A founding member of Anonymous has revealed secrets behind the hacktivist organization’s classified inner workings.
The former member, Mustafa Al-Bassam, shed some light on the secretive group who is known for their digital activism.
Al-Bassam was also one of the people behind the hacking of Sony Pictures, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the CIA website and various international law enforcement agencies.
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The group is well known for their cyber attacks, often targeting websites in order to disrupt groups and systems that they have deemed to be unethical or illegal.
Anonymous often supports social movements and fights against censorship.
Their aim appears to be on raising awareness about these issues or injustices that they deem to be important.
The group is also known for its tagline, which is usually used to sign off at the end of a video.
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This tagline is: “We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”
In an interview with Business Insider, Al-Bassam shared his experience of the group he had been involved with since 2010, when he was just 15 years old.
During his time with Anonymous, the hacker used the alias ‘tFlow’ and after finding that he wasn’t getting anywhere with protests and petitions, decided to ‘try to attack corporations that are engaging in censorship by taking them down’.
Talking about the hacks on companies and users’ data that Al-Bassam participated in, the former Anonymous member admitted that he doesn’t regret it but it is something he ‘wouldn’t want to do again’.
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He added: “It made people a lot more serious and conscious about security and also like basically just exposed that the emperor had no clothes”.
Since leaving the world of hacking behind him, Al-Bassam has gone on to become an entrepreneur and blockchain developer, co-founding Celestia.
The company is a decentralized blockchain platform that is aimed at enhancing cybersecurity and privacy online.
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Anonymous continues to use its hacktivism to make public statements, with a recent video being aimed at President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, highlighting the potential dangers of ‘Project Russia’.
In its latest video, Anonymous said: “The writing is on the f**king wall, Trump, Musk, and Putin are playing a dangerous game.”
The group continued: “Now add Musk, pulling the strings in the US government’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, slashing public programs while sucking up power, and we've got the perfect storm for democratic destruction.”