Judging from my instinctive response and the responses from almost every single netter online with exception of a few party poopers, we all know whose side we are on in this David vs. Goliath match up. Anonymous is like an insurgency, engaged in hit and run tactics, doing damage at will. It is time for the government to have a taste of their own oppressive medicine just like how the Vietcong dished it to the technologically superior American forces.
Feeling elated with Anonymous, I went to do some reading on them and to put things simply, they are a collective of individuals who will band together over specific issues, engage in massive hacking action and disappear into the night. This sounds like a recipe for success doesn't it? Being able to harness the strength of the collective but yet being able to remain elusive and outside the long arms of the law.
Then this silly thought suddenly struck me, being this loosely formed group, wouldn't that also make Anonymous susceptible to infiltration by government forces? Why do I say this? We all know that government worldwide recruit hackers into their rungs and the Singapore government is no different! So what is stopping these "white" or government dog hackers from joining up with Anonymous to advance the government's agenda? Given the unprecedented anonymity of Anonymous, there is no name list, there are no leaders and so anything goes. How do we know the Anonymous hackers are real vigilantes that we support and not the lap dog hackers from the government? Anonymous' greatest strength is also its weakness!
With this inkling in mind, I began to question who stands to gain out of this entire debacle. On the surface, the government stands to lose the most when their pristine reputation is tarnished. Imagine a crazy scenario where an international hacker group hacks into CPF and siphons out the money and redistributes it to Singaporeans, the Singapore government would lose all credibility and be overthrow in an overnight rebellion. But that has not happened yet has it?
Let's take stock of what Anonymous has done up till now. They made verbal threats about taking down the Singapore government but honestly with nothing concrete or significant to show for it. They have done hacking some may say but if you look closely they are some lousy sites that belong to the incumbent which is inconsequential to the running of the government. If Anonymous truly wanted to hack, why not hack CPF or the SPF? That would throw a brickbat at the government's face and shatter people's confidence in this undemocratic government. Sad to say, the hackings till now have been low level and does not do any tangible damage to the government except for a pinch in the arm.
This is where my wild imagination comes in. What if, all these attacks were orchestrated by the government themselves under the guise of being Anonymous. It is possible isn't it? Till now, attacks have been mild and more bark than bite. Who stands to gain from this? If the government manages to repel this Anonymous attack, the MSM would have a field day praising the government's preparedness to the high heavens. And even if Anonymous manages to take down a couple of other low level sites, the government can use this to merit the pumping in of more money into cyber security, on top of the already huge defence budget. If we recall, the government just announced a $130 million dollar cyber security package to boost our cyber defences. What coincidental timing don't you think? The beauty of this is nobody knows who these members of Anonymous are and there is no way to ascertain if these are government lackeys masquerading as Anonymous freedom fighters. And the Singapore government is well positioned to make the most out of it.
But then again, all these are just my speculation but my senses tell me that something is fishy indeed. The low level attacks and the anonymity of the attackers makes for a good bogey man for the government to attack no?
Call this a conspiracy theory but for the sake of Singapore, I hope these Anons are for real. If they are here to do a mega wayang to push through another government agenda of increasing the defence budget down Singaporean's throats, I will be pissed as hell. In a weird way, I hope that the government will catch Messiah so that it can dispel my conspiracy theory of being a government plot. Otherwise, it smells smelly, fishy and convenient. Alternatively, to prove that Anonymous is the real deal, do some serious damage and if Anonymous is capable, take down the secret police ISD.
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