Anonymous hackers declare war on Islamic State

[Anonymous69]

Global hackers’ group Anonymous has declared a cyber war against the Islamic State, after attacks in Paris left 129 people dead and hundreds more injured on Friday.

“These attacks cannot remain unpunished,” someone in a Guy Fawkes mask says in French in video posted by the group to YouTube on Monday.

Describing members of the Islamic State as “vermin that kill poor innocents,” the Anonymous member said the hackers would track down members of the extremist group.

“We will launch the biggest operation ever against you. Expect many cyber attacks. War has been declared. Get ready,” the person said.

The video had attracted more than 1.1 million views by 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Reuters reported.

On Twitter, Anonymous clarified that it has “been at war for quite some time already” with the Islamic State. Anonymous activists targeted the group after the Charlie Hebdoattacks in Paris last year and have published lists of Twitter accounts sympathetic to IS with the goal of having them suspended.



“The French people are stronger than anything and will recover from this atrocity even stronger, know that,” the Anonymous member said in the video.


“We don’t forgive, we don’t forget.”

 

[Ihandsome]

This is going to get very interesting.

 

[Butch]

:-Cool/"

 

[Oilcan]

They already did this a year ago. Can you declare war again even if you didn't win the first one?

 

[Wanker]

They already did this a year ago. Can you declare war again even if you didn't win the first one?

Oops

 

[Blank_Dave]

"Haha. Your Twitter accounts are now banned! Take that ISIS. We're so awesome!"

 

[User-E]

Former beauty queen leaves Anonymous and decides to help US government to bring down ISIS online



Lara Abdallat, the 2010 Miss Jordan and first runner-up to Miss Arab 2011, has left online hacktivist group Anonymous to join Ghost Security Group (not connected with GhostSec which is Anonymous affiliated group) to fight the Islamic State and its affiliates. Ghost Security is an online hacktivist group who liaises with the US Government through their intermediary Kronos Advisory Group.

Anonymous has confirmed that the former beauty queen has left the group. Earlier this month, Abdallat was involved in identifying and targeting of ISIS-affiliated social media accounts, which led to the suspension of 900 Twitter profiles belong to them.

Abdallat, 33, has since moved to Ghost Security, who claims to operate like spies rather than hackers and reports ISIS’ online activities to US authorities instead of taking their social media accounts down.

The stated mission of Ghost Security is to “eliminate the online presence of Islamic extremist groups such as Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, Al-Nusra, Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab in an effort to stymie their recruitment and limit their ability to organise international terrorist efforts”.

Abdallat said one immediate result of collaborating with their intermediary, intelligence professional Michael Smith from Kronos Advisory Group, was thwarting an impending terrorist attack in Tunisia.

“Everyone realized that while we were capturing accurate threat data, it was useless without ground assets to act on our information. Our executive director DigitaShadow has been working with US counterterrorism officials for several months and it has opened many doors for us, we are now able to influence real world actions on the battlefield”.

She has also severed two Islamic State web platforms, which were used to distribute information among the group.

Ghost Security is an online counterterrorism squad, unaffiliated with Anonymous, which works closely with US government agencies to wear down ISIS’ online presence. The original GhostSec which is an Anonymous affiliate still shuts down ISIS accounts or DDoSes them as a way to expose and dismantle ISIS. On Thursday it took down a ISIS onion website on the dark web and told the ISIS to ‘calm down and use Viagra.’

For Abdallat, Anonymous would “always be a part of my extended family”, but the changes were a “dream come true.” “Having Ghost Security Group evolve from their original collective was a huge thing for me. More like watching your baby grow in front of your eyes and become mature, essential and successful,” she said.

https://www.techworm.net/2015/11/jordanian-beauty-queen-anonymous-hacktivist-us-government-isis.html

 

[Fleury]

Lara is a special one.

 

[User-E]

What is Anonymous? Get behind the mask with our guide to the global hacktivist collective

The facts about the origins and abilities of the most famous group of hackers in the world

The Anonymous Guy Fawkes mask has become one of the most recognisable emblems of the internet age.

But what is the motivation of the hackers and activists who choose to don this ominous disguise?

Unfortunately, there is no clear answer to this question, because Anonymous is not a group that can be defined in the traditional sense.

It is made up of tens or possibly hundreds of thousands of supporters from a variety of backgrounds and often with totally different motivations.

The only things that truly unite this disparate group are the need to remain "anonymous", the spooky mask worn by most supporters, and the repeated use of the tagline: "We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us."

There is no central command, which means there is no unified consensus or direction.

It has no leaders, let alone anyone who can speak on behalf of the entire community.

So who - or what - is Anonymous?

Where does Anonymous come from?

The famed hacktivist group is a true product of the internet, having formed around the message board 4Chan.

Members guard their identity jealously, often referring to themselves using the name "Anon".

The emerging group first won fame for performing a number of bizarre and often hilarious stunts, including "raids" on the children's game Habbo Hotel in which hackers announced that parts of its virtual world were "closed due to fail and AIDS".

Does Anonymous have a political agenda?

This depends on who you ask, because each member of Anonymous is free to follow their own ideology.

There are no leaders imposing order from above, which means hacktivists often have widely varying concerns.

However, most Anons are united in their dislike of internet censorship.

Is Anonymous just a load of teenagers in their bedroom?

No. It is thought that most hacktivists are aged anywhere between 12 and 40 years old, although it is impossible to get a clear picture of the Anonymous demographic.

During the recent Anonymous "war against ISIS" , social media lit up with jokes about the extremists finally being "screwed by the 72 virgins" they were promised in paradise.

In reality, Anonymous members are as likely to be IT workers with a family to support as they are angry teens.

However, it is often suggested that men make up the bulk of this amorphous group.

How powerful are Anonymous?

They aren't going to bring down a fully fledged nation state, but Anonymous can certainly pack a punch .

They wield weapons capable of knocking websites off the internet as well as the hacking skills to expose people's real identity - a tactic called "doxxing".

During the battle with ISIS, the most important role they could play is unmasking people carrying out online recruitment, which then allows police to arrest them.

Sometimes, Anonymous supporters gather in the real world for events including the "Million Mask March" held in cities around the world.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/what-anonymous-behind-mask-guide-6946918

 

[Creepy]

Good news for the kidnapped girls.


There was huge relief when 82 of the girls kidnapped by Islamist militants Boko Haram in Chibok, north-east Nigeria, in 2014 were freed on Saturday. But, as the BBC's Alastair Leithead has been finding out, they may still not be able to go back home.

The ordeal of being kidnapped by Boko Haram does not end with the release of the captives. In fact, it is just the start of a long struggle back into family and community life.

Captured as children, the Chibok girls, as they have come to be known, are being freed as young women. An already fraught transition from adolescence to womanhood complicated by their captivity.

The 82 will, albeit briefly, be reunited with their families over the coming days.

Chibok girls: What fate awaits the ones set free? - BBC News