HE VOLUNTEER NETWORK OF HACKERS CALLED 'ANONYMOUS' WHICH HAS BROUGHT CHAOS TO THE INTERNET

The hackers targeting Visa and Mastercard work by overwhelming a websites' servers with enormous volumes of traffic, dubbed 'distributed denial-of-service' attack.
Operation: Payback supporters volunteer their computers to become part of a remotely controlled network, called a 'botnet'.
This allows the hackers to disable targeted websites by directing millions of requests for information from multiple sources, making the internet site inaccessible to other users.
Anonymous - the shadowy group behind the attacks - has handed thousands of followers a user-friendly tool to download and join the assault.
'Think of it like a voluntary botnet,' says an installation guide for the tool.
Anyone taking part in the cyber attacks can then claim they have a computer virus if they are accused of participating.
The chances of being arrested for using the tool are said to be 'next to zero' as a result.
If users follow the instructions for the Anonymous botnet, once it is up and running, they are told to: 'Sit back and watch the show.'