Anonymous hackers' group declares war on ISIS | World Defense

Anonymous hackers' group declares war on ISIS

Redheart

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Anonymous hackers' group declares war on ISIS - CBS News

As warplanes pound ISIS targets and U.S. special forces ramp up operations in Syria, the war against the terrorist group may be unfolding on another far more unconventional front as well.

The hackers' collective known as Anonymous says it, too, is at war with ISIS. In a series of messages posted on Twitter and YouTube, Anonymous claimed to be "preparing to unleash waves of attacks" on the extremist group, which is also known as the Islamic State, ISIL, or by its Arabic acronym Daesh.

In a video posted on YouTube, a masked activist, speaking in French, announced: "Expect massive cyber attacks. War is declared. Get prepared. Anonymous from all over the world will hunt you down."

Though the latest messages refer to Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris, which left 129 people dead and more than 300 wounded, the Anonymous activists want to be clear that they've been fighting this fight for some time.

But what does an online declaration of "war" really amount to?

"Cyberattacks can have a tremendous impact," cyberwarfare expert David Gewirtz told CBS News. "Of course, they can't be used to arrest people or take terrorists off the field, but they can certainly be used to compromise structural components of terrorist operations. More to the point, they can go after both the money that terrorists have and their funding sources. Damaging the money flow can certainly have an impact on the terrorists' operations."

Those operating under the Anonymous banner have focused in the past on disrupting ISIS's social media recruitment efforts and could try to target the group's other communications networks. One Anonymous tweet Monday claimed the group has taken down more than 3,800 pro-ISIS Twitter accounts.

Despite talk of war, Anonymous -- a loose association of hackers best known for attacking the websites of companies and government agencies whose interests conflict with the free, unfettered spread of information -- is not a disciplined army moving as one against an enemy.

"Anonymous isn't really one group. It's many people operating under one umbrella name," Gewirtz said, though he noted that its threats "can certainly be credible in that we can certainly expect that some Anonymous members decided to take some action."

He also warned of the risk of a group of hackers roaming the Internet to target its perceived enemies without any judicial review or accountability.

"Anonymous, while itself something of a vigilante organization, can pick enemies we also see as enemies, but they tend to knee-jerk reactions that might have unintended consequences," Gewirtz said.
 

Corzhens

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If the warning of Anonymous is true then I guess they can hunt down the ISIS in the internet. An article in the newspaper said that ISIS have their recruitment brigade, people who are roaming the internet in search of prospective members. Most of their targets are lonely girls and women. If you have read the 3 college students in London who went to Syria to become wives of ISIS soldiers, that's what I am saying. That kind of recruitment should be curtailed.
 

djordjem87

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When did this announcement happened? Were there any actual attacks? If so, well, it can be useful and prolific for that matter. But if not they just wanted some attention. It sounds like it because they used you tube and tweeter. What are they Youtube Cyber Criminals band. I am not sure about it and i believe it is the future and maybe the presence of war but their approach is not very serious, at least i think. Please provide me with some of their actions.
 

Diane Lane

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I've seen various political groups recruiting 'activists' for years now on Twitter, and I have no doubt that some of those doing the recruiting don't have the purest of motives. I think if Anonymous can throw a wrench in the recruitment process, and can aid the military and law enforcement collective involved in stopping ISIS via identification and/or location, I think it's a good thing.
 

eveliner

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Internet technology is not my area of expertise, but if these people who identify themselves as "Anonymous" can do us any good and leak some "documents" here and there, well... let them do it! I would like to see some more information being revealed. We know so little.
 

silentwarfare

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In other news, mice declare war against snakes eating them. Anonymous saying things like this is hype as usual, and doesn't amount to much because they can't even get close enough to them to do anything. What are they going to do, DDOS their sites? Hashtag smash their twitter accounts? Come on, they need to be realistic. If they're going to declare war against paper bags next, they need to first be able to fight their way out of one. It's a nice thought, but when it comes to action, I'm not yet impressed to put it lightly. I liken their fanfare to the rhetoric you see from North Korea to "smash the west" every time something happens that they don't like. Its like a little chihuahua barking at a wolf. What happens next? The chihuahua better run! lol
 
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Storm in a teacup, really. What are the hackers going to do anyway? It's not like they'll achieve anything that really matters. It's just a feel good action for some that will not have any meaningful effect whatsoever on what's happening in Syria and Iraq.
 

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A number of social media accounts which anonymous took down claiming they were ISIS accounts had nothing to do with the terror organization. In December they did claim they'd foiled an attack in Italy but it was just that— a claim. Nothing more. Anonymous war against ISIS will not achieve much. When their social media accounts are shut down, they could easily create new ones.
 

djdefense

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What is anonymous taking down? You do understand that the real IS guys are not posting things on the internet. They are in a war zone where there is no network and no computers. The people running the said accounts are misguided kids sitting in some european or asian country pretending to be IS reps. Its all a big scam. IS is finished anyways.
 

SapnaTheBaller3

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I don't understand how Anonymous can go to war with anyone, including ISIS. ISIS are located in war zones, deserted areas where it's clear that there would be no way to connect to the network, let alone do they own a computer. Now it's been a month or so since they declared war and I haven't heard much about it so I'm guessing it was a hoax.
 

vegito12

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I think that it will be a good thing and hope we see positive results which can be a good thing and also I reckon that we will have to see what these groups are doing and is it for the good of the world or just for themselves and hope we see good results in the coming months which will show what they do and also do they have good intentions or not. I reckon hackers will be able to see where the ISIS operates and also what they do as well and may see where the money comes to support them in their crimes which can be a surprise as some people will get to know where the funds come from. It will be interesting to see how the hacking occurs and also this can be a good thing for the world as it will know what the ISIS does, and also which places they operate from and how the terror group operates.
 
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