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Anonymous members have been behind some of the world's biggest acts of hacktivism and here's how you can do the same CC

Hacking collective Anonymous is one of the most recognised names in the world of cyber activism and anyone who wants to follow in its footsteps can do so after hackers released a step-by-step guide on how to do things the Anonymous way.

Responsible for starting campaigns and operations to protest against everything from political issues to injustice, the secret group has been behind government and organisation websites being taken down as well as declaring war on Isis and the Ku Klux Klan.

Now, Anonymous has posted online a document that provides a checklist on how hacktivists can carry out and expose their own operations with the same style as the famous group. It covers everything from where to submit hacked data, how to start a protest, and what to do to begin your own Anonymous operation.

Hackers are advised to safely submit their information to sites such as WikiLeaks, while activists are instructed to start an organised protest and tweet the event.

It details that operations should be planned carefully and charges individuals to question its purpose, message and end goal. "Why should people care about the op? The op is nothing if no one cares about it. You had better be able to tell the rest of us why we should care. It should also be said that not every grievance and/or government wrongdoing is a reason to rally an op."

Propaganda and exposure

Pointers on how the campaign is promoted are also given. Anonymous affiliates are prolific users of social media and aren't shy to tell the world the details of their latest act as the more exposure the better to highlight the message. The document tells people to "spread the word" and "create Anonymous social media accounts and propaganda, spread flyers during protests and use street art to express your support, ask for permission of creators of Anonymous videos to reupload the video on your channel."

The one caveat it states is: "Please do not make a press release for an operation if you haven't done anything to backup your words."

For those who are wanting to be involved in starting your own Anonymous-style movement, here's the release in whole:

Hackers:

Submit your information safely to WikiLeaks https://wikileaks.org/#submit or to other websites like BalkanLeaks http://www.balkanleaks.eu/

Activists:

Start protests and make clear where and when the protest is happening, contact local, national or global activist organisations for support and tweet the information to @YourAnonNews

Academics:

Research our leaks and those of our allies like @WikiLeaks, @CthulhuSec etc.
Upload the research in PDF format to https://www.docdroid.net/ or https://pdf.yt/ and tweet to @YourAnonNews

How to start an Anonymous operation:

An Anonymous operation should be planned carefully, this checklist should get you along the way
*What is the purpose of the op?
*What are you trying to accomplish?
*What kind of message are you trying to spread?
*Make sure that the operation has a foundation that has been thoroughly thought out so that the op doesn't have to suffer later because of poor planning.
*Why should people care about the op? The op is nothing if no one cares about it. Clearly, you care about it so you had better be able to tell the rest of us why we should also care. While we encourage ops, it should also be said that not every grievance and/or government wrongdoing is a reason to rally an op.
*What are the relevant/vital pieces of information relating to the op? Assume nobody else but you know anything about the topic of the op. Gather the more important information that will get people up to speed quickly.
*How will you communicate the op to the public? Whether you are going to use Facebook, Twitter, videos, press releases, etc. have a solid plan on how to execute and spread the op.

PLEASE DO NOT MAKE A PRESS RELEASE FOR AN OPERATION IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING TO BACK UP YOUR WORDS

There are a million things that can go wrong in the planning of an op and when you don't deliver while getting the public excited with a press release it causes a MAJOR discredit for the movement as a whole.

Spread the word:

Create Anonymous social media accounts and propaganda, spread flyers during protests and use street art to express your support, ask for permission of creators of Anonymous videos to reupload the video on your channel.

Please note Anonymous is a decentralized movement, no one can speak for Anonymous as a whole, nor is there any official Anonymous account. Where Anonymous does not have a power structure, the most effective Anonymous operations had a temporary structure for an effective and efficient way of communication amongst operatives.