Photo by http://infofreeflow.noblogs.org/   In cyberspace, 2011 will be remembered also as the “Anonymous” year, the recent group of dark characters who, praising forms of civil disobedience, in the name of renovation of democracy at world level, have made themselves prominent by making attacks on web sites and information systems of government institutions and businesses all over the world. Despite the proclamations and noble announcements diffused on the Internet, the methods and techniques used by the group are configured as authentic informatics crimes and also the objectives and techniques utilized do not seem to be the fruit of a few young minds of hackers steeped in dreams and optimism. We are in the era of the digital conflicts, and the cyberspace appears more and more the favoured battleground to achieve more than questionable objectives …

“We are Anonymous. We are the legion. United as one, divided by nothing. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Wait for us!”".
This is the motto of the organization that draws an imprecise, but rather impressive number of sympathizing hacker-activists on a worldwide basis. Indeed, it seems that this “anonymous” community can rely on the entire online community scattered all over the planet, but at the same time, coordinated and directed by persons shrouded in absolute mystery. The objectives? Multiple, different and apparently not connected to each other, but traceable to precise designs and scopes, finalized to the pursuit of objectives tied to financial profit and political and economic destabilization.
Naturally, all the actions of cyber criminality are claimed and justified in function of noble purposes with an end to “civil disobedience towards abuses, corruption and illegality”. Certainly, these are pure and ethically indisputable ideals which produce drives and emotions of great effect on the world masses, but which, decidedly, do not match the methods and techniques which have very little to do with the gallantry and correctness of the knight-avenger myths and legends handed down through the memory of man. A crime is always a crime. Of course, the Anonymous group can be considered as a polyhedral cyber-movement of the Network, composed of authentic idealists, small communities dominated by unrealizable dreams, hacker groups without scruples and thirsty for money and/or notoriety, false leaders of the renewal in search of power or some puny cyber-missionary who sees in the Network the only real instrument of worldwide democracy.
Obviously, the name chosen to identify the group derives from the desire to preserve absolute anonymity in all its forms. In fact, in different public demonstrations which have taken place in various Countries, the collaborators of Anonymous have participated wearing masks depicting a character made famous by the film “V for Vendetta” made in 2005 by the director James McTeigue. In the plot, the protagonist plays the role of the executioner and lone avenger. Student spirits apart, all collaborators of Anonymous are guaranteed absolute obscurity, a determining factor for the growth in the number of affiliates. It should be underlined that the major part of the cooperators of Anonymous, at least in the initial phase, come from various image boards, added to which were the forums, wiki , irc and even social network. With the auxiliary of these communication applications, the Anonymous adherents have organized actions, protests and demonstrations all over the world, refining the techniques of data transmission and, in particular, the coordination of countless groups disseminated throughout the world.
For a better understanding of this Internet phenomenon, it is necessary, at this point, to analyze the nature, evolution and some of the most significant feats carried out by this union of web-activists-cybercriminals.


The genesis and evolution

The first signs of the presence of the group go back to 2004, through attack episodes of the DDoS type on informatics systems, by means of the blanking of the initial pages of certain web sites of small companies and little known organizations, and to the overloading of mail of e-mail servers of certain public structures. These first attacks appeared as isolated actions, apparently without coordination and were not claimed by any hacker groups. Obviously no connection transpired between the two episodes. The reality is very different: the actions of attack served as a test bench to measure the efficiency and versatility of the systems and methodologies adopted by the organization.
In 2006, the Habbo site is attacked, a popular social network in which the registered users amuse themselves by playing with virtual personalities. The motivation of the Anonymous activists in claiming the attack is attributable to the fight against racial discrimination (it seems that in certain simulations of the games, there were racist-motivated messages). In 2007, according to the declarations made by Hal Turner, author of radio programmes, certain activists of the group were responsible for a total blackout of his portal, an incident which resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars. Again in 2007, the “anonymous’ activists are indicated by the Global Television Network as the discoverers of a Canadian pedophile (Chris Forcand, resident in Toronto), who is instantly arrested and accused of attempted sexual harassment against minors.
In 2008, the organization finally reached full maturity, achieving organizational and infrastructure efficiency, elements which allow the planning of complex and, at the same time, daring attacks against an organization of world fame: the religious movement of Scientology. The attack, in the best of military traditions, is given the name “Project Chanology”. Taking a cue from a presumed copyright violation perpetrated by YouTube, to the detriment of the religious movement (which, as its vulnerable point had published without authorization a video interview with the popular American actor, Tom Cruise, who is himself a noted exponent of the movement, the Anonymous activists, considering the action of Scientology an intolerable form of censure, put in motion a series of DDoS attacks against all the sites of the religious movement situated all over the globe.
On the 21 January 2008, through a video published on YouTube (with the title “Message to Scientology”), Anonymous claims the actions of attack and affirms in a subsequent press communiqué, that the attacks were aimed at the defence of the freedom of speech and the fight against the manipulation of religion in any of its form. From that instant innumerable forms of protest are sparked off on the web. In the subsequent months, demonstrations against the Scientology Church multiply. From California to Manchester, in England, thousands of people manifest their disapproval, which spreads to over 100 cities worldwide: among which New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Boston, Dallas, Chicago, Toronto, Ottawa, London, Paris and Berlin. To protect their anonymity, all the demonstrators wear the mask depicting the personality of the famous James McTeigue film, which immediately becomes, in the collective imagination, a symbol of struggle for justice and freedom. In this sense, it might be opportune here to reflect on the gravity of the type of persuasive action used on the masses, which allows a mere mask (of a rather disquieting image) to become symbolic of honesty, independence and unconditional democracy.
Other attacks by Anonymous, always of the DDoS type, follow during the course of 2008 and involve companies and organizations from different sectors. The motivations of the attacks, indicated in the subsequent communiqués, are attributable to the fight against censure and/or censor for protection of freedom of communication on the network.
But it is in 2009 that the first real planned and coordinated operation is verified, at a world level and in minimum detail. This time the chosen ground is Iran. As referred in an article published by the authoritative Review of technologies Wired , Anonymous stipulates an agreement with Pirate Bay to offer the dissident Iranians a system to organize and coordinate the rapidly spreading demonstrations in their Country and to allow the transmission of data and information to the rest of the world. The collaboration led to the creation of Iran Anonymous (http://forums,whyweprotest.net/categories/iran.305/), the success of which made it possible, within very few months, to bring the number of registered users to more than 22,000. The Iranian portal offers a series of information reports on events and facts which happen in the Country, often enriched by images and films, but also diffuses suggestions and instruments on how to maintain anonymity in Internet, avoiding the systems of identity detection (in particular, through the tracing of the IP address). The analysis carried out by means of the portal Netcraft.com is interesting (usable in searching for location) in which it appears that the site was activated in December 2008, is located in the United States, but is registered in the name of two Swedes resident in a Nordic Country of the same name.
As we well know, one of the greatest particularities of Internet lies in its extraordinary capacity to mix persons, structures, organizations, countries and nationalities, in an authentic and inextricable tangle of information, which is very often indecipherable and difficult to connect.
From 2009 to 2010, the incursions of Anonymous assume the form of “leopard spot” attacks, from YouTube to the site of the Australian Parliament (Operation Titstorm), to the attack on sites of organizations that protect the copyright and legal firms (Operation Payback).
At the end of 2010, Anonymous takes sides, unconditionally, in favour of Wikileaks, heavily pressured at an International level for the publication of a very large number of documents which generate embarrassment and relational disruptions to many governments and politicians at the International level. To defend the organization of Assange, Anonymous is activated. It makes DDoS type attacks against Paypal, MasterCard, Visa and even against certain Swiss banks held guilty of having blocked the bank accounts that financed the organization set up by Julian Assange.
The operation takes the name of “Assange Revenge” and the attack obtains the desired effect, putting out of order – for several days – the sites hit by the informatics assault.
By the end of 2010, Anonymous is a powerful organization able to strike wherever and however. The potentialities reached are soon publicized. Starting from the deactivation of the site of the Zimbabwe Government, always for reasons attributable to the censure of documents on Wikileaks. It moves on, therefore, to the Governments, first of Tunis (Operation Tunis), which is manifested with attacks on eight governmental sites. At the beginning of 2011, Operation Egypt takes center stage, which provides, also in this case, the usual DDoS attacks against a series of web sites of the Egyptian Government. It should be known that the technique of the DDoS, for its very nature, is not easily countered. Furthermore, in function of the experience gained over the years, the activists of Anonymous have refined these techniques of attack in such a way as to make them almost impossible to counter. It is for this reason that the Egyptian governmental sites remained inactive for some time and were restored only after the announcement of the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.


From evolution to change

February 2011. Aaron Barr, Chief Executive Officer of the HBGary Federal, a society that operates in the security sector, affirmed to have infiltrated collaborators in the Anonymous group and declared that within the days that followed, he would reveal the names of group members and also certain aspects of the mysterious group.
Within a few hours the web portal of the Company is attacked and rapidly put out of action. But the most interesting aspect concerns the techniques used. As well as the DDoS technique, others are used, such as the SQL injection and the Remote Exploit, methods which permit the Anonymous hackers to access the system and withdraw enormous quantities of data and confidential information, concluding the incursion with the cancellation of more than 70,000 e-mails. The damage for the Company is incalculable: secret documents, trial reports unlawfully kept secret, development plans, relations with other security societies – all vanished, privacy zeroed and inestimable damage. The Anonymous group is still not satisfied. Just a few more hours and the Twitter account of Aaron Barr is attacked. An action which allows the informatics pirates to publish confidential and personal information. Even the faxes and telephones of the HBGary Federal are under attack and rendered inefficient.
On the 2nd April 2011, it is the turn of Sony Corporation. The operation named opSony, is conducted by a team of hackers identified by the name of Sonyrecon (Sony Reconnaissance), and has the purpose of gathering information on a wide spectrum, concerning employees of the Company (names of the employees, family information, addresses, professions, etc.). On the 22^nd April, Play Station Network is attacked, the platform of Sony to play online on PS3 (Play Station 3). The Japanese company admit that “illegal and non-authorized intrusions” were carried out, which led to the removal of sensitive data: name, address, city, State, postal code, Country, e-mail, date of birth, password and login of PSN/Qriocity and PSN online ID of more than 70 million users registered on the Network Play station platform. Sony points the finger at Anonymous, but the group rapidly denies responsibility.
Sony claims to have been victim of a “carefully planned and highly sophisticated criminal attack” and to have found on an informatics system of the Sony Online Entertainment a file called “Anonymous” containing the following words: “We are the Legion”. The evidence seems irrefutable, also because the group had previously threatened the Japanese company with attacks on their web sites and services offered to their clientele. Then there was an afterthought by the “nameless” hackers, motivated by the fact that it was not their intentions to damage the clients of Sony, who had become unwitting victims of a war conducted by others. Some doubt arises. A few days after the blocking of the servers of the network, an announcement by Sony throws the entire world community of information into absolute amazement: the Company declares publicly that there is no evidence that behind the informatics attacks which they have suffered is the hand of the Anonymous group. In the meantime, also the spokesman of Anonymous, Barrett Brown, intervenes; freelance journalist, writer and collaborator of various magazines, born in Texas and resident in Brooklyn. Some define him as the “Julian Assange of Anonymous” and certainly, Brown shares many things in common with him. For instance, the multifaceted personality, which leads him to write for Vanity Fair and the Huffington Post and, at the same time, create a wiki to diffuse news on the techniques of “psychological warfare” used by various governments to monitor the citizens and to make mass propaganda. To realize this project, it seems that he has already collected an imprecise number of sympathizers specialized in cyber-war, university researchers who work in the sector of the Internet Strategy and, even, a former director of the operations of the CIA. Nevertheless, rumours on the Internet already talk of the expulsion of Brown from Anonymous, precisely because of this project.
Returning to the Sony question, Barrett Brown asserts that Anonymous is totally unrelated to the attacks conducted against the Japanese giant. On the contrary, he points the finger at professional informatics criminals of East Europe, who took advantage of the dispute between Sony and Anonymous to direct the investigations towards others. They even speak of the commingling of members of unspecified secret services and governments of foreign countries.
There is absolutely no doubt that something has changed. Like a plant that has transformed itself during its natural growth, also Anonymous has undergone a transformation during its evolution. Is it a mutation attributable to the awareness of its own power or the identification of new and more appetizing targets?
In February 2011, it is also Italy’s turn. Hackers of Anonymous violate the sites of the House, the Senate and the web site of Mediaset (governo.it, senato.it, parlamento.it) and make them inaccessible for some hours, justifying the attack with the banal motivation of the questionable behaviour of some politicians in Parliament. The code name of the action is, obviously, “Operation Italy”.
After the attack on the Government sites, it is the turn of the large corporations. This time, the servers of Finmeccanica, which are attacked on the 3^rd of March at 21:15 p.m.? On this occasion the reason is the accusation against the company for having furnished equipment and technology to the Libyan Government. Among the different communiqués released on the network, a few days after Operation Italy, one, in particular, merits mention: Anonymous announces that in the next few days, it will launch attacks against the world energy infrastructure. On the 25^th March Enel is attacked, with the motivation of the participation of the corporation in certain international projects. Then it is the turn of the Guarantor Authorities for Communications (AGCOM), which is attacked on 28^th June with generic and fanciful motivations connected with the fight for the freedom of the Internet. On the 10^th August, Anonymous announces that it will strike the ‘king’ of the social network: Face book. After some initial perplexity and announcement of false declaration, a communiqué from the group clarifies that the attack will take place on a very specific date: next 5^th of November.
The evening of the 21st June, it is the turn of the sites pdl.it, governoberlusconi.it, forzasilvio.it and silvioberlusconifansclub.org. In the poster claiming responsibility published by the members of the Italian group of Anonymous (Photo 1), a series of bizarre reasons are listed, tending to justify the assault on the sites of the Italian Premier, but there is a part which is worth examination: “We have returned because we believe there is a limit to the hypocrisy of this Country, to the political, economic and social actions AGAINST the common interest”. The question arises as to what the referred to “political, economic and social actions”” are, and which of them are “against the common interest”.

Apart from the generic nature of the communiqué, it appears evident that the constant attempt of the group to demonstrate that the actions of informatics piracy are nothing more than actions aimed at ensuring the defence of the freedom of information and to denounce questionable behaviour of organizations, companies and corporations. Instead, it is undoubted that Anonymous is not as it would wish to appear, and that is, an anarchic organization which moves without a central coordination or without a common purpose, at least, as far as the objectives are concerned.
On the contrary, it is plausible that at the summit of Anonymous there is a hidden direction able to define the targets, methodology, techniques, the groups to be involved and, even, the justifications to be adduced for the acts of cyber-terrorism carried out. In short, it appears sufficiently clear that a hierarchical infrastructure exists. An infrastructure which is able to coordinate a multiplicity of actions in the cyberspace, but also to identify the policies, strategies and tactics to adopt in function of different and changeable scenarios.
On the 5th July, the Italian Police, after extensive investigations conducted by the National Informatics Anti-crime Center for the Protection of the Critical Infrastructures (CNAIPIC), made 36 raids throughout the national territory. The operation is called “Secure Italy” and is developing both in Italy and Switzerland, also thanks to the collaboration of the Ticino Canton Police. It is the first shot scored by the Police Force of a Country against that mysterious organization of cyber-terrorism. Fifteen more people are reported (among which several minors) and informatics material of various kinds is seized. The charges go from unlawful access of informatics systems, to the damage of said systems and the interruption of public service. The presumed head of the Italian group of Anonymous is identified as Luca Franceschini (code name “Phre”). An Italian resident in the Ticino Canton, who seems to have the task of coordinating the attacks made on the Italian territory. An interesting particular is that of the method followed for the choice of the target. It seems, in fact, that the targets are indicated by means of voting, which is done, however, at a higher level than those who are locally in charge.
But the response to the extraordinary action of contrast by the Italian Police is not late in arriving. At the end of July 2011, the CNAIPIC itself is attacked. Certain hackers, traceable to Anonymous, declare to have come into possession of a considerable quantity of confidential information. The news is published on the pastebin site (http://pastebin.com/r21cExeP) and on the Anonymous Italy blog (http://anonops-ita.blogspot.com/ ). Also in this case a subtraction of information and documents is verified, which shows the change in the type of action conducted by the Anonymous adepts. The blocking of the web servers and the collapse of the services no longer satisfies the appetite of the group. More is needed, confidential information, sensitive data, codes and procedures. In short, everything that is necessary to know in an in-depth way: structures, organizations, names, relations with governmental, civil and military institutions, information on those who are well known and have power. The ‘loot’ from the CNAIPIC, however, does not seem very substantial (around 8 GB of data), even if it concerns the presence of “confidential” documents.
Some days after, a communiqué throws the media into confusion: Anonymous and LulzSec deny any involvement in the attack in question. On the contrary, they point the finger at Crew NKWT LOAD, a group of hackers unknown to Anonymous. At this point, in an attempt to make a correct reading of the affair, it is opportune to retrace certain fundamental steps.
On the 25^th July, on the Twitter page of LulzSec, a message appeared which hinted that something big was being prepared: “National Informatics Anti-crime Center for the Protection of the Critical Infrastructures, we have your data. Tremble”; and then: “-3 minutes to the announcement in Italian” (http://is.gd/yg7tWM). After exactly three minutes, the following tweet appears: “CNAIPIC and now? Learn by heart our announcement” :-) (http://is.gd/4aiNNN). Also the link to pastebin.com is included in the tweet (http://pastebin.com/UZZpDGWE), where the following message dominates the screen: “Good day to you. This is a pre-release, part of a series of dumps we shall leave, to reveal some, among the most important, reports and secrets in the Agencies of law Enforcement Informatics, and their illegal and amoral practice. These releases will be published and tweeted by all the LulzSec & Anonymous community in the AntiSec campaign”.
The document, without doubt, of particular interest, concludes with the following words: “AN ENORMOUS THANKS to the NKWT LOAD crew”. It is a decisive phrase, but, at the same time, worthy of a series of evaluations and reflections.
In consequence to the diffusion of the communiqué, the account of LulzSec Italy on Twitter began to transmit links where the material could be downloaded (http://is.gd/wrXh7i) and to furnish indications on the diffusion of the affair, at an International level. Without doubt, it is an informatics attack which makes news; more so, if we consider that the CNAIPIC is responsible for countering cybercrime, cyber-terrorism and industrial espionage. Then something strange happened: an announcement is published on the blog of Anonymous, which, with a particularly explicit image (http://i.imgur.com/5p6TR.jpg) communicates to all that Anonymous and LulzSec have no responsibility in the attack against the CNAIPIC (Photo 2).
The announcement, as already shown is, to say the last, disconcerting and triggers doubts, perplexity and even rage in the entire network community. Why claim an attack extolling the liberty and democracy of the sovereign people and then deny everything after a few days? Who’s behind Anonymous? Is the LulzSec group connected to other groups of cyber-terrorism and who do they take their order from? Who is the NKWT LOAD Crew? If it’s true that Anonymous and LulzSec were not responsible for the attack on CNAIPIC, then who conducted the operation? If it’s true that circa 8 GigaByte of data and documents finished in the hands of who knows who, why have they not been published yet?

One thing is certain: the attack was conducted by hackers of different nationalities. And, similarly, it is evident that the principle scope of the operation was not a simple retaliation for the raids conducted a few weeks previously by the Italian Police. What transpires, in all its clarity, is the desire to demonstrate the level of the capacity and potential acquired by the hackers at world level, through actions planned and coordinated with the precision of those who know they can count on a capillary and functional infrastructure, hierarchically directed by a top-down type structure. But there is something more. The scope has changed or, perhaps, it is only that the real one has come to light. In the first place, the techniques have changed. At the beginning, the attacks were made solely to block the functionality of the informatics systems (DDoS) of the chosen targets, now the hacker groups use, principally, methods and applications which are able to penetrate the servers of critical infrastructure, with the precise scope of withdrawing the largest possible amount of data and information stored inside them. In the second place, the targets have changed. Attention is now concentrated on the large corporations, government and institutional structures.
At the beginning of August, the web site of Vitrociset is attacked. An Italian group that operates in the sector of electronics and informatics in the civil and military field, principally concerning systems for the control of air traffic, satellite and telecommunications, transport and info-mobility. Also this is a different attack. The hackers were able to penetrate the server of the company and to make a defacing action , inserting a vindication message in the system, the contents of which were somewhat enigmatic: “We are exceedingly happy that the 72 hours of downtime which you have had to make an in-depth audit of your systems have been so well spent, and we note with pleasure that your efficiency in guaranteeing high standards of security has not been minimally flawed by our vile action” and it goes on, “moved by compassion, we have decided to give you another little tip and we give it with a new incursion to make you aware of an upsetting fact: there are still flaws in your systems!”. The final part is indicative, which reads. “It is no longer possible to ignore the way in which the citizens’ money is daily squandered, thanks to tenders and competitions, at the very least, of dubious legal regularity, by many public and governmental agencies, many of which operate in the defence/security sector”. Although showing the attack as an action addressed to a hypothetical questionable management of equally unspecified tenders and competitions, the hackers made no scruples in looting, also in this case, data and information contained within the violated system. The demonstration of the possession of documents seems to have been confirmed by the publication of names and surnames, e-mails and passwords of users who have access to the system. Also in this instance, many doubts arise regarding the importance of the stolen information.
In this sense, it is possible to find an analogy with the violation of the systems of the American multinational, Man Tech International Corporation. Leader in the sector of defence and security, it has branches in all the U.S. States and operates in over 40 Countries in the world, with a personnel that exceeds 10,000 persons. Among its clients are the U.S. Department of Defence, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the NASA, and other government agencies. The employees of Man Tech are highly specialized and operate in different sectors throughout the national and international territory. Furthermore, as is reported in the site of the Company, the personnel comes from military environments in which guarantees of the highest level are required: “…half of our collaborators have a military background, and more than 70% hold a government security clearance”.
The attack on the multi-national is made on the 29th July. The spoils seem considerable: at least 500 Megabytes of “classified” data, but it would seem that the real quantity is, in fact, far greater. Some hours after the raid, a document is published on the network (a file format .pdf of a curriculum of an individual by the name of Robert Kristopher Beamen, with a military-type history), but its disclosure does not generate particular anxiety for the Company, which minimizes the value of the stolen information. A few hours pass and a second document is diffused on Internet. This time, the document alerts the heads of the Man Tech: it is a work statement dated 18^th February 2010, and is addressed to the NATO Communication & Information Systems Services Agency and contains the guidelines for the personnel engaged in the “NATO Theater of Operations”. It should be noted that the document does not contain the classifications “Restricted” “Confidential” or “Classified, but ironically enough, at the bottom of the page, the wording “Leading the Convergence of National Security and Technology” appears.
Whatever the case, the document has a certain importance and confirms that the theft conducted to the damage of Man Tech, produced the leakage of important documents. As if by magic, a stream of protests is activated on Twitter, condemning the “waste” of public money to finance agencies that should guarantee the security of information at the national level and, instead, are not able to guarantee even the inviolability of their own information systems. An article in Security Week (http://www.securityweek.com/anonymous-claims-it-hacked-mantech-fbi-cybersecurity-contractor) underlines that the only contract stipulated by the FBI with Man Tech, guarantees to the latter a sum of 99.5 million dollars to ensure security services to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Several days later, it is the turn of Booz Allen Hamilton; also this company is a supplier of services for security and defence for the United States Government. The attack of the hackers of Anonymous yields something like 90,000 military e-mail addresses, as well as the relative passwords which were encrypted with algorithms in Base 64.


Who is behind Anonymous?

At the end of July, the British Police arrest “Topiary”, indicated as the voice of LulzSec and activist (or hacktivist, as the members of Anonymous are defined). His name is Jake Davis (Photo 3), is just 18 years old and has the fresh face of a boy, which is partly hidden by showy dark sun-glasses. The charges are stiff and include, among other things, the violation of several institutional sites, like the British National Health Service, and the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA, the cyber-police of the United Kingdom). Notwithstanding, after a few days, he is released on bail, also because the judge, probably moved to pity by the appearance of the youth, held that such a hard measure could cause shock to the individual. Confined to the house from 22:00 until 7:00 and surveilled by a wearable monitoring device (bracelet), to check that the limits imposed by the judge are observed, he can no longer accede to the Internet, at least until the end of the trial.

It seems that there is clear evidence of the boy’s involvement in some of the attacks conducted by the Anonymous group on sites of European companies. It is unusual that the English youth did not seem to have any reactions of fear or remorse during the phase of arrest and the following days, and this could lead the reader to an immediate reflection. Is it possible that behind this international organization, the people able to create situations of serious embarrassment to the most famous corporations specialized in the sector of informatics security, and to block the sites – which are protected and monitored 24 hours around the clock – of structures and government agencies, are simply extremely young, irresponsible informatics enthusiasts, and many of them, it seems, are even minors? What is the central instigator that can provide a form of proselytism, (almost touching on religious fanaticism) which is able to lead young hopefuls to commit crimes of such gravity? What was the motivation which drove a group of supporters of the “freedom on the network” and of the “democracy of the web” to concentrate its efforts on objectives represented by government structures, the sector of defence and law enforcement? And is the real design different from the noble, idealistic and libertarian ideas advocated by Anonymous?
Let us try to formulate a theory. If we carefully analyze the events that have happened in succession during the last few months, on a global scale, we may be able to postulate the presence of a plan which has certainly nothing to do with noble ideas or fine intentions. Let us suppose that this plan is based on a series of evolutionary phases.
First phase: through a familiar and structured language in function of the recipients to whom it is directed (hackers and sympathizers) an action of proselytism is conducted aimed at the creation of autonomous groups (cells), but which are able to participate in coordinated actions conducted on an international scale. The language and the “mission” differ in function of the group or of the individuals to co-opt. It could be of an idealistic type, if the people to be enrolled pursue projects with charitable purposes, or it could be of a commercial type, if the people to be recruited choose to be in the pay of the highest bidder.
Second phase: identification of the initial objectives. The first are purely ideological, chosen in function of battles connected to doctrinal or political, or even ethnic or racial aspects. In this phase, the ‘pure’ sympathizers see the possibility of pursuing dreams and ideas which seem to have no space or possibility in real life. In this phase, the process of rendering the idealistic recruits loyal to the organization is used.
Third phase: identification of the objectives of value. It is the phase in which the targets of the greatest interest are selected. The interest is given by a multiplicity of factors: importance of the structure, strategic positioning, the relevance of the following factors: economic, political, institutional, geographical location, nationality, interactions and links with other organizations and companies on a world-wide basis. Once the targets are selected, it is possible to proceed to the operative phase, which may include different actions with relative dissimilar consequences: blocking of the informatics systems (damage to the image of the company, loss of credibility, possible economic damage, both in terms of infrastructural costs suffered and of loss of revenue); violation of the system, penetration and theft of data (together with those previously listed, we can add: violation of privacy, theft and commercialization of sensitive data and information, blackmail for the diffusion of the robbed information and industrial espionage); attack aimed at the publicizing of the inefficiency of the security infrastructure of the company (removal of managers and administrators of the system (removal of suppliers of security systems, remodeling of the costs intended for the security of the informatics systems, distrust and collapse of interpersonal relations within the organization, heightening of the level of internal and external insecurity).
The actions listed serve to furnish the reader with a key to better under stand what the real reasons can be that drive an individual or a group to commit an informatics crime.
It is necessary to add that the motivations can be pushed to a greater level of complexity, which can include political and economic upheavals of enormous importance. Let us take, for example, the case of Man Tech. Immediately after the violations of the company systems, a storm was raised over the stipulated contracts with the different U.S. Government structures and the mountain of money disbursed to the company to secure the systems of the institutions and those of the defence. Most probably there will be parliamentary questioning and requests for clarifications on the drawn-up contracts and those in phase of definition between Man Tech and the different structures to whom it supplies services and technologies. Perhaps it might even result in the cancellation of the contracts, which would, of course, put the American multi-national in serious difficulty.
It is important to clarify a concept: in the Communication Technology and Information sector, it is not possible to guarantee, in any way, the inviolability of the informatics systems. No matter how much one implements the most advanced systems and methodologies, the risk of being submitted to informatics attacks exists and will continue to disturb the sleep of all security managers for the rest of their days. Nevertheless, the shadow of the loss or alteration of sensitive information not only hovers over companies, public organizations and civil and military institutions, but also over the daily life of the single individual who, to an increasing extent, stores his personal data within the most advanced technological instruments.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt asserted that “The only thing to fear is fear itself”. Certainly, fear is fed by beliefs, convictions, certainties and falsities, which can constitute a very valid ally in damaging or breaking down individuals or, even structures that appear to be untouchable or impregnable. An example in this sense could be constituted by the succession of attacks that have involved different government structures and Italian companies. Why not consider that behind these informatics crimes there is a much broader design which aims a destroying the Italian image at an international level? Also the period through which our Country is passing would be the most propitious to realize a similar project … Certainly, it appears most unusual that we know next to nothing about these cyber-criminal organizations, as in the case of Anonymous or NKWT LOAD Crew and that the Police Forces across the globe encounter considerable difficulty in identifying its adherents. And even when they are able to trace some components of the organization, the identification leads to the capture of some half-amused incredulous young kids.
The presence is evident, therefore, of “levels” and “hierarchies” structured and organized in function of a plan of action projected by elements at the summit of the organizations. A structure that takes decisions, in function of the adoption of a pyramidal model, can allow the operation also of a structure that operates at a capillary level, but on a global scale, provided that a “cell” type operation is guaranteed. Very often, these organizations are based on the presence of isolated cells that establish contacts with elements known only to the head of the same cell. It is the “compartmentalized” system, well known and utilized in international terrorism. Furthermore, the “cell” operation allows the heads of the organization to give little explanation or clarification on the decisions taken and on the selected objectives. In short, a perfectly constructed and oiled structure to operate in Internet, made up of an army of trained hackers, but also unwitting collaborators, with the objective of exercising a new kind of terror: that deriving from the anonymity of the cyber-space.
It could seem techno-politicalsci-fi, but unfortunately, we are not in an Isaac Asimov novel and, as we well know, the digital networks, Internet and the informatics systems have assumed a predominant role in the life of each individual. The energy sources, communication, food supply, industrial production, defence systems, are managed by computers linked on the network and all this cannot but evoke pride and, at the same, dismay in the mind of man.
What would happen if the computer systems ceased to function? How many times have we heard this question in documentaries, conferences, seminars, films and television debates? It is difficult to find an answer to a question of this kind, but it is easier to understand how man has been able to grasp, in full, the importance of the control and utilization of these technologies. And perhaps, the fundamental point is just this: how is it possible to control the information and the things the human mind is able to produce in the cyberspace?
The last statement published by Jake Davis on Twitter, before his arrest, is indicative: “You cannot arrest an idea”. Perhaps this phrase is the one which, better than others, synthesizes in an unequivocal manner, the risks deriving from the use of the network …..


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