Hacking, Anonymous, Antisec, and the Problem With Their Reasons
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM SUPPORT “BLACK HAT” HACKING OR ANY OF IT’S AFFILIATED TOPICS. I DO NOT SUPPORT OR KNOW ANYONE IN LULZSEC, ANONYMOUS, OR ANY OTHER ANTISEC OR BLACK HAT GROUP.
Anonymous and the various #Antisec groups out there always seem to claim that they’re doing something in the name of freedom. Information should be publicly available. We should protect those that wish to speak out against their governments. They say that they’re hacking corporations and governments to attack oppression.
I support the freedom of information. I’m an American, and despite the problems my country has, I am a patriot. I believe that we should be able to express ourselves freely. I’m against oppression of any kind, but some things aren’t oppression. Some things are just policies.
Maybe Bank of America, Sony, et al. don’t have the best security practices. Does that mean that Anonymous should hack them and release the people’s personal, private information to the world? Definitely not. That’s unprofessional and childish.
How can you say that you’re trying to help people, that you’re carrying out retribution, if you’re exposing the personal information of the very people you claim to be fighting for?
If you’re truly fighting for freedom, for the people, for the common man, for the freedom of information–stop exposing our information to the world. Maybe Anonymous isn’t specifically using our information, but they’re giving it to people who will. And why? Because they’re trying to expose a corporation or government’s incompetence?
My honest opinion is that the #Antisec groups that claim to be doing things for the people or freedom of information are either lying or extremely immature. You can’t protect people by exposing their logins and credit card numbers. You’re doing nothing but harm.
Here’s a suggestion. If you truly want to do something, do something that won’t affect the innocent people who are using a service. Contact the corporation or government privately, with proof of your deed, and if they don’t fix it, then go to the press. But even when you go to the press, don’t release information about individual users.
If you continue to expose innocent, common users, you’re only doing it for fame or to say you can do it. And any banner of truth or freedom that you’re trying to hide behind is a lie. If that’s the case, how much better are you than the very governments and corporations you’re trying to expose?
Bottom line: hacking is bad. I don’t support it. I support freedom and believe in transparency. If you must hack, then do so professionally and discretely. If you truly want to follow through with the statements you make, expose and exploit the governments and corporations, not the innocent individuals who subscribe to a service.
packettalk 
Your ethics and morals stand in good grounds. But our society has grown stupid to the point where the common people have learned to love their slavery. These are people that even if given freedom, they wouldn’t know what to do with it. Our society has been stuck into a stalemate and unless someone does something drastic nothing will ever change. Or the change will take too long to benefit anyone of us living today our our children.
Hi, @XjSv. Thank you for your comment.
I won’t argue the validity of the first half of your comment. I won’t agree or disagree, either.
However, I will say that doing something drastic does not necessarily mean that innocents must be exposed. You can crash a corporation’s network (or a government’s network) without exposing the credentials and personal lives of its subscribers. It’s unnecessary, accomplishes nothing (other than “LOOK WHAT I DID”), and demeans their stated goals.
Unless I can be given a valid reason for exposing the lives and credentials of the people who #Antisec groups claim to be fighting for, I stand behind my original comment that they (#Antisec groups and members) are either lying or they are very immature. Please don’t think I’m talking about EVERY #Antisec group/member. I’m only talking about the (apparent) majority that receives so much press.