Born out of the online messageboard 4Chan in 2003, the shadowy group's first high-profile target was the Church of Scientology. Publicity from the months-long attack, dubbed Project Chanology, is believed to have attracted hundreds of members – mostly young males – to the cause. After a string of more low-key attacks on copyright-enforcement agencies and music bodies, the group rallied behind WikiLeaks amid the fallout from the US diplomatic cables leaks in December last year.
Members Believed to have under a dozen "key influencers" who broadly dictate who – or what – the group attacks. At its peak in December 2010, hundreds of low-skilled internet users from across the world are thought to have used their computer in support of Anonymous attacks. The group has since splintered over disagreements about its direction.
Agenda Broadly pro-democracy and freedom of speech – although the group revels in crippling access to high-profile websites
Timeline
Circa 2003 Emerges from 4Chan. For years the focus of its attacks is anti-music piracy bodies
January 2008 First high-profile clash – target: the Church of Scientology
June 2009 Emboldened by Project Chanology, the group surfaces again in support of the pro-democracy movement during disputed Iranian presidential elections
December 2010 Redoubles its efforts with attacks against companies perceived to be anti-WikiLeaks, including Visa and MasterCard, after release of US diplomatic cables
Where to find it Dozens of Twitter accounts have been shut down by the social network, but more keep popping up. The most prominent account, with almost 30,000 followers, is @Anonops. Most of the group's public statements are made through its website, Anonops.blogspot.com
Where will it go from here? The future of Anonymous is largely safeguarded by its loose-knit, shambolic structure. The biggest threat to its influence is the splinter group, LulzSec, which is believed to be made up of a number of its former key members.
LulzSec
Spinoff from Anonymous which says its members are hacking sites for the "lulz" (fun).
Members Fewer than 10. Reckoned to be young – 16- to 24-year-olds – given their initial targets: the US X-Factor and computer games companies. Members said to include "Kayla", who owns a 10,000-strong "botnet" of virus-infected PCs that can be used to attack sites on command
Agenda Cause the odd bit of havoc and embarrassment for high-profile sites or organisations
Timeline
7 May 2011 Hacks US X-Factor contestants database
29 May Hacks site of Public Broadcasting Service in the US to add story claiming that Tupac Shakur, the rapper killed in 1996, is alive
2 June Hacks Sony Pictures Europe
6 June Hacks Nintendo, though insistent that "we're not targeting Nintendo"
8 June Claims to have accessed NHS system with thousands of passwords, but no proof provided
13 June Hacks US Senate website
15 June Possibly brings down CIA website, though claim not proven
18 June Hacks Sega, though claim not proven and is later denied
20 June Brings down Serious Organised Crime Agency site in UK
21 June Denies hacking UK census data, as suggested by some reports
Where to find them Twitter: twitter.com/lulzsec; Web: lulzsecurity.com
Where will it go from here? Depending on the outcome of investigations by police in the UK and US, it will either scale back or get caught. It has a number of enemies and adversaries online, including The Jester.
The Jester
Highly skilled, lone wolf former US military hacker.
Members One
Agenda Pro-US, pro-military who especially enjoys taking down jihadist websites, but will take on anyone who he judges to be anti-American or uppity
Timeline Multiple "takedowns" of jihadist websites over a number of years and attack on WikiLeaks following release of US embassy cables last year
Where to find him Web: th3j35t3r.wordpress.com/; Twitter: twitter.com/th3j35t3r
Where will he go from here? As he never troubles the US or UK intelligence services, and appears to be smarter than others ranged against him, he could continue as long as he likes.
Patriotic Nigras (aka PN)
"Griefers" who caused trouble in the online world Second Life
Members 100-200
Agenda Cause trouble – "grief" – in the avatar-driven world
Timeline
2006 PN is formed
October 2006 Raids a chatshow in the virtual world, appearing as giant pink penises
February 2007 Raids the Second Life headquarters of then US presidential candidate John Edwards. Linden Labs, owner of Second Life, cracks down on PN
Where to find it Second Life
Where will it go from here? Likely to vanish as the virtual world attracts less media attention.
4Chan
Influential messageboard launched in October 2003. 4Chan's infamous /b/ messageboard has been described as a place where "people try to shock, entertain, and coax free porn from each other". The forum has become a breeding ground for people who want to create mischief online and has spawned many of the vituperative groups who launch online attacks.
4Chan gave birth to many of the internet's most famous memes, including Rickrolling and Rage Guy. Its users frequently become embroiled in spats with other online communities, most recently a 4Chan subgroup attacked Tumblr for "stealing [its] memes".
Members Claims to have 25 million monthly users, making it one of the most engaged websites
Agenda None, except to remain anonymous and post whatever members want on its forums
Timeline
October 2003 Launches as place to share obscure Japanese animation and, eventually, erotic images.
9 July 2008 Its originally anonymous founder, 24-year-old Christopher Poole, is unmasked by the Wall Street Journal
10 July The swastika symbol moves to the top of Google's list of search trends after a request to search for it was posted on the /b/ board
September The hacker of Sarah Palin's Yahoo! email account posts the password on /b/. Her account is suspended after multiple attempts to access it
July 2010 A Twitter poll asks which country Canadian teen popstar Justin Bieber's should visit on his world tour. 4chan users vote en mass for North Korea
December 4chan suffers a distributed denial of service attack
Where to find them: 4Chan.org
Where will they go from here? The attraction of 4Chan to young, bored males shows no sign of waning, although its founder as turned his attention to a new, more refined online sharing project known as Canvas.
P
Comment
Recruitment has been fast and furious since the United States became aware that we have a serious problem on our hands.
In that process, many firms are taking on interns to test the aptitude for those who are well suited for intelligence and counterintelligence work.
As Joe Black knows. This is a field where you need to prove your skills, and the only way to truly test them is in the field. From there, you either sink or swim.
In addition, that recruitment process has been untraditional; calling on experts from all walks of life.
As we all know, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. We live in extraordinary times and operate under extraordinary measures.
Black & Berg CyberSecurity Consulting, LLC is a new firm and failure is not an option.
I think Joe Black is handling the situation with real class responding to directed questions and placing his credentials out there for the world to see.
Joe Black has surrounded himself with a good team, and that is half the battle. This team will stand by him, until we hear otherwise. Our methods, background and training are diverse and atypical. Our dedication and commitment beyond reproach.
Nobody makes it in this business overnight, but Joe Black has, experienced excellent advisers to support him.
What exactly do we know about Lulzsec other than their desire to wreak havoc on the world wide web and their ability to to launch CyberWarfare on those who "dare" to challenge them?
I always get a chuckle when people make [want] to make the assumption that I attended Columbia Community College as opposed to my "real" alma matter, Columbia University in the City of New York.
If people are desperate to see Ivy League Credentials and a few advanced Masters degrees... just send them my way.
to elyssa.durant@gmail.com
date Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 7:22 PM
subject Fwd: About your website defacement/compromise.
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.
hide details 7:22 PM (1 hour ago)
via e-mail from Joseph Black:
Thought you should see this email that I received.
~Joe
---------- Original Message ----------
From: Victor Vennt
To: Megacommunities@blackbergsecurity.us
Date: June 8, 2011 at 8:44 PM
Subject: About your website defacement/compromise.
To whom it may concern:
I believe that "LulzSec" - The notorious hacking group responsible for recent Sony & FBI hacks may have given themselves away & identified themselves with their recent defacement and compromise of your site.
Last year cryptome.com was similarly compromised by a splinter group of "Anonymous" whom went by the name of "DIDITFORTHELULZ", one of that groups 'tag lines" was "We do it for the lulz", the members of that group were eventually exposed, see:
http://cryptome.org/0002/cryptome-hack4.htm
It is believed in certain circles of "Anonymous", that the ringleader of LulzSec is one Corey "Xyrix" Barnhill, further research may yet provide confirmation of this.
One friend of his, and "notable" member of this group has previously been charged with computer tampering, computer trespass, and criminal possession of computer material for an attack on AOL, see: http://www.infoworld.com/d/security-central/ny-teen-hacks-aol-infects-systems-818.
I hope this information is of some interest to you,
A concerned citizen.