Tue Jan 12, 2016 18:02:25
Hacktivists offer unprecedented insight into their battle to smash terrorists' online recruitment and propaganda machine
During the Spanish Civil War, huge numbers of boys left their homes and volunteered to fight against fascism.
Now thousands of angry young men are fighting a very modern war against ISIS without even leaving their bedrooms.
Mirror has spent several weeks talking to a shadowy group of computer experts who have banded together under the name Varuna Group to do their bit in the conflict against the so-called ISIS.
This Anonymous-inspired "virtual international brigade" agreed to tell their story in a bid to inspire others to join the battle against an enemy which expertly uses the internet to spread propaganda and win over new recruits.
We have agreed to withhold their names.
"We know how effective ISIS is at using online media to recruit people," one member of the group said.
"It sickened me to see all the violent images and videos they put online and most especially how young people were somehow perversely attracted to them.
"When you see the violence that these ISIS members put out into the world, you really want to take them on."
The hackers were inspired to take action against online ISIS supporters after Anonymous' declaration of "war" following the terror attacks on Paris.
Although they have never actually met in real life, the group became friends after getting involved in last years' campaign to "troll" ISIS , which was part of the wider Anonymous "OPISIS" campaign.
As they began to understand the extent and power of the ISIS propaganda machine, the group decided to take further action.
Now they have built up a vast database of intelligence which shows how ISIS supporters use the internet to spread their message of terror- and how hacktivists are trying to stop them.
They have reported vast numbers of Twitter accounts, resulting in their closure, and keep a watchful eye on the social network to help stop extremists from maintaining an online presence, Mirror reported.
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