An active-duty Army captain and member of Anonymous spoke with BuzzFeed on condition of anonymity about the prevalence of the “hacktivist” organization within the military and how the U.S. can look forward to plenty more leaks in the future.
The captain said there are many more Anonymous members in the military than one would think, especially at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., “where all the intel people are.”
“A lot of them wanted to get the job [there] because they want to learn secret stuff and have a better personal understanding of how the world actually works,” he told Buzzfeed.
The captain said the military would probably consider him a “black hat,” which is a hacking term to describe someone who “violates computer security for little reason beyond maliciousness or for personal gain.”
“All hats are gray,” he added, however. “Every white hacker I know has a night job that is very much a black-hat job.”
The Anonymous member said the U.S. military is very much aware of their presence, adding that the tougher scrutiny is causing members to become jaded.
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“Leadership wasn’t concerned with it until Manning happened. Then they read everything under the [lens] of what Manning did and it just scared them — scared them blind,” he said.
“A lot [of Anonymous members] have been in long enough and are jaded. They are watching as the government comes down harder and harder. There is a growing sense of disdain and hatred because we are complicit in it. There are some secrets that need to be secrets but the stuff [the military] keeps secret just to protect the bottom line — you just feel like you are selling your soul every day.”
The source concluded the interview by saying the U.S. can expect to see many more intelligence leaks in the future.
“A lot [of Anonymous members] are mid- to high-rank NCOs,” he told Buzzfeed. “They are well-respected, have connections, and overly large security clearances.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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