Anonymous targets Ku Klux Klan Twitter account

Hacking

Hacking group Anonymous has hijacked two Twitter accounts belonging to US white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan.

The hackers took control of the accounts as part of its Operation KKK or OpKKK initiative. Anonymous also used Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks to take down a number of KKK-related websites.

The attacks come after members of a group calling itself the "Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan" threatened "lethal force" in a message posted online against Ferguson campaigners protesting about the 9 August shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in the area. KKK members also handed out flyers, inciting further unrest.

A grand jury is set to decide if police officer Darren Wilson should have criminal charges brought against him.

Anonymous posted a video on YouTube to launch Operation KKK. In it Anonymous said: "We are not attacking you because of what you believe in as we fight for freedom of speech. We are attacking you because of what you did to our brothers and sisters at the Ferguson protest on 12 November.

"Due to your actions we have started Operation KKK. The aim of our operation is nothing more than Cyber Warfare. Anything you upload will be taken down; anything you use to promote the KKK will be shut down," it warned.

Following the Twitter account takeover, Anonymous said it would "dox" or make public personal details of KKK members and conduct a campaign of harassment against them.

In a statement posted on Pastebin, an Anonymous member said: "When society accepts racism, violence against people and their homes, and allows people to be arrested without proof or rights for a defence, justice shows its ideological and partial side. It's a symptom and ideological. Protest against Ku Klux Klan is, symbolically, stand against the ideology that causes death and suffering."

Anonymous took to the Ku Klux Klan's Twitter account to brand the organisation a terrorist group.

"The blood of thousands of human beings are on the hands of Klansmen. In most Anonymous members' eyes, the KKK no longer has the right to express their racist, bigoted opinions," it tweeted.

Rene Millman

Rene Millman is a freelance writer and broadcaster who covers cybersecurity, AI, IoT, and the cloud. He also works as a contributing analyst at GigaOm and has previously worked as an analyst for Gartner covering the infrastructure market. He has made numerous television appearances to give his views and expertise on technology trends and companies that affect and shape our lives. You can follow Rene Millman on Twitter.