Investigators have identified an alleged member of Anonymous who claimed the hackinh group had thwarted an Islamic State terrorist attack on the central city of Florence, police said Thursday.
The 29-year-old 'hacktivist', referred to by Anonymous as 'X' is a computer expert from Aosta in northwest Italy, according to police.
Police found no evidence to corroborate claims made by 'X' in an interview with an on-line Italian daily in late December that he had foiled an IS plot to attack Florence and was working under cover to identify the alleged cell members, investigators said.
'X' could now face charges of criminal association for the purposes of illegally accessing and damaging computer systems, police said.
Anonymous subsequently distanced itself from 'X''s claims.
Investigators claim 'X' is also the founder of the Twitter account #OpParis allegedly created to hunt down the perpetrators of the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris in which 130 people died.
#OpParis urged Anonymous members to hack into IS websites to steal key information and leak it online.
Traditionally, Anonymous opposes government control and surveillance.
