Last Sunday the online activist organization known as Anonymous declared war on the Islamic State and vowed to destroy them. The Islamic State has a great dependency, as well as success, in using social media platforms. Social media is their main propaganda and recruitment tool, so this is where Anonymous and others continue to strike.

Groups and individuals like Anonymous are known as “hunters” out in cyberspace. They hack and do damage where they can and when they can. As of Thursday, Anonymous reports that it is has destroyed over 6,000 Twitter accounts and various other websites belonging to the Islamic State, according to USA Today.

These hunter groups, or lone hunters, operate all around the planet. Their mission is to destroy those that they believe need to be destroyed according to their own specific standards. Mostly they seem to attack those who prey on the helpless and the powerless. The Islamic State has been on the Anonymous radar for quite some time but it was the attacks in Paris that left 129 dead that seemed to be the proverbial straw for them.

In response to the Anonymous declaration of war on Sunday, the Islamic State shot back on Wednesday calling the Anonymous hackers a bunch of idiots if they truly believe that they can destroy the Islamic State. The time for rhetoric seems past as Anonymous posted directions online showing anyone who wants to how to take down Islamic State social media accounts and websites.

Many world wide monitoring groups have confirmed that Anonymous has had a serious affect on the Islamic State’s online presence. Because they are so reliant on a strong social media presence, the efforts by Anonymous have begun to seriously slow them down. Many other hackers and hacking groups have joined with Anonymous to take out social media accounts and websites belonging to the Islamic State.