(Image Source: Ars Technica)
BY DANNY MATTESON
ANCHOR LAUREN GORES
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Hacktivist collective Anonymous is back in action and this time they’ve set their sights on the seedy underbelly of the Internet. ZDNet explains.
“This past week it was reported that the hacktivist collective known as Anonymous claimed credit for taking offline over 40 websites used for sharing pedophilia - and for exposing the names and identifying information of more than 1500 alleged pedophiles that had been using the sites.”
And the attack, dubbed Operation Darknet, was announced in the group’s usual ominous manner. Take a look at the video posted on TheAnonMessage’s YouTube channel.
“Anonymous took a pledge to defend the defenseless and fight for the fallen. We rallied an army called the legion and armed ourselves with our Chris Hansen cannons. We set up for the great hulk that has become Operation Darknet. Also known as ‘To Catch a Predator’.”
So how did this cyber showdown get started? According to TGDaily,Anonymous members sprang into action when they discovered the Tor network, commonly used for anonymous web browsing and political activism, was being used for more nefarious reasons.
“...Anonymous came across a site hosted on a Tor darknet a couple of weeks ago that linked to images of child sex abuse. The group warned the site to remove the links, but shut down services when it was ignored.”
And how successful was the Anonymous’ strike? According to PCWorld,by taking down Freedom Hosting, home to massive child porn site “Lolita City”, it may have put a substantial dent in kiddie porn on the internet.
“The hacker group boasted that one of the websites it took down was ‘one of the largest child pornography websites to date containing more than 100GB of child pornography.’”
But some experts say while the groups heart may be in the right place, they may be doing more harm than good. Graham Cluley, Senior technology consultant at security firm Sophos, told the BBC.
"Take-downs of illegal websites and sharing networks should be done by the authorities, not net vigilantes … The attacks could have put an existing investigation at risk, stopped the police from gathering evidence they need to prosecute, or made it difficult to argue that evidence has not been corrupted.”
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