Corporate entities are far from Anonymous only interest: the group has also performed some impressive hacks on more localized targets. A group identifying themselves as Anonymous investigated and exposed online predator Chris Forcand in 2007. In 2011, Operation DarkNet DDoSed over 40 child pornography sites, the usernames of over 1,500 people were published online and sent to FBI and Interpol offices. More epic still, was the response to the murder of Charles Hill by BART police officers in San Francisco. Coming two years after the Oscar Grant III protests, BART security reacted quickly when Hill, 45, threw a bottle at the officers and pulled a knife. Hill threw his weapon to the ground when officers drew their guns. Unarmed, Hill was shot three times. BART immediately shut down cellphone service in an effort to dampen immediate reaction. Officials claimed the officers acted lawfully and out of self-defence... they would not face charges. Protests erupted in the Bay Area (fuelled by Anonymous organizations) and an Anonymous group hacked into BARTs website: posting names, phone numbers and e-mail information of 102 BART police officers. Further, they sent out an email/fax bomb to BART offices, temporarily disabling them. The focus of this response by Anonymous affiliated groups was swift, accurate and posed a new threat to police units suspected of excessive abuses of power. This hack proved an important milestone in the direction mainline Anonymous actions would take in the coming years, sharpening its focus on the targets and messages it wished to send.
David Wagner is an author/musician who splits his time between Oakland, CA and Istanbul, Turkey.
David has published two novels, both available on his website, and as a fan of movies, comics, and genre television, he is happy to be working with WhatCulture as a regular contributor.
