Pierluigi Paganini November 18, 2015

The collective Anonymous launched the #OpParis to track terrorists online, but a French activist accuses them of hindering Law Enforcement.

Just days following the horrific Paris attacks carried out by the ISIS, Anonymous hackers wedged a full-fledged war against the Islamic radicals, knocking out several thousand pro-ISIS Twitter accounts. However, a French blogger has spoken out against the hacker collective’s recent actions under the #OpParis campaign, saying they are hindering law enforcement’s ability to monitor and keep up with ISIS.

In a recent video published by Anonymous, the collective waged war against ISIS, saying “You should know that we will find you and we will not let you go under #OpISIS.” 

Olivier Laurelli, a French citizen and computer security blogger said Anonymous shutting down pro-ISIS accounts is a bad idea as it leaves authorities blind to tracking activities of pro-ISIS members.

“To close those accounts is to leave police deaf and blind around some matters. It is important to know that one account is in France, another in Syria or in Iraq and if you see that someone who is connected to the attacks has a link to someone else, it’s important for police. Twitter has been quick to close down a large number of accounts, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea,” Laurelli told to AFP.

According to the blogger, the collectives relentless work to unmask ISIS members is an embarrassment for the police as it’s their duty to monitor the accounts and see who is spreading pro-ISIS propaganda. It’s also their job to keep the accounts under control from rapid growth on social media, exactly what Anonymous is currently doing.

Laurelli claims that the information Anonymous is destroying as part the #OpParis would have allowed law enforcement to properly counter the Paris attacks, in which 129 people lost their lives and 415 got injured.

Anonymous has taken #OPISIS strongly to social media, trying to get everyone to work together and unmask ISIS members. However, Facebook wasn’t too fond of the idea and decided to block a few Anonymous groups on Facebook for revealing the identity of an alleged ISIS member.

Laurelli’s comments come just after Anonymous published a list of more than 9,000 pro-ISIS twitter accounts that were promptly removed by Twitter.

About the Author Brandon Stosh

(Security Affairs –#OpParis, Anonymous)