Islamic State: Anonymous declares 'Troll Isis Day'

The hacker collective Anonymous has declared today "troll Isis day" and called on the world to bombard Islamic State with mocking posts online.

In an online message, Anonymous urged web users to join them in trolling IS on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and even provided a how-to guide to basic online trolling.

"Do not think you have to be a part of Anonymous, anyone can do this and [it] does not require any special skills," said the group.

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Explaining the reasoning behind today's action, Anonymous said: "They thrive off fear that they hope can silence all of us. But what people forget is that we are many and they are few. We are the majority and we will show them that we are not afraid."

The move is the latest salvo in the social media war between Anonymous and the group, which has seen social media accounts targeted in response to the Paris terror attacks.

According to the Daily Telegraph, images of goats are apparently Anonymous's "latest choice of weapon" as part of its campaign, #OpISIS.

"The group is also encouraging users to post goat photos mocking Isis along 'with captions talking about their wives'," says the newspaper. "Last week, the #OpParis Twitter account said it would be spamming verified Isis hashtags on Twitter with the Rick Astley's song Never Gonna Give You Up."

Separate "IRL" (in real life) protests are also planned to coincide with "trolling day" as demonstrators take to the streets in London, Paris, Madrid, Cannes, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Mexico City and Vancouver to march against IS.

Anonymous hackers 'shut down 6,000 IS Twitter accounts'

18 November

The hacking group Anonymous claims it has closed down 6,000 Twitter accounts linked to Islamic State (IS). The militants, meanwhile, have called Anonymous "idiots".

Anonymous declared a cyber "war" on IS after Friday's terror attacks in Paris, launching what it calls its "biggest operation ever". The loose-knit collective was already targeting IS but has redoubled its efforts under the banner #opPARIS.

The Independent says Anonymous cannot deactivate Twitter accounts but can only report the accounts it claims are IS-linked to staff at the micro-blogging site. The accounts are then closed down by Twitter itself, if it chooses to do so.

It has not been possible to confirm Anonymous's claims with Twitter but several of the accounts alleged by the hackers to be linked to IS have indeed been deactivated, says the Daily Telegraph.

As well as targeting Twitter, Anonymous says it is unmasking IS recruiters and other supporters by publishing their real identities and physical addresses online. The Independent says it has seen a post with the details of an alleged recruiter.

However, it has not been possible to independently confirm any of the details that have so far been shared, says the newspaper, and Anonymous has wrongly identified extremists in the past.

Anonymous launched #opISIS on Monday, posting a video online of a man in a Guy Fawkes mask speaking French. He said: "You should know that we will find you and we will not let you go.

"We will launch the biggest operation ever against you. Expect massive cyber attacks. War is declared. Get prepared.

"The French people are stronger than you and will come out of this atrocity even stronger."

The campaign has produced a response from IS. A post on the encrypted messaging service Telegram, from an account purporting to be linked to the terror group, called Anonymous "idiots", says Time magazine.

Posted in English, the message asked: "What they gonna hack?" This may refer to claims that religious opposition to modern technology among IS members means there is no computer infrastructure in the fledgling 'caliphate'.

Nevertheless, the Telegram post also contains advice for supporters on how to avoid being hacked by Anonymous, says Cnet. It warns against opening links sent by untrusted sources or talking to unknown users on Telegram.