Anonymous/AnonGhost: Many in the hacktivist community were elated when the various members of AnonGhost who had joined ISIS returned and reformed AnonGhost. It appears now that the return of AnonGhost has had a significant effect on the demographics of Anonymous and those who support them. AnonGhost has always been associated with Anonymous, though the group has stated multiple times that they are not part of Anonymous, but instead just support some of what Anonymous stands for. Following the reemergence of AnonGhost, many Anons and Anonymous supporters began to get excited for OpIsrael–knowing how pro-Palestinian/anti-Israeli AnonGhost has been. Over the past few weeks, a significant amount of support has been growing for OpIsrael by online users in the Middle East as well as with Arabs and Muslims elsewhere in the world. A significant number of the Arabs and Muslims who are now beginning to support OpIsrael are also begging to support other Anonymous operations as well. The vast majority of Anonymous’ support has come from North America and Europe.
Analyst Notes
It is possible that when the core members of AnonGhost left to join ISIS it gave them a bit more credibility to many Arabs and Muslims around the world, proving to them that they truly do support Arabs and Muslims, even among those who did not support ISIS.
