[attrition] Building A Better Anonymous

[security curmudgeon]

(Today, Josh and I posted the final installment.)


http://attrition.org/security/rants/building_a_better_anonymous/

Building a Better Anonymous
By Josh Corman & Brian Martin
2011 - 2012

This multi-part article, with original artwork by Mar, is a follow-up to a 
one hour panel discussion at DEFCON 19 titled "'Whoever Fights 
Monsters...' Confronting Aaron Barr, Anonymous and Ourselves" moderated by 
Paul Roberts, discussed by Josh Corman, Brian Martin and Scot Terban. The 
views of the authors are not meant to be a criticism of Anonymous, nor are 
they meant to be encouragement for future criminal activity. It is an 
inevitable fact that Anonymous, or similar groups, will become bigger, 
stronger, and more effective. Discussions on how to build a more potent 
digital hacktivism (illegal hacking to achieve a political goal) group 
have occurred for over a decade. This article will not attempt to 
introduce groundbreaking new ideas, but rather will summarize many 
existing ideas and subject them to analysis from two security 
practitioners on two sides of this issue. If anything, this will serve 
more as a 'Lessons Learned' with the aim of broadening the reader's 
understanding of the topic, while demonstrating that the "problem" is not 
going away; the "problem" is evolving and growing.

When we say "building a better Anonymous", we seek to explore the ideas of 
making such a group truly better. That means better for all parties 
involved; the group, end users, citizens and law enforcement. "Better" 
does not mean more criminal acts in the name of the greater good, it means 
a more efficient organization that can achieve the same results with less 
collateral damage. We envision a group with better defined goals, more 
accountability, a healthy dose of humor and the legendary resolve of the 
sabertooth squirrel. Of course, the chaotic nature of a group such as 
Anonymous means that any hopes of improvement will likely come in the form 
of small numbers of members guiding the rest toward these goals.

[..]