Britain hit by massive cyber-attack as Islamic State hackers launch assault against Anonymous (mirror.co.uk).
“Britain has come under sustained cyber-attack as Islamist hackers launch revenge attacks against Anonymous, the shadowy group which has vowed to wipe ‘ISIS off the internet’. … Although it is often impossible to tell who is behind serious cyber-attacks, it is likely that ISIS supporters have targeted Britain in revenge for an Anonymous campaign called OpParis.”
Sounds like that hasn’t turned out so well then. Some may remember—and many not—that Anonymous “declared war” on ISIS after the Charlie Hebdo attack with #OpCharlieHebdo (Latest Picks 7th Jan. 2015), but little seemed to come of it despite Anonymous claiming “victory”.
“Using a Twitter account set up to publicise its anti-ISIS operation [and themself] Anonymous said Britain had been ‘lit up’ by the digital blitzkreig.”
But being “lit up” by the digital blitzkreig doesn’t sound all in Britain’s favour:
“Saudi Arabia has also come under attack, as well as Canada, but these assaults do not match the ferocity of the digital bombardment Britain is currently facing. Online assailants rely on a weapon called a Distributed Denial of Service attack, which involves flooding systems with web traffic until they collapse.”
The “Distributed Denial of Service attack” meaning they download a piece of “open source network stress testing” software (Wikipedia) which then precedes to use their system to repeatedly erroneously connect to the targeted site along with thousands of others who are also “hacking” it by pressing a button with the intent of flooding it and making it unusable. And possibly reminding Daesh that Britain’s cyber infrastructure is seemingly wide open for assault:
“We could assume that the incident is somehow related to recent UK media news regarding claims that Britain’s infrastructure could potentially be vulnerable to cyberattacks. It appears that Islamist hackers have used this type of weapon during a revenge campaign against Anonymous, which has temporarily down [sic.] its communications systems.”
A situation that has much worried Chancellor George Osborne during the last few days:
George Osborne: Islamic State is plotting deadly cyber-attacks (bbc.co.uk).
So, besides reporting hate-filled ISIS accounts for Twitter to delete, how else has Anonymous waged war?
“Bizarrely, it has also begun ‘rickrolling’ ISIS supporters—an old internet joke which involves bombarding targets with footage of Rick Astley.”
.:: Update ::.
Anonymous publishes details of “ISIS recruiters” and takes down 5,500 Twitter accounts (mirror.co.uk).
“Now it has leaked details of at least five men it claims are recruiters for the terror group, as well as taking down 5,500 Twitter accounts. Mirror Online has seen the names, addresses and phone numbers of men living in countries including Afghanistan, Tunisia and Somalia. Anonymous activists also claimed to have identified a ‘high-ranking’ recruiter living in Europe, but have not yet published an address.”
Which all sounds good, but also easy to say and a lil’ harder to prove the authenticity of—if anyone actually cares to do so:
“We have contacted some of the men who have been named, but they have not replied and we have been unable to verify if the allegations against them are true. Some Anonymous spokesmen claimed to have closed down a total of 5,500 ISIS supporters’ Twitter accounts, whilst others put the figure at 900.”
Updates/Follow Ups
20th November 2015
Oh, so it wasn’t…
Anonymous distances itself from #OpParis Twitter hacking war (ibtimes.co.uk).
“Activist group Anonymous has distanced itself from a Twitter account associated with the ‘OpIsis’ campaign, saying it neither created nor shared the video declaring war on the Islamist terrorists.”
Perhaps leading us to ask if the videos and #Ops shared before were either then.
“We do support #OpISIS but it isn’t our operation and is one that we feel runs the risk of showboating more than helping. We aren’t actively involved with the more intricate and aggressive sides of the operation. We work with information and data, and always have done.”
Who knew! Perhaps they need one of those secret code words to inform authorities that it really is them when they call in broadcasting a non-showboating op in future.
27th November 2015
But it either was or wasn’t them who…
Anonymous swaps Isis propaganda site for Prozac ad in trolling fight (theguardian.com).
“Anonymous splinter group GhostSec has taken its ‘war’ on Isis to the darknet, replacing a propaganda forum with an advert for Prozac. The site was only recently set up within the Tor darknet by Isis, allegedly in response to Anonymous taking down hundreds of the terrorist group’s websites on the open web.
“Along with an advert for an online pharmacy, the hackers posted a statement saying: ‘Too Much ISIS. Enhance your calm. Too many people are into this ISIS-stuff. Please gaze upon this lovely ad so we can upgrade our infrastructure to give you ISIS content you all so desperately crave.’”
Seemingly, amid crisis calls by Chancellor George Osborne over potential for Daesh to run-amok with the country’s cyber-infrastructure, the propaganda site both on the visible internet and the black lagoon darknet “used very poor web security to try and protect it”. The fact that security services probably didn’t know that either only adds to the suspicion that ours is protected by a probably manufacturer defined default password too.
24th November 2015
Of course, the attacks have brought people together—albeit perhaps non-Muslim people, whom they are encouraged to keep a vigilant, watchful eye on and shout at on the bus as they go about their non-religious daily business—and it’s not just in Europe that some perhaps see a show-boating opportunity:
Mafia will take on ISIS if terrorists launch attack on New York, mobster’s son claims (mirror.co.uk).
“The son of an infamous gangster has warned ISIS the Sicilian Mafia is ready to take on the terrorists if they dare to launch a Paris-style attack on New York. Giovanni Gambino said the Mafia is better equipped to protect the Big Apple from the Islamic State than the FBI and Homeland Security.”
Indeed, as well as extorting those in its own community and outside of it, it has been running those “better equipped” guns and whatever else to those prepared to buy since its inception.
“In an interview with NBC News, he said the rise of ISIS gave the modern Cosa Nostra a chance to show its good side. He said: ‘The Mafia has a bad reputation, but much of that’s undeserved.’”
Recent/related stories
- #ParisAttacks (Latest Picks 14th November 2015)
- Hacktivists Anonymous declared war on North Korea (Latest Picks 8th April 2013)
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