We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.

Anonymous 'hacktivists' aim to expose what they call government and establishment hypocrisy. Anonymous is a decentralized network of individuals focused on promoting access to information, free speech, and transparency. 

To define the group is a bit difficult as it’s not easy to pigeon-hole a collective who claim that they don’t have a leader and only consist of a loose group of members from all over the world. How this group functions as one without a leader might just be the biggest social experiment in democracy, discipline and free will.

The name Anonymous has also become a synonym for other hacking collectives like LulzSec, AntiSec and AnonOps, who all might or might not have the same ideals and demands as  Anonymous, although they all branched off from the main body at some time.

Whether or not they are as dangerous as the media claims, it all depends on who you ask. The main thought behind the group is to fight for internet freedom and freedom of speech. As history has told us, it becomes a bit of a blurry line at the best of times.

Doing a bit of digging, it can be revealed that the group advocates for internet freedom and freedom of speech, and mainly target large companies. Should the Average Joe be afraid? Not unless he has something to hide on a global scale.

The group seems to carefully choose their targets and believe that by exposing corruption, maladministration, wrongful arrest and clamp downs on internet freedom, the world will ultimately be a better online place.  It’s a bit of a catch-22 situation.

How can I join Anonymous?

 This question comes up quite often. Anonymous does not have a membership list, and you can't really 'join' it either. If you identify with or say you are Anonymous, you are Anonymous. Noone has the authority to say whether you are Anonymous or not, except for yourself.