Last weekend the vigilante hacker gang Anonymous declared cyber-war on two government employees playing key roles in the detainment of Private Bradley Manning, the suspected source of the leaked documents published by Wikileaks.The group called on its members to gather information on Department of Defense Press Secretary Geoff Morell and chief warrant officer of the Quantico Military Brig Denise Barnes. Their demands in what has been termed “Operation Bradical” include granting Private Manning sheets and blankets for his bed, reading material, clothes, and a ball.“One week,” reads Anonymous’ crowdsourced document listing its demands. “Otherwise we continue to dox and ruin those responsible for keeping him naked, without bedding, without any of the basic amenities that were provided even to captured Nazis in WWII.” The top of the document bolsters the threat with, “We’re in the ruining business. And business is good.”US law enforcement took an interest in the threat and has enlisted the help of counter-intelligence agencies, according to Joseph Menn of the Financial Times. “Any threats to defense department information systems and networks are taken seriously,” said Quantico spokesman Lieutenant Agustin Solivan. “The intent or stating that you are going to commit a crime is a crime in itself.”The most recent Anonymous victim to get a good doxing was Aaron Barr of HBGary Federal, a US security firm that boasted of their plans to reveal the names of Anonymous leaders to the Financial Times. The hacker swarm descended at the news, breaking into Mr. Barr’s email account and publishing 71,000 internal emails.Revealed in those emails was a proposal from HBGary to the law firm that represented Bank of America, planning to use “cyberattacks, misinformation, forged documents, and even blackmailing” to discredit Wikileaks.Aaron Barr later resigned from his position as Chief Executive of HBGary Federal. AnonNews.org, the group’s news site, basked in their success, posting, “Poor Aaron Barr. Wait no, that guy was a dick. At least we destroyed him anonymous style.”The range of this hacker gang’s power so far is ostensibly without borders. As the world’s governments, corporations, and social networks rely more heavilypon internet-based systems, the abilities of groups like Anonymous will swell accordingly.What started as a group happy with torturing ex-girlfriends’ Facebook accounts via 4chan has burgeoned into a faceless organization with the cajones to publicly announce plans to enact a “complete communications shutdown” of a military brig. If the group is successful it won’t be long until they’re listed as a terrorist organization.At this point, however, the only one behind bars is still Bradley Manning, whose treatment is now “so repulsive that it even lies beyond what at least some of the most devoted Obama admirers are willing to defend,” to quote Glenn Greenwald of Salon.This mistreatment of Private Manning justifies Anonymous’ plans for most, but mob mentality has never been credited with rationale. Anonymity within a mob setting, combined with the actions of the mob itself, allows people the freedom to smash, burn or beat whatever and whomever they want, to paraphrase from a HotStuffWorks article on the subject.But when the mob’s members have their fingers on the switches of a Department of Defense security framework (as it will with its current plan), the faceless internet marauders will have to learn to dox with accountability.
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