BY: M. TOMOSKI

Following the attacks in Paris on November 13^th, Internet hacktivist group Anonymous took to YouTube to declare war on the Islamic State warning the self-proclaimed caliphate to, “Expect massive cyber-attacks.”

In response to the video ISIS called the hackers, “idiots” through an app called Telegram which has become a popular form of communication among the organizations supporters.

“The Anonymous hackers threatened in a new video release that they will carry out a major hack operation on Islamic State (idiots).” The message said, offering Anonymous advice on how to protect against hackers.

In the aftermath of the Paris attacks much of the conversation has been about bombing and boots on the ground, but when it comes to recruitment, propaganda, and financial transactions, the would-be caliphate has also developed a significant presence online.

As Deutsche Welle reported in September, ISIS has made use of the dark web as well as transactions in Bitcoin which can be difficult for law enforcement to trace.

In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, while much of the public conversation has been about putting boots on the ground, a significant part of the battle is being waged online.

A member of the hacktivist organization Ghost Security Group confirmed this when he told News BTC “The Islamic State does use cryptocurrencies as a form of income to fund their ongoing operations and we have managed to uncover several Bitcoin addresses used by them. One of the accounts we analyzed was found to contain 3 million U.S. dollars worth of Bitcoins.”

At this week’s G20 summit Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed to have a list of countries that supported ISIS financially, which he did not reveal to the public. Anonymous has a history of leaking information to the public, the most recent of which was a list of KKK members in the US. Anonymous could potentially expose those and other individual donors. But the real power of hacktivism seems to be its ability to counter ISIS’s propaganda.

According to a study by the Brookings Institution, a think tank, 46,000 Twitter accounts were run by supporters of ISIS in 2015 with an average of 1,000 followers. These accounts are used to post videos promoting the group and recruit new members.

While it wouldn’t be the first time hacktivists have attacked ISIS, Anonymous has promised that this round of hacks, which they call Operation Paris, will be, “the biggest operation ever.”

“We report that 5,500 Twitter accounts of ISIS are now down.” They announced on Twitter a day after their declaration of war.

In response to the Charlie Hebdo attacks earlier this year an activist known as XRSone exposed over 26,000 Twitter accounts in a matter of months. While Anonymous affiliate GhostSec has even stopped attacks in Tunisia and New York by reporting them to security firm Kronos Advisory.

Despite being labeled by news organizations and governments as terrorists, ISIS has advanced to a level of complexity in which it operates like a country and that is exactly how it wants to be seen. As a result both governments and news organizations have fumbled over how to identify the group in a way that doesn’t give it legitimacy; which is why it goes by several names depending on who you ask.

Since it first emerged in 2013 ISIS has spread over a territory which is now larger than some European countries. The land they control has long been divided between sectarian groups, the most prominent of which are Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, but also include Kurds in the north as well as a small minority of Christians and other religious and ethnic affiliations.

A map of the sectarian divisions in Iraq and Syria looks more like a cluster of separate nations rather than two distinct countries.

The main issue of contention between Sunnis and Shi’as lies in the succession of the prophet Mohammed, and is deeply rooted in Islamic history. This divide has formed the basis for unrest in the region since the death of the prophet.

In Syria, Assad represents a minority of Shi’ites who have ruled over a Sunni majority for generations. While under Saddam Hussein the Sunnis of Iraq ruled over a majority of Shi’ites, but the American invasion and withdrawal left the country with a government that flipped the script on the power structure and sent Sunnis – who were afraid of being persecuted – into the arms of extremists.

In both cases ISIS has exploited the divides to build support among Sunni communities. For the people who live under their rule, the would-be caliphate represents the only option for a stable life and the longer they are allowed to establish roots in the region the more legitimacy they gain. With Russia and the US at odds over which of ISIS’s enemies to support, the caliphate may become a more permanent alternative and the West could find itself ending the conflict through negotiations as they did with the Taliban in Afghanistan. So when a group like Anonymous declares war on ISIS they are declaring war on a message that says the people of Iraq and Syria have no other choice.

Image sourcing: theweek.co.uk,  softpedia-static.com,  pri.org