Hackers Shut Down ISIS Dark Web Propaganda Site, Replace Content With Ads For Viagra, Prozac

The Islamic State group (ISIS) has been compelled to take down its propaganda website after anonymous hackers replaced the content on it with advert for an online pharmacy selling Prozac and Viagra, leaving a message telling would-be IS supporters to calm down.

According to the International Business Times, the hacktivists spotted Isdarat on the Tor anonymity network, which is a group of volunteer-operated servers that provide users with a highly secure and private connection.

Ghost Sec, a faction of the hacktivist collective Anonymous (unaffiliated with the counter-terrorism organisation Ghost Security Group), targeted the Isdarat website after it appeared on the Tor anonymity network last week.

The website was only accessible using the Tor browser, a type of specialist software that uses a system known as onion routing to disguise a user’s location.

Analysts have speculated that IS is turning to the dark web to safeguard its propaganda content from hacktivists.

Some counter terrorism analysts have credited hackers linked to Anonymous, who declared war against ISIS following attacks in Paris that left at least 130 dead.