Hackers have attacked an ISIS website on the dark web, replacing the terrorism propaganda with pharmacy advertisements for Viagra and Prozac.
The hackers behind the attacks are from the group known as Ghost Security Group, which is affiliated with the hacktivist collective Anonymous.
"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," wrote the hackers on the ISIS website known as Isdarat.
Isdarat was taken down by Ghost Security less than a week after it was created on the dark web, which is the part of the Internet that is not accessible through traditional Internet browsers.
ISIS has been moving its propaganda websites to the dark web, which requires special browsers such as the Tor browser to access. This is in response to the hundreds of ISIS websites that Anonymous has taken down found on the open web.
Isdarat was taken down by Ghost Security in the week, but ISIS was able to put the website back up. This is despite the fact discovered by security researchers that ISIS utilized lacking web security measures to protect Isdarat.
Anonymous declared war against ISIS following the chilling attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, where over 130 people were killed. The group posted a video on YouTube wherein a man wearing a Guy Fawkes mask said that Anonymous will hunt down ISIS in its biggest cyberwar operation.
In response to the threat, however, ISIS called Anonymous idiots, claiming that the terrorist group is the true leader of the virtual world.
The ongoing cyberwar that is now in full swing between Anonymous and ISIS, however, is seen as more detrimental than helpful by some experts. While Lieberman Software VP of product strategy Jonathan Sander predicts that Anonymous will be able to shut down the online presence of ISIS to weaken its recruitment power, hurting the terrorist group severely, Splunk security market specialist Ken Westin says ISIS may push to bolster its security measures. This would lead to additional difficulties in tracking down the online activities of the terrorist group.
