Sophos Cloud Optix
Last Tuesday, the white supremacist group Ku Klux Klan (KKK) dumped trash bags full of flyers that promised to use “lethal force” against protesters in Ferguson, Missouri – a US city that’s been boiling with protest as a grand jury decides whether or not to press charges against a white policeman who killed an unarmed black teen in August.
That was a gauntlet that attackers affiliating themselves with the Anonymous brand of hacktivists were happy to pick up.
Over the weekend, two anti-KKK operations were launched: #OpKKK and #HoodsOff.
The attackers managed to hijack two KKK Twitter accounts – @KluKluxKlanUSA and @YourKKKCentral – and four of the group’s websites.
The hijackers posted several messages serving up the same type of homicidal messages the KKK itself had dumped on Ferguson, including one with an image of a Klansman being lynched that says “The war is on!”
16 NOV 2014 09:11:47
You should’ve expected us. #OpKKK continues to be a success. Freedom will prevail.
The hijackers also promised a statement which was posted last night.
As many of you already know, this past week Anonymous has launched an attack on America’s homegrown terrorist group known as the Ku Klux Klan. Anonymous took action after Klan members promised to use “lethal force” against peaceful protestors in Ferguson, Missouri. #OpKKK (#HoodsOff) was then launched. Members of our group revealed identities of Klan members and Klan websites have been DDoSed. Anonymous then took to Twitter. With warning, Anonymous took control of what was believed as the official Ku Klux Klan Twitter account (@KuKluxKlanUSA).
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Through the Klan’s Twitter account, we have obtained large amounts of information of multiple white supremacists, along with the operator of the account. The members of Anonymous who seized the account are continuing to debate if the identities of the people associated with the Klan’s Twitter should be released to the public.
As of Tuesday morning, the Twitter accounts were still branded with the Anonymous logo.
Anonymous's actions are, of course, illegal, though the internet was - unsurprisingly, given the target - full of cheering for the attackers' actions.
The people whose information Anonymous is doxing haven't been charged with hate crimes (at least not that we know of), haven't been investigated by law enforcement bodies and linked to the distribution of threatening flyers (that we know of), and thus have been targeted by a cyber mob without having received due justice.
Illegal posting of others' personal information isn't the way to solve the enormous problems of racism, no matter how satisfying it is to knock a group like the KKK down to the ground.
Image of Anonymous masks courtesy of Rob Kints / Shutterstock.com.
This is a tough one. Here you can see Anon targeting people who have supposedly avoided punishment by law enforcement. Anon is not an agency given responsibility to enforce the law, and hence their actions are technically illegal. But if we look at the technicality, they are doing the right thing. Its like they are providing evidence but one that was obtained illegally and also the authenticity of the evidence can’t be verified.
Having said that, it would be nearly impossible for the supposed victims of Anon’s actions to prove who compromised their personal information. So both sides are out of the reach of the law in this case and you can’t help but feel that ironic justice being done here.
I think this is about right. Sophos also has a point: when it outed Michael Brown’s killer cop, Anonymous got the wrong guy. That’s what a cyber mob does. On the other hand, many white supremacist groups have cops within their numbers. If Anonymous had a spotless record of never targeting the wrong guys, I’d feel better about their pulling the hoods off the KKK sheets.
For all we know Anonymous sent the fliers themselves then released the info from the hacked site. All according to plan to gain publicity and gain public approval like they are doing good. When they all need to be locked up behind bars where they deserve to be. Vigilantes are criminals no matter who they are attacking. Funny how they mock the KKK for hiding their identities when they are doing the same. Don’t fall for their publicity stunts.
Last I heard on the news was the Ferguson protesters were anything but peaceful.
Even the police acknowledge there are peaceful protestors but it is anticipated violent elements will use the protests as an excuse to cause trouble. It’s been well documented in the “news” recently if you look at all the sources.
That’s true, but it doesn’t justify threatening to kill them.
Is there any evidence of the KKK being the source of those flyers? From what I’ve seen, it’s rather likely they actually came from those who are doing their best, or should I say their worst, to stir up as much trouble as possible. So the “threats” may well not be real threats but could be just as deadly – if not more so – by inciting more violence.
The night of November 24, 2014 from an article on MSN.
The toll from Monday’s protests — 12 commercial buildings burned to the ground, plus eight other blazes and a dozen vehicles torched — prompted Missouri governor Jay Nixon to send a large contingent of extra National Guard troops.
The governor ordered the initial force of 700 to be increased to 2,200 in hopes that their presence would help local law enforcement keep order in the St. Louis suburb.
The hypocrisy is excruciatingly sharp here: Anonymous using the hashtag #HoodsOff while hiding behind those idiotic Guy Fawkes masks.
Both groups are a bunch of lost souls.
That will teach them a lesson… A bitter one.