Anonymous is fast becoming one of the most influential, or at least, most documented hacking group there is. Linked by the to all manner of notorious hacktivist cases, such as the WikiLeaks backlash [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11935539], an attack that saw them take down the MasterCard, PayPal and Visa websites after they removed their services from the website. Similarly, they aided the Egyptian revolution [http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/notaro20110309], and are described by that new media outlet as a hacker group that “takes down websites across the world for the greater good: peace, freedom of information and solidarity.” Anonymous boast many feats, as well as many members, the group itself is very illucid, it’s very easy to take part in some of their hacktivist actions, often they’ll upload programmes that do the work for you, or you’ll simply have to take part in e-mail campains or basic acts of hacking.
And Anonymous are more then just an online syndication. Created on the notorious 4Chan board, /b/ (described by many, including itself, as the asshole of the internet), Anonymous has an impressive record of IRL protests too. One of its more noted protest was Project Chanology [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Chanology], a protest that saw members of the loose-knit organisation protest outside the churches headquarters, dressed mostly in cloaks and hats to protect their identities. Alongside this protest came cyberattacks against the church of Scientology; Anonymous utilised DDoS and a variety of other methods to attack and disrupt the churches’ running.
Anonymous have fast become one of the most feared cybergroups, arguably, not least due to their size, one of the strongest and most formidable. Previous hacking victims have included the Bank of America [http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/03/anonymous-hackers-release-bank-of-america-emails/1], BMI [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/anonymous-hacker-group-attacks-bmi-166283], Amazon, PayPal, MasterCard and Visa, Sarah Palin [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4780133.ece], and many, many more. Most recently they have decided to take fight against Sony after Sony repressed information on how to jailbreak the PS3 [http://news.techworld.com/personal-tech/3268344/sony-ps3-websites-attacked-by-anonymous-group/]
And it kinda all started, believe it or not, when some kid hurt a cat.
Hacking in the Media 