An Islamic State (Isis) propaganda website on the dark web has been taken down by hacktivists and replaced with an advert for a site selling Prozac and Viagra tablets and a message telling would-be IS supporters to calm down.
It read:’Too much ISIS. Enhance your calm. Too many people are into this ISIS-stuff. Please gaze upon this lovely ad so we can upgrade our infrastructure to give you ISIS content you all so desperately crave.’
Ghost Sec, a faction of the hacktivist collective Anonymous (unaffiliated with the counter-terrorism organisation Ghost Security Group), targeted the Isdarat website after it appeared on the Tor anonymity network last week.
The website before it was hacked
The website was only accessible using the Tor browser, a type of specialist software that uses a system known as onion routing to disguise a user’s location. Counter terrorism analysts have speculated that IS is turning to the dark web to safeguard its propaganda content from hacktivists.
According to the IBT, the website was taken down by Ghost Sec and it is believed to be the first time that a hacking group have taken down a website on the dark web.
The dark web is used as a way of sharing information and trading goods, but the anonymous and encrypted nature of it has attracted large amounts of illegal activities.
Source: Int’l Business Times
