Hackers threaten to release names of 1,000 members of the Ku Klux Klan

Data threat: Hackers are targeting Ku Klux Klan members
William Thomas Cain/Getty
Robin de Peyer30 October 2015

Hackers have pledged to release the names of up to 1,000 members of the Ku Klux Klan.

The ‘hacktivist’ group, Anonymous, said it would reveal the details after it gained access to a KKK Twitter account.

The threat is part of an operation targeting the white supremacist group in the US, with the Anonymous-controlled Twitter account, Operation KKK, saying the release of names will mark a year since hackers started a cyber-war with the Klan.

In a statement posted online, Anonymous said: “After closely observing so many of you for so very long, we feel confident that applying transparency to your organisational cells is the right, just, appropriate and only course of action.”

It added: “You continue to make threats to anons you believe you have identified, journalists, anyone in the public that speaks out against your behaviour. Your threats and intimidation are unprovoked, unwanted and will not be tolerated.”

Anonymous’ vendetta against the KKK was launched after a grand jury elected not to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot Michael Brown sparking riots in Ferguson, Missouri.

The group is compiled of hackers and online activists and has been active since around 2003. Its other targets have included the Church of Scientology.

The Ku Klux Klan is America’s most notorious white supremacist group and is estimated to have between around 5,000 and 8,000 members.

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