Note : This Article Cross posted from our Magazine's 13th Issue - August 2012 called "BOTNET | The Hacker News Magazine", Written by Ann Smith (Executive Editor, The Hacker News Magazine). You can Download full magazine free here.

Shame on me. When someone mentioned Lulzsec I would slightly bristle and turn a mighty heel towards the "real" movement. You know, the Anons that are taking down corruption and terror, targeting the real enemies of the world. If you were doing it for the LULZ of it, well, you were playing in the proverbial sand box and I thought you were hindering, instead of helping. I even wrote an editorial spanking them for releasing the emails of servicemen who had signed up for a porn site.

Then, I read the book, WE ARE ANONYMOUS by Parmy Olson. Every person who considers themselves Anonymous or who sympathizes and rallies for the cause, must read this book. You will not only get a good education from this history of the movement but also get to know the people behind the masks and what drives them to hack.

You may see yourself in the stories of their lives or have a gut wrenching feeling of sadness when they are arrested. I know I did. I was right there, hanging on the hope that the authorities would be thrown off the track, get lost in cyber space, or go fuck themselves.

But alas, as in the ying and yang of life, it wouldn't be so. Still, you will be turning the pages in earnest as you read the story of why people came together and what behaviors they exhibited. You will discover people ended up tolerating all sorts of sordid and undefinable actions but then, as you will discover, it really was all for the Lulz of it.
The Hacker News

But that wasn't what impressed me and made me stop to understand my own feelings about Lulzsec. It was in the pages of this story that human rights, passion, justice, injustice, personal struggles from childhood scars, ambitions, and the need to be right that I came to respect the Lulzsec movement, its pleasures, its goals and painfully the demise of the key players.

Although Sabu may be the most hated man on the Anonymous planet, Olson takes an objective and supportive role in portraying the beast of the cyber world and even I was seeing the situation in a new light. After reading this book you will find other subjects to hate that brought down the group in what I describe as third grade politics and ego egg salad. Uggggh. Some of the people I just deplored, and unfortunately, in a group setting there will always be "those" kinds.

What I am really trying to say is that even though you can sew a thread of doing hacking for the Lulz of it, behind their actions was a real commitment to human rights. The drive and passion these people had for bringing justice to the people. I will always admire that in any form it takes place. I can excuse the nonsense and the immaturity because in the end, it really wasn't just for the Lulz of it. It really came down to being for you and me.

I hope Lulzsec forgives me. I hope the group continues with new and energized men and women who unite globally for the common good and have a few laughs while they are at.

After all, in the end, we are Anonymous, we are Legion, We do not forgive, We do not forget, Expect us.

Author : Ann Smith (Executive Editor, The Hacker News Magazine)
Cybersecurity

Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.