guy fox and his plot to blow up the house of lords in 1605. instead of gun powder, anonymous uses the internet. anonymous attacks its targets by flooding and crashing corporate and government web sites or digging up and publicizing highly embarrassing information. it's called trolling. they troll targets out of genuine outrage but also just for fun. >> lulz -- it's a bastardization of laugh out loud. >> reporter: new york university professor gabriela has been watching anonymous for years. for fun. >> lulz -- it's a bastardization of laugh out loud. >> reporter: new york university professor gabriela has been watching anonymous for years. >> it's a term that sort of denotes the sort of pleasure, humor, laughter, everything from something which is quite playful, harmless to engaging in a full-fledged trolling attack that humiliates. >> reporter: anonymous's campaigns, known as operations or ops, can be dramatic. in late 2010 a distributed

members crashed the web site of a security research company, hacking its client list along with their credit card numbers in order to steal $1 million for donations to charity. >> we are anonymous. expect us. >>> our correspondent amber lyon joins here in studio. a little frightening, a little scary. >> especially for law enforcement in many aspects. >> what if they get it wrong? what if they put up personal information that is inaccurate? do they have any accountability? >> there's very little accountability because of the way it's organized, anyone can claim to be anonymous. there's a lot of extreme outliers. law enforcement is intimidated by anonymous. we tried to get an interview with anyone federally or locally and they refused to send an officer forward to the chopping block because they feared he could become a target of anonymous. >> coming up, is it possible schools could be making your

>> i'd rather not say. >> reporter: in september an nypd officer was filmed pepper spraying two protesters. anonymous took action. one of the most active subgroups within anonymous is called the cabin crew. their specialty is doxing. it's shorthand for combing the internet for all the information you can find about a target and then releasing it publicly. >> cabin crew have noticed injustices being committed by the new york police. >> reporter: cabin crew compiled bologna's name, his home address, past legal actions, even the names of his family members and put it all online. after a police investigation and public pressure, bologna was placed on leave and reassigned to staten island. what do you think that did to the nypd when they saw this

ammunition. >> what happened, what happened? >> he got hit. >> he got shot! >> reporter: during one night of chaos, police apparently fired a projectile directly at a former marine named scott olson, who was protesting against the crackdown peacefully. anonymous went into overdrive, scanning the video for police badge numbers and names, offering a reward for anyone who could identify the officer responsible. the case is still under investigation. the department of homeland security has put out several alerts to law enforcement and corporate security focused mainly on the group's hacking activities, and the fbi has made more than a dozen arrests. >> we are living in a police state. >> reporter: but there's no indication that has cramped anonymous's style. their latest op? >> merry christmas and a happy new year to all on planet earth. >> reporter: on christmas day members crashed the web site of a security research company,

or ops, can be dramatic. in late 2010 a distributed denial of service attack took down the web site of paypal. after the company cut off support for the online whistleblower site wikileaks. >> they continue to withhold funds from wiki leaks. >> reporter: 16 anons were arrested by the fbi, charged with conspiring to intentionally damage paypal's computers. >> this is a message from anonymous. >> reporter: this summer, anonymous attacked the san francisco area's public transportation system b.a.r.t. b.a.r.t. had cut cell service within the transit system as a way of disrupting anti-police brutality protests. anonymous's reaction was devastating and vicious. >> we will not issue anymore warnings. >> reporter: onbart included the release of a naked photo of a senior bart employee. >> sometimes it makes you laugh, sometimes it makes you cringe,

what do you think that did to the nypd when they saw this officer's information get posted online? >> i think they would see it as a form of vigilanteism. they're pushing the boundaries of the law. but i think their actions reveal the ways in which either private security companies or police are also acting outside the boundaries of the law. >> reporter: its biggest coup in the propaganda wars was this. an anon group by the name operationleaks posts the clip on youtube. the next day the clip tops 100,000 views. three days later one and a half million. the casually spraying cop had it all. it was outrageous, ridiculous, lulzy and effective. >> pepper spraying student protesters. >> reporter: the incident was picked up by mainstream media and replayed over and over again.

occupy movement. >> everyone, everywhere will occupy their capitals and other public spaces. >> reporter: anonymous has an array of people on the streets, we're talking medics in san francisco, tech support in washington, d.c. and here in new york guys like troy. troy, not his real name, is part of an army of citizen journalists documenting the movement and the police by broadcasting live video over streaming sites. when they see evidence of what they believe is police misbehavior, anonymous strikes back, releasing personal information about specific officers. >> hopefully he'll think twice before he pulls out his baton against somebody who is holding a sign saying we just want peace. >> reporter: how are they getting cell phone numbers and personal information of these officers or bankers? >> i'd rather not say. >> reporter: in september an

>> sometimes it makes you laugh, sometimes it makes you cringe, sometimes it makes you laugh and cringe at the same time. all of a sudden you're like, oh my gosh, there is this dagger that's being thrown. >> reporter: and a naked photo? >> yes. >> reporter: do you feel there is a fear out there of what they could possibly find or leak about a certain individual? >> absolutely. i mean, that's what makes them who they are is that they are kind of bad boys and rude boys to some degree. there is a dual sort of fascination and horror that goes on at the same time. >> be aware. be vij rant. >> reporter: anonymous was evolving, using its power to shock and disrupt to effect social change. during the arab spring, the collective emerged as a full fledged activist group. taking up the cause of tunisians fighting against a repressive regime, literally saving lives. >> the tunisian government has made itself an enemy of anonymous.

anonymous. >> they did everything from take down government web sites, they wrote scripts to stop the fishing of passwords, brght massive media attention to tunisia. >> reporter: and last fall anonymous broke cover here at home, stepping out from behind their secure computer screens for a new cause, occupy wall street. >> there is a revolution brewing. >> reporter: suddenly the symbols of anonymous were everywhere, in flags, masks, banners. >> we are the 99%! >> reporter: when we return, pepper spray and anonymous strikes back. how are they getting the personal information of these officers? >> i'd rather not say. ur doctory get smart about your weight. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes.