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Anonymous Says It Uncovered ISIS Plans For Attacks

by Abby Johnston

Update: The WWE told Bustle, "WWE Survivor Series is currently scheduled as planned while we investigate the matter with federal, state, and local authorities."

Hacking group Anonymous says it uncovered ISIS plans to attack cities around the world this Sunday, targeting Paris and other locations in the U.S., Indonesia, Italy, and Lebanon. OpParisIntel, a group within Anonymous, released a statement on Saturday detailing information that it collected about the attacks that are apparently all set for Sunday.

OpParisIntel said in a statement that it passed this information to officials in the affected countries "days ago," but made it public after a perceived inaction by global leaders as November 22 approaches. Anonymous said in a statement:

All proof was submitted to official authorities all around the globe days ago. They have it and it is their responsibility to do something with it. But because they have not done anything with it yet and it's almost the 22nd, we have matters into our hands. We only take the responsibility of warning civilians (incase [sic] the authorities do not act well enough).

We have seen and received from several (pro-)Daesh accounts threats, but not just regular threats. These threats were all focussed [sic] on 1 date: the 22nd of November. Our intel team started gathering Intel after having verified the threats and has narrowed all it's [sic] findings down to this pastebin.

Events in cities in five different countries were listed as possible targets for the militant group, but Anonymous also cautioned that church services could be potential places of attack, while also noting that the risk of an attack on a church outside of Paris or France is low.

In Paris, Anonymous said that three events were "at risk" for attacks by ISIS — a women's rights demonstration and two concerts. The planned demonstration for "Collectif du droit des femmes," however, is likely to be canceled as France continues its ban on demonstrations.

The WWE Survivor Series, an annual wrestling pay-per-view event held at Atlanta's Philips Arena, was also reported as a target that ISIS has "received/found" a threat for, but has not been "100 [percent] confirmed." The Atlanta wrestling match was listed alongside events in Rome and Milan, Italy; Kaslik, Lebanon; and an event in Indonesia.

Georgia Emergency Management Agency's director Jim Butterworth's communication team released this statement to Atlanta's WSB-TV 2:

His agency is working closely with the FBI, the Georgia information sharing and analysis center and others in evaluating the threat on a Sunday WWE event in Atlanta reported by the group Anonymous.

This release is the latest in an ongoing cyber war between ISIS and Anonymous. The hackers set their sights on the militant group after last week's terrorist attacks in Paris, announcing their intentions in a two-minute YouTube video. An Anonymous representative wearing the group's signature Guy Fawkes mask read a statement in French:

Expect massive cyber attacks. War is declared. Get prepared. Anonymous from all over the world will hunt you down. You should know that we will find you and we will not let you go.

ISIS seems to have dismissed Anonymous' threats, calling them "idiots" on Monday.