Anonymous targets ISIS-affiliated social media accounts

[BLACKEAGLE]

“We will hunt you, Take down your sites, accounts, emails, and expose you,” says a voice in a released video. (YouTube)

By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News
Wednesday, 11 February 2015

Hundreds of social media accounts reportedly linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have been shut down - not by intelligence agencies, but by hackers, they claim.

In a video released Friday on YouTube, Hacktivist group Anonymous claimed responsibility for the attacks against Twitter and Facebook pages affiliated with the terrorist group.

Nearly 800 Twitter accounts, 12 Facebook pages, and more than 50 e-mail addresses have been disabled, according to the group. The group listed the full URLs of Facebook pages and Twitter handles of alleged ISIS supporters, and even recruiters, according to a post on Pastebin, a website used by hackers to boast about their hacks.

"We are Muslims, Christians, Jews, we are hackers, crackers, hacktivists, phishers, agents, spies, or just the guy from next door," says the voice in the video.

"We come from all races, countries, religions and ethnicity - united as one, divided by zero.

"Remember, the terrorists that are calling themselves Islamic State, ISIS, are not Muslims," the narrator continues.

ISIS, which currently holds a third of Iraq and a third of Syria, has been known for recruiting volunteer fighters via social media networks.

But Anonymous emphasized that it is aiming to disable ISIS’ online presence.

“We will hunt you, Take down your sites, accounts, emails, and expose you... From now on, no safe place for you online... You will be treated like a virus, And we are the cure.”

The narration ends: “ISIS we are Anonymous, we are a legion, we do not forgive, we do not forget, expect us.”

The attacks come as a continuation to what the group calls “Operation ISIS.” Anonymous “declared war” on extremist-affiliated websites last month, shortly after the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/media/digital/2015/02/11/Anonymous-targets-ISIS-affiliated-social-media-accounts.html

 

[tournique]

Cyber-terrorists taking matter in their own hands and playing the hero card. I have no sympathy for them either.

 

[Diane Lane]

I think it could be helpful in the collective efforts of law enforcement and the military to have additional information on the players, but I'm sure there are ongoing intelligence gathering operations, as well as possibly undercover operatives working behind the scenes, and I hope that Anonymous isn't stepping on toes and disrupting those operations.

As I mentioned in another thread, I've seen many Twitter accounts recruiting 'activists' over the past years, for various operations such as Operation Wall Street and the situation in Syria. I don't believe all of those doing the recruiting have pure motives. I like the romantic notion of Anonymous working with the collective that is trying to stop ISIS, but I'm afraid it might not play out as well in the real world as they hope it will.

 

[Corzhens]

If that claim of Anonymous is true, and I'm hoping it is, then the hardest hit is the recruitment brigade of ISIS. The internet is their main foray for getting new and "real" followers from other countries, those loners and idealists who would believe in their cause and willing to go to Syria. There are countless of cases like that. If the ISIS online connection is severed, their recruitment ceases and their strength will dwindle.