Hacking Group Anonymous Disables Thousands Of Pro-ISIS Twitter Accounts And Websites
Islamic State sympathizers using social
media to spread propaganda and recruit fighters are now drawing an increasing
amount of return fire from activists who have been knocking some sites offline
and infiltrating others.
Anonymous, who declared war on the
jihadis after the attacks in Paris, is the latest to draw attention to such
campaigns.
Members claimed credit this week for
having thousands of pro-IS Twitter accounts disabled.
But others claim to have been doing
more for longer. One group that feeds information to the U.S. government says
it has suppressed tens of thousands of Twitter accounts since January, and its
members have posed as would-be recruits to gain information on so-called Dark
Web operations supporting the Islamic State.
'We're playing more of an intelligence
role,' said the executive director of Ghost Security Group, who declined to be
named, citing security concerns. The group is a volunteer organization that has
been sending data to the FBI and other agencies via a Congressional terrorism
adviser, Michael S. Smith II.
Smith said the group's infiltration
efforts had given some actionable information to the government, and that
coordinated complaints to Twitter had helped push Islamic State supporters
elsewhere.
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