The infamous cyber hacker group Anonymous reported that it identified and took down more than 5,500 Twitter accounts belonging to ISIS. Tweeting from one of its accounts, Anonymous stated: “We report that more than 5500 Twitter account (sic) of #ISIS are now #down! #OpParis #Anonymous #ExpectUS.”
Alex Poucher, a spokesperson for Anonymous, told the press that, “Our capability to take down ISIS is a direct result of our collective’s sophisticated hackers, data miners, and spies that we have all around the world. We have people very, very close to ISIS on the ground, which makes gathering intel about ISIS and related activities very easy for us.”
He further added that his group has the means that “might be better than any world government’s tools to combat ISIS online.”
Acknowledging that ISIS does have its own hackers, Poucher confidently stated that the terrorist group “does not have hackers like we have hackers.”
He added that, “They picked a fight with Anonymous when they attacked Paris, and now they should expect us. [Anonymous] will not sit by and watch these terror attacks unfold around the world.”
On Monday, the famous hacker group announced that it planned to unleash a series of unrelenting attacks on ISIS. In a video posted on Youtube, Anonymous issued a declaration of war against the terrorist organization.
An individual wearing a Guy Fawkes mask announced that the ISIS militants who claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks are nothing but “vermin” and that Anonymous would hunt them down by using its unique, all-compassing hacker expertise.
The man spoke in French and emphatically told his online audience that, “These attacks cannot remain unpunished.”
He further added that, “We are going to launch the biggest operation ever against you. Expect many cyber attacks. War has been declared. Get ready.” He did not specify details about what the attacks would involve but did say that, “We don’t forgive and we don’t forget.”
And he did not stop there. He also promised that, “Anonymous from all over the world will hunt you down. You should know that we will find you and we will not let you go. We will launch the biggest operation ever against you . . . the French people are stronger than you and will come out of this atrocity even stronger.”
In response to Anonymous’ video, ISIS called the group “idiots” and provided some guidance to ISIS supporters on how to protect against cyber-attacks.
But, Anonymous is living up to its promise. As of Monday, 900 ISIS-related Twitter accounts were suspended after the group posted a list of the accounts online.
