source
Knappenberger, Brian. "We Are Legion - The Story of the Hacktivists FULL
MOVIE ..." Youtube. Youtube, 15 Nov. 2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.

The documentary talks about the origin of Anonymous. The documentary also talks
about why they do what they do and what is the point in their action. The group's origin basically
came from a website called 4chan, they are users who were allowed to post, comment, and
create things without any restriction.
http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/20/martin-gottesfeld-anonymous-hacktivistcharged-ove/
Blake, Andrew. "Martin Gottesfeld, Anonymous Hacktivist, Charged over Hospital
DDoS." Martin Gottesfeld, Anonymous Hacktivist, Charged over Hospital DDoS. The
Washington Times, 20 Oct. 2016. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.

This news article talks about a Felony hacking charges that were handed down on a
Wednesday to a Massachusetts man accused of disrupting the computer networks of Bostonarea hospitals with a 2014 digital protest waged under the name of the hacktivist group,
Anonymous.
https://www.thenation.com/article/truth-about-anonymouss-activism/
Chen, Adrian. "The Truth about Anonymous's Activism." The Truth about
Anonymous's Activism. The Nation, 11 Nov. 2014. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.

There was a shooting about Michael Brown, an Anonymous member posted a YouTube video
calling for a National Day of Rage to protest the shooting leading it out to the public.

Secondary Source

http://www.businessinsider.com/good-hacks-by-anonymous-2013-4?IR=T#8-in-december-2006anonymous-took-down-the-website-of-white-supremacist-radio-show-host-hal-turner-the-attackended-up-with-turner-paying-some-very-expensive-bandwidth-bills-and-dropping-a-lawsuit-ayear-later-1
Raza, Ali. "8 Most Awesome Hacks Conducted By Anonymous Hackers."
Hackread: Security Is a Myth. N.p., 13 Jan. 2016. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.

This site provided information regarding the acts conducted by the anonymous group.
Some of the acts that were performed were beneficial to citizen or were acts for their own
personal reasons. Most of the acts led to exposing the companies and actions that the
government had failed or hid from the public.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3780980
Smith, Gerry. "FBI Agent: We've Dismantled The Leaders Of Anonymous."
HuffPost. Gerry Smith, 22 Aug. 2013. Web. 18 Oct. 2016
This site contains information about the Anonymous group that is yet still hacking social media.
FBI has dismantled the leaders of Anonymous.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/anonymous
Wolf, Nicky. "Anonymous | Technology | The Guardian." The Guardian.
The Guardian, 4 Oct. 2016. Web. 25 Oct. 2016
This site shows a timeline of interesting groups.

https://www.rt.com/news/363851-assange-anonymous-ecuador-govt-email/
Stapleton, Shannon. "Anonymous CLAIMS It Took Down Ecuadorian Gov
Webmail for ..." Question More. Question More, 24 Oct. 2016. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.
This shows Anonymous taking down the government mailbox and disabling the internet.