Hackers Anonymous Targets ISIS

Hacktivist group “Anonymous”, has claimed responsibility for hacking into, and taking down websites and social media accounts used by the extremist group Islamic States (IS) in response to the Charlie Hebdo account, The Daily Mirror reported.

The militant Islamist organisation has a huge social media presence, with accounts on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

Through Operation ISIS – #OpISIS – the decentralised hacking group has been strategically targeting this online presence.

“ISIS, we will hunt you, take down your sites, accounts, emails and expose you,” says the hacktivist group in a statement.

“You will be treated like a virus, and we are the cure. We own the internet.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLi4TNqQITc

In the Anonymous digital armoury are distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, which hammer ISIS websites with traffic until they go offline, and repeatedly reporting social media accounts so they get suspended.

Other “weapons” used in #OpISIS include password cracking and phishing.

Anonymous has published a list of 800 Twitter accounts as well as Google Plus accounts, recruitment websites, Facebook accounts and email addresses that it has exposed and targeted.

The shadowy organisation also points out that it’s made up of “Muslims, Christians and Jews”, adding “we come from all races, countries, religions and ethnicity”.

“Remember – the terrorists hat are calling themselves Islamic State (ISIS) are not Muslims!”

Anonymous has been targeting militant Islamic group with its typical digital mischief-making since June 2014 – but has up-scaled efforts in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris.

Despite the hacktivists’ efforts, there remain a lot of ISIS accounts online and the militant group has recently released a social media guide to help members create accounts that aren’t easy to detect.

Agencies/Canadajournal