Mumbai: A few days after a series of shocking terrorist attacks shook Beirut and Paris, hacker group Anonymous has waged a cyber-war against ISIS and subsequently taken down more than 5,500 ISIS-handled Twitter accounts.
While the anti-terrorism campaign organised by the group, dubbed #OpISIS, is projected towards eradicating the jihadist group’s online presence; questions have been raised whether they are doing more harm than good.
The hacker group's motive has not been entirely futile, as the campaign has forced the suspension of thousands of ISIS-handled accounts on Twitter, and on other social media platforms. However, Anonymous’ principal intention to bar ISIS from using social media platforms might significantly disrupt methods used by intelligence agencies to monitor terrorist activities online.
There have been quite a few incidents in the past where intelligence agencies have managed to accrue plenty of information regarding myriad terrorist groups on the basis of their social media activity.
Online monitoring as an alternative
On the other hand, there are Hacktivists groups like Ghost Security, who engage in relentlessly tracking and monitoring activities of terrorist groups instead of totally eradicating them.
Brought to light for the first time by a Foreign Policy report, Ghost Security passes all the accumulated leads to security consultancy experts. The reports are then forwarded to the intelligence agencies like the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
In the past, Ghost Security Group has managed to pass on a lot of essential information to top intelligence agencies, resulting in the prevention of many lethal terrorist attacks.
Members of Ghost Security Group have also questioned the methods of Anonymous and pointed out that deleting these Twitter accounts are increasingly unsettling intelligence operations. The group has denied any credible tie-ups with Anonymous.
Currently, Ghost Security receives around 500 tip-offs on ISIS activities regularly, which even top US intelligence officials have appreciated.
The group also believes that data mining is one of the core aspects of attaining operational success, as they keep on increasing their knowledge base.
There have been many instances where intelligence officials and departments have engaged with ISIS through Twitter and have deemed it as a safe platform to communicate with terrorists groups.
Anonymous’ move might have garnered a lot of attention and support from all over the globe for their heroic stance, however, is it really possible to exterminate ISIS by taking down Twitter accounts?
Well, another report indicates that Anonymous’ move has not managed to stutter the Jihadist group’s online operations.
Recently, Ghost Security Group also highlighted an ISIS sympathizer’s post, which advised other members to use encrypted messaging apps like Telegarm. This is a clear indication that the Jihadist group is changing its tactics to avoid the current situation.
It may be concluded that Anonymous’ #OpISIS mission is increasingly fanning ISIS to become more cautious, rather than disrupting their activities.
