Anonymous and society, supposedly anarchy incarnate but is the cake a lie?

Anonymous and society, supposedly anarchy incarnate...

but is the cake a lie?

Recently anonymous has been trying to prove to society, and by extension each individual that it is more than just a force of anarchy.  They have started investigating the cyber mysteries that seem to elude authorities.  The first instance of this happening is the following.  

From: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/sports/high-school-football-rape-case-unfolds-online-and-divides-steubenville-ohio.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp&

"Evidence of a gang rape committed by members of an Ohio high school football team, including video, was, in the way of digital native teenagers today, put online on various social media sites — and was quickly taken down as students began realizing the magnitude of the situation. The activist group Anonymous has been able to find archived and cached versions of the damning content, which may help prosecutors make their case."

Obviously helping find rapists is a lofty goal, but does this really help erase the sins of their past.  The damage  anonymous has done with hacking banks and other businesses or even government records has been astounding.  Well maybe if they pitched in a bit more.

From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/anonymous-hackers-chinese-army_n_2717352.html?utm_hp_ref=cybersecurity

An American computer security company released an explosive report Tuesday linking a Chinese military unit to a growing number of cyber attacks against American companies, organizations and government agencies.

But some of those connections -- including profiles of the individual hackers in China -- could not have been made without the work of the hacker group Anonymous,according to the report by the security firm Mandiant.

Security researchers and government officials have long claimed that China is behind a growing number of cyber attacks against American computer networks, a charge that China has repeatedly denied. But Mandiant's 73-page report was unusual in its level of detail, going so far as to profile the identities of three hackers who are believed to be working for the Chinese military. Mandiant said it was able to find connections between two of those hackers and China's People’s Liberation Army by relying on public data first revealed by the hacker group Anonymous.

The ability for them to assist with national security, will make it interesting to see how and when they are prosecuted for their other offenses.  The real question becomes, will groups of online hackers be a force for good or evil in the future?