Abstract
The protest group Anonymous has emerged as one of the most significant social movements of recent years, announcing their arrival as a globally recognized brand with regular disruptive cyber attacks and the leak of large volumes of sensitive data. Despite the obvious significance of Anonymous, to date, little academic research has been focused on what role hierarchy and internal authority play (if any) within the group. Bespoke software was used to structure over 5000 examples of IRC log files, so that a base line descriptive statistical picture could be drawn, as well as a more granular enumeration of the privileges associated with individual users.
Highlights
The close of 2012 saw Anonymous named by Time magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people active within the world today (Time, 2012)
The Time magazine article is the culmination of the events of the past three years that has seen a string of high profile hacking exploits by the Anonymous Collective
Instead this study focuses on Anonymous IRC as it acts as a bounded medium, which is anecdotally credited with being the centralised command and control loci for the Anonymous Collective (Khumar, 2012)
Summary
The close of 2012 saw Anonymous named by Time magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people active within the world today (Time, 2012). The Time magazine article is the culmination of the events of the past three years that has seen a string of high profile hacking exploits by the Anonymous Collective. From localised pockets of Anonymous members, confined to obscure Internet bulletin boards like 4 Chan, evidence of Anonymous activity is obvious on more mainstream sources of social media like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Conjoined within this increasing record of Anonymous activity is the assertion that Anonymous is leaving behind its minority routes and fast becoming a fully-fledged social movement (Halupka, 2011). Studies such as Olsons We Are Anonymous (2012) showed a body of evidence that Anonymous has a strong (if unconventional) hierarchy active within it
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
