Hackers from Anonymous have told Sky News they need help from the security services to continue taking down jihadists online.
In their first TV interview since declaring cyber war on Islamic State following the Paris attacks, members of the collective also defended their antagonistic approach to the extremist group - which has seen hackers post Viagra adverts on IS websites, and superimpose goats and ducks onto jihadist imagery.
Over the past few weeks, Anonymous, led by a small specialist team called Ghost Sec, claims to have taken more than 100 propaganda websites offline, as well as 25,000 social media accounts.
The core of Ghost Sec is made up of around 12 people from all over the world. They are all in the cybersecurity business by day, but that is all they know about each other.
They have Arabic speakers able to translate web pages, and despite being accused of targeting innocent accounts, they insist they check and double-check all targets before taking action.
Prolific Anonymous hacker "Comedi", along with other members of his team including "Ransacker" and "TorReaper", gave Sky News a demonstration of their capabilities by taking a website they were targeting offline in a specially designed Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack.
These types of attacks only usually work for a matter of hours or days, but the team say they have designed a special programme and have dedicated servers to keep sites down for months.
However, the group say they are reaching the peak of their powers as IS websites are being better protected. With new ones emerging all the time, they say security services need to do more.
"Comedi", a father-of-three from somewhere in the US, told us: "I think that (the security services) are either ignoring it, don't know how to do it, or they don't have the time or the manpower.
"I guess if I had to do this as a job, I'd do it for eight hours a day and try to forget about it. As for us, the only break we get is when we're working or sleeping."
Last month, security minister John Hayes MP praised the work of Anonymous - saying he was "grateful to any of those who are engaged in the battle against this kind of wickedness".
However, some in the security services question just how effective Anonymous is being.
Emily Taylor, a cyber security expert at Chatham House, said: "There could be collateral damage for individuals who are falsely accused, which could be very devastating and very harmful."
On 11 December, Anonymous is launching a "Day of Rage" which will deface as many IS-supporting sites and social media accounts as possible with pictures of goats.
When asked about such pranks, one hacker said: "ISIS use social media as a mega horn to spread their rage and fear. We are here to show them we are not afraid and that we know what they really are: #Daeshbags."
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét