Correction 6:33 AM ET: This article previously stated that hackers leaked a list of 20,000 subscribers. That was incorrect, the list contained nearly 2,000 (1,784) emails. We apologize and regret the error.
A group of Muslim hacktivists from Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah, the Sunni sect of Islam and going by the online handle of Di5s3nSi0N hacked the official website of ISIS/ISIL (Daesh) and leaked a list of more than 2000 people who had subscribed to the site’s newsletter and updates through email.
A week ago, the targeted website Amaq which also works as a news agency for the terrorist organization claimed that it was facing increasing cyber attacks, therefore, it has increased its security and now their admins can tackle “any type of hack.”
“In response to recent events, we have imposed more stringent security measures on our systems. We can now handle email attacks or any type of hack,” reported The Independent who received emails from ISIS in Arabic.
For Di5s3nSi0N, the statement was more like a challenge which they accepted happily and within a day found a security flaw on the site allowing them to steal a list of 1,784 subscribers. The Independent has verified the list.
Challenge complete – too easy! 2000 email subscribers hacked from Amaq… What is next?? #silencetheswords #AMAQ #opisis #IslamicState #Hacked pic.twitter.com/vyZP5kcd9m
— Di5s3nSi0N (@Di5s3nSi0N__2) November 10, 2017
Upon taking over the site, hackers sent a number of emails to subscribers from the site’s official email address mail@amaq.com displayin
“We have hacked the full “secure” email list of Amaq! Daesh…shall we call you dogs for your crimes or snakes for your cowardice? We are the bugs in your system.”
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“Challenge complete – too easy! 2000 email subscribers hacked from Amaq… What is next??,” Di5s3nSi0N said in a Tweet.
Amaq was created by Baraa Kadek, a Syrian journalist who worked for Halab News Network and joined the terrorist organization in 2013. The website according to the New York Times has “a direct connection with ISIS” and issues claims whenever a terrorist attack is carried out anywhere in the world.
2017 has been a bad year for the terrorist group since its losing its ground in Iraq and Syria while their online presence is also at stake. Currently, the group has a presence on Telegram messaging service.
Remember, this is not the first time when hacktivists have hacked into the website of world’s deadliest terrorist group, in fact, in 2015, Anonymous defaced ISIS’s site on Dark Web with Viagra Ad.
