Hacktivists Anonymous take down Ku Klux Klan site

The website of white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan has been shut down by hackers affiliated with hacktivist group Anonymous.

The affiliate, known as Ghost Squad, launched a full scale Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack which overwhelmed the site of the White Knights of the KKK - one of its most militant and extremist chapters - and brought it down. As of writing, the website remained offline.

According to one of the hackers responsible, the reason for the attack was the KKK's ''blunt racism'', using free speech as an excuse.

They told security blog HackRead, "We are not fascist but we certainly do not agree with the KKK movement. They are the fascists and they are the racists.''

Anonymous is known for its cyber attacks against controversial organisations and individuals including ISIS and Donald Trump, and this isn't even the first time it has targeted the KKK.

In November, Anonymous leaked the identities of 1,000 people who they claim are sympathisers or affiliates of the Klan.

The data leak was part of Anonymous' year-long Operation KKK, which is a reaction or a "form of resistance" to the racial violence threatened and incited by the KKK in 2014, against those protesting over the killing of a young black man in Ferguson, Missouri.

In the data release, Anonymous said, "We defend free thought and free speech. The anons responsible for this operation will not support *acts* of terrorism and *acts* of hate inflicted upon the public."

The details include names, aliases, Facebook and Google+ profiles, among other identifying details.

The data collected for Operation KKK was gathered over approximately 11 months, and those included on this list were identified by human sources - "through both overt (interviewing expert sources) and covert (digital espionage / social engineering) methods", Anonymous said.

Individuals on the list were also pinpointed using publicly available information, like social media profiles and other multimedia on the internet.

Other social causes Anonymous has taken up include supporting democracy advocates in Hong Kong and the Arab world, and organising hacking attacks against American agrochemical corporation Monsanto.

(Also see: Louisiana Gov bribed KKK to go easy in mid-'60s: FBI files )