COMMENTARY:
This year Anonymous has become very well known after successfully compromising several web systems. The hacking collective known as Anonymous is thought to have more than 1,000 active members. This group recently released more than 1,000 stolen files that totaled hundreds of megabytes in size.

The digital documents are said to top 390 megabytes in size and contained reports related to NATO, the US Army and personnel files were posted for download and as proof of their efforts.

One source knowledgeable of the breach said that classified files were not compromised. These data was said to be stolen from ManTech International Corp – a U.S. government cybersecurity contractor. ManTech International, the Washington, D.C.-based firm, is a security services provider with more than 10,000 employees in 49 states and some 40 countries around the world.

This is yet another Anonymous event designed specifically to humiliate their targets. As you may recall not that long ago, Anonymous released a list of approximately 90,000 military emails they exfiltrated in an attack on systems from Booz Allen Hamilton.

There are signs that Anonymous is growing despite a number of arrests that have been made in multiple countries. The group recently created their own social networking site and welcome visitors to the site and to the revolution. They also emphasize users should have no fear of censorship.

This could quickly become the equivalent of a C4ISR infrastructure for this group. Some call Anonymous hacktivists – a modern day Robin Hood or freedom fighters, while others call them menaces or cyber criminals. Either way, they are quite successful penetrating the security measure their targets have put in place.

Supporters of the group are quick to point out that if the systems of their targets had adequate security, this would not be happening.

Kevin G. Coleman is a long-time security technology executive and former Chief Strategist at Netscape. He is Senior Fellow with the Technolytics Institute, where he provides consulting services on strategic technology and security issues.