Anonymous ups stakes with cyber war against Turkey

IT’S made a stand against IS, and now Anonymous is targeting an entire government. The hackers appear to be winning.

ONE MONTH on from declaring war on the Islamic State, the anarchist hacking collective Anonymous has upped the stakes with a cyber war against the Turkish government.

“Dear government of Turkey,” a member of the group wearing the signature Guy Fawkes mask said in a YouTube video posted overnight.

“As many of you have heard, Turkey is supporting ISIS by buying oil from them and hospitalising their fighters. We won’t accept that.

“If you don’t stop supporting ISIS we will continue attacking your internet, your banks and take your government sites down.

“We will start targeting your airports, military assets and private state connections. We will destroy your critical banking infrastructure. Stop this insanity now Turkey, your fate is in your own hands.”

The message comes following a rash of cyber attacks on Turkish government websites and banks that disrupted online banking and government operations this week.

On Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said authorities were investigating the source of the attacks and would be increasing security measures in future.

Earlier, Turkish non-governmental organisation Nic.tr said attacks appeared to be from “organised sources” inside the country, as Turkish banking services slowed down on the .tr domain used by ministries, banks and commercial enterprises.

Transport and Communications Minister Binali Yildirim called it a “serious” attack and asked an Ankara-based university to beef up security measures, saying they were “insufficient”.

However not everyone is convinced Anonymous is behind the attacks, with others suggesting it could be Russian activity following Turkey’s decision to shoot down a Russian jet fighter that strayed into Turkish airspace last month.

The group claims to have taken down 5500 IS Twitter accounts and leaked details of the group’s recruiters online.

In the aftermath of the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people on November 13, Anonymous posted a similar message vowing to take down the Islamic State.

“Anonymous activists from all over the world will hunt you down. Yes, you, the vermin who kill innocent victims, we will hunt you down like we did to those who carried out the attacks on Charlie Hebdo,” the message said.

“So get ready for a massive reaction from Anonymous. Know that we will find you and we will never let up.

“We are going to launch the biggest ever operation against you — expect very many cyber-attacks.

“War is declared. Prepare yourselves.”

At the time, the anarchist group claimed to have taken down 5500 Twitter accounts of Islamic State recruiters and called them #daeshbags online, a reference to the Arabic acronym for IS.

The group also claimed to have leaked the personal information of suspected extremists, saying there would be many fronts in its cyber “war”.

A man wearing a mask representing the hacking group "Anonymous" attends November’s Reclaim Australia Rally in Sydney.

The campaign appeared to culminate in a so-called “day of rage”, during which supporters were urged to barrage terrorist-affiliated social media accounts with anti-IS propaganda ... and goat pictures.

“You may be wondering why we are ‘trolling’ ISIS and planning all these demonstrations,” an Anonymous supporter wrote. “To understand that you must first see how ISIS works.

“They thrive off fear and hope that by their actions they can silence all of us and get us to just lay low and hide in fear.

“We will show them that we are not afraid, we will not just hide in our fear, we are the majority and with our strength in numbers we can make a real difference.

“We will mock them for the idiots they are.”

More recently, Anonymous said it had foiled a terror plot in Italy, and rallied those who could be tempted to join its ranks.

“Anonymous is not an organisation, it is not a club, a party or even a movement. There is no charter, no manifest, no membership fees. All we are is people who travel together,” a member of the group posted in a recruiting video online.

“We come from all racers, countries and ethnicities. We are many, we are your neighbours, your co-workers, your hairdressers, your bus drivers and your network administrators. We are the guy on the street with the suitcase. We are the girl in the bar you are trying to chat up. We are Anonymous.”