WHITE HAT, BLACK ART

My role in founding the hacktivist collective known as ANONYMOUS has gotten me fired and arrested. Right now, the Texas GOP is trying to put me in jail. But I don't regret starting the movement. Hacking is one of the most powerful weapons against corruption― and we need it more than ever

- By AUBREY COTTLE

PEOPLE HAVE BEEN USING computers to disrupt the status quo since the dawn of computers themselves. Back in the early 1960s, an MIT student hacked the punch-card computers at the library, programming them to give out extra screen time for free. Now that practically everything is connected to the internet, a tech-savvy person can wield enormous power. Some use it nefariously: data leaks at social media companies have exposed millions of people to fraud, and ransomware attacks have shut down hospitals, school boards and libraries. In 2016, Russian hackers stole and released tens of thousands of emails in an attempt to sway the outcome of the American presidential election.

But others, called hacktivists, argue that hacking can be a potent way to fight systemic oppression and injustice. They've committed unsanctioned, sometimes criminal cyber activities to draw attention to social issues, stepping in where they believe that conventional methods have failed. The decentralized hacktivist collective known as Anonymous has been wreaking havoc in the name of vigilante justice for more than 20 years. Its members have hacked governments and political parties in Tunisia, Uganda, Australia, Poland, the US and beyond to protest censorship, homophobic legislation and corruption. Just this year, Anonymous hackers leaked passenger lists from the Trump administration's deportation flights to El Salvador, which people have since used to track down family members who went missing after being detained by ICE.