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Comment by pjbeam | Hacker News Reader

Anonymous is a meme that I think has been wielded by different groups at different times. There is no "official" anonymous and all it takes to join is to think to yourself "I am anonymous". If some of the reports of hacks coming out of the war zone and surrounding areas are true (such as tweet claiming Belarussian rail had been disrupted) then I suspect that Western state actors are using the meme right now.

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While I’m no expert, this comment most accurately captures my suspicion: it is just a flag flown by various groups at various times as a sort of digital cover.

In these times, it could be said that anyone clicking one of those links to DDoS a Russian state website is “Anonymous”.

Still others may be governmental entities (CIA has been suggested) flying the anonymous flag to cover separate attacks.

In other times, it could be a group taking down Xbox LIVE for “lolz”.

Exactly this - the Guy Fawkes mask is the modern Jolly Roger. Sometimes you cheer for the pirates, sometimes they raid a ship you think doesn't deserve it. And sometimes state sponsored groups use it for cover.

The Belarusian hacks are by a group going by “cyber partisans”, completely irrelevant to this discussion.

Asking "who are anonymous" is like asking "who flies the jolly Rodger." It's useful given context but in general has no answer.

In the context of the Ukraine conflict: Given that most of what I've seen anyway is 100% propaganda and no memes it's likely US government agents.

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