Jesse Willms: What Are Ethics?

The 4Chan group that is known as “/b/” or “Anonymous” is back to their old tricks and in the news again. This time it’s because they decided to exact vengeance on something they considered a threat to them. It seems that the U.S. Government contracted with the well-known computer security company HPGary to find out what they could about who Anonymous really is.

HPGary then hired Aaron Barr to infiltrate the group. Taking that job may have been the biggest mistake of his life. Barr apparently managed to get some information about the group, which he planned to sell to the FBI. But, Anonymous was one step ahead of him. Before he had the chance to do it, they hacked his computer.

First they put 50,000 of his confidential emails on the Internet. Then, they hacked his Twitter account and used it to post his Social Security Number and other private information that could be used by identity theft specialists. Finally, they remotely wiped his laptop computer and iPad. I think it’s safe to say Barr won’t be selling anything to the FBI – or messing around with Anonymous again.

But, what are the ethical implications of Anonymous? The group clearly sees itself as Internet vigilantes fighting for truth and democracy. That’s why their most famous coup was in temporarily taking down Visa, MasterCard and PayPal.

In that case they did so in support of Wikileaks, which was disseminating confidential diplomatic and military documents.  In the past, the three companies had processed donations to Wikileaks. When they stopped doing so, Anonymous took them out.

In that case, one can argue “fair play.” These companies should have stayed independent, not given into government pressured and kept doing business with Wikileaks until there is proof that they broke the law. One could even argue that it was MasterCard and Visa that were behaving unethically. But, this case is different. Now, it’s personal.

Barr wasn’t really doing anything that Anonymous doesn’t do themselves: They collect confidential data and then use it to hack into sites or embarrass people they disagree with. That’s exactly what he was trying to do to Anonymous, so they have no reason to complain about his ethics. Instead, they should be wondering how he was able to get so close to them before they figured out what he was doing.