The News International phone-hacking scandal — dubbed "Hackgate", "Rupertgate", or "Murdochgate" by the press — is a controversy involving the now defunct News of the World and other British newspapers published by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation. Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of publishing stories. Investigations conducted from 2005 to 2007 concluded that the paper's phone hacking activities were limited to celebrities, politicians and members of the British Royal Family. In July 2011, it was revealed that the phones of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, relatives of deceased British soldiers, and victims of the7/7 London bombings were also accessed, resulting in a public outcry against News Corporation and owner Rupert Murdoch. Advertiser boycotts contributed to the closure of the News of the World on 10 July, ending 168 years of publication. Continued public pressure later forced News Corporation to cancel its proposed takeover of the British telecommunications company Sky.
Phone hacking may sound harmless, but there was a lot of private information that was let free into the media world that is now open for everyone to view. But compared to other hacking "scandals" this isn't even major. It may be the most popular news story about hacking in the past few years, but there are many that are hidden from the public. For example, hacking into the government.
ANONYMOUS
The hacking group Anonymous is known for breaking into the security of governments, being the American government, Israel government and a few more. Thought most hackers just do it to get money or just to mess around, Anonymous are known as "Digital Robin Hoods" because they take from the rich and give to the poor. Anons undertook protests and other actions in retaliation against anti-digital piracy campaigns by motion picture and recording industry trade associations. Later targets of Anonymous hacktivism included government agencies of the US, Israel, Tunisia, Uganda, and others; child pornography sites; copyright protection agencies; the Westboro Baptist Church; and corporations such as PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, and Sony.In 2012,Time called Anonymous one of the "100 most influential people" in the world. Due to the fact that they single handedly take down companies that have mistreated the public or go against free speech. Originating from 4Chan in 2003, Anonymous have become the most infamous hacking group there's ever been. A quote from Anonymous "We just happen to be a group of people on the internet who need—just kind of an outlet to do as we wish, that we wouldn't be able to do in regular society. ...That's more or less the point of it. Do as you wish. ... There's a common phrase: 'we are doing it for the lulz.' " but soon became one of the most powerful groups in the world, having the ability to hack into government they gave free speech on the internet to multiple countries.
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