Anonymous, a loosely affiliated group of Internet users who hack and spread leaked information, said in a series of tweets and a YouTube video that it wants to steal information from that Web traffic and force ISIS into Internet obscurity.
Its #OpParis campaign aims to strip ISIS of one of its most valuable weapons: the Internet
Anonymous has declared “war is unleashed” against ISIS, that claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks that occurred Friday in Paris
Anonymous has leveled its ire at a huge variety of individuals, groups and companies that it perceives as crossing ethical and moral lines. Their attacks involve leaking documents and taking down websites with a form of attack called distributed denial of service, which overwhelms websites with too many requests.
#OpParis is aimed at ISIS’ use of social media and other Web services.
Anonymous, is not a unified group, and dissenters were tweeting their disapproval on Monday. One Anonymous-affiliated Twitter user, who goes by the handle Discordian and claims to have participated in several Anonymous hacking efforts, said he opposes #OpParis for a variety of reasons.
“[H]ow exactly do they plan to stop an international terrorist organization that has been able to plot attacks regardless of the mass-spying by governments around the globe?” Discordian wrote on a text-hosting website called Pastebin.
Predictions from those in the cybersecurity industry of whether Anonymous will be successful are mixed, with experts saying they understand why Anonymous wants to target ISIS.
Stu Sjouwerman, founder and CEO of cybersecurity company KnowBe4, is optimistic that Anonymous will be successful. “I wish Anonymous good luck with this campaign,” he said.