Hacker group Anonymous posts names and addresses of paedophiles online in vigilante raid on child sex sites



Online campaign: A video showed a purported group member announcing a campaign against chat sites frequented by paedophiles

Hacker group Anonymous has declared war on secretive 'chat sites' used by paedophiles to trade images.

The renegade hacking collective - which has been criticised by law enforcement agencies in the US and the UK - posted a video on YouTube announcing the campaign, called Operation PedoChat.

The group has already posted names and email addresses of several alleged site users online on the site Pastebin.

An alleged group member wearing the Guy Fawkes mask that has become the trademark of the notorious international hacker collective posted a video on YouTube to announce the campaign.

'Recently it has come to our attention that there has been a surge of websites dedicated to pedophiles for chat and picture sharing,' said the spokesman.

The speaker called for the help of the public to put pressure on politicians and the media to shut down the sites.

The chat sites are often cleverly hidden and are unknown to most 'ordinary' internet users.

'Anonymous aim to diminish if not eradicate this plague from the internet. For the good of our followers, for the good of mankind, and for our own enjoyment we shall expel from the internet and systematically destroy any such boards that continue to operate.'

A video message on the Operation Darknet Twitter feed warns that the campaign will be ongoing

Previously, Anonymous claimed to have shut down a t least 40 websites, accounting for more than 100GB of content that depicts children being abused.

An earlier 'Operation' called Operation Darknet outed 190 alleged paedophiles by revealing their IP addresses - a unique internet address which can be used to trace their physical address.

'Anonymous recognises this as a serious undertaking and do not expect it to be completed in a short period of time. Factions of Anonymous from all over the globe are participating in sub-operations. Information on pedophiles is being gathered and released.'

The hacker group is posting updates via YouTube and its Twitter feeds.

