More than 26,000 people have downloaded an operating system which members of the Anonymous hacker group claim to have created.

The software is based on a version of the open-source operating system Linux and comes outfitted with lots of website sniffing and security tools.

The "official" Anonymous group has distanced itself from the software.

In a widely circulated tweet, AnonOps claimed the operating system was riddled with viruses.

Tool box

The operating system is available via the Source Forge website - a well-known repository for many custom code projects.

The 1.5GB download is based on Ubuntu - one of the most popular versions of the Linux operating system. The software's creators say they put it together for "education purposes to checking the security of web pages (sic)".

It asked people not to use it to destroy webpages.

Soon after the operating system became available, the AnonOps account on Twitter posted a message saying it was fake and "wrapped in trojans".

The creators of the OS denied it was infected with viruses adding that, in the world of open-source software, "there were no viruses".

Code check

After downloading and running the software, Rik Ferguson, director of Trend Micro's European security research efforts, said it was "a functional OS with a bunch of pre-installed tools that can be used for things like looking for [database] vulnerabilities or password cracking".

It also included tools such as Tor that can mask a person's online activities. In many ways, he said, it was a pale imitation of a version of Linux known as Back Track that also comes with many security tools already installed.

Mr Ferguson said he was starting work to find out if there were any viruses or booby-traps buried in the code.

Graham Cluley, senior researcher at hi-tech security firm Sophos, wondered who would be tempted to use it.

"Who would want to put their trust in a piece of unknown software written by unknown people on a webpage that they don't know is safe or not?" he asked.

He warned people to be very wary, adding that some hacktivists keen to support the work of Anonymous had been tricked earlier in the year into installing a booby-trapped attack tool.

"Folks would be wise to be very cautious," he said.

Summary: Anonymous took control of UFC's Web site briefly and that led to UFC President Dana White calling them 'terrorists.'

In a recent interview, mixed-martial arts chief Dana White suggested that members of the hacktivist group Anonymous were "cowards" and "terrorists."

White, who helped found the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which nation's largest promoter of mixed-martial arts fights, then engaged alleged members of Anonymous in a debate via Twitter about his support for the controversial and now dead Stop Online Piracy Act and the morality of hacking sites as a political statement.

According to a report, Anonymous got the final word. Shortly after the debate, someone posted to the Internet White's social security number, mobile phone number, address and for a brief period his wife's name.

White is only the latest copyright owner or public figure to see their personal information posted to the Web as part of hack attacks launched by Anonymous. The group is accused of circulating personal information belonging to Jeff Bewkes, CEO of media conglomerate Time Warner, and New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

The attacks began when Anonymous hacked into UFC's Web site a week ago and briefly redirected traffic to a site associated with the group. That's when White made his comments about cowards and terrorists. On Thursday evening a Twitter debate ensued between White and @YourAnonNews, a Twitter account closely associated with Anonymous.

The debate was heated for a while but then both sides seemed to agree to disagree and that was it. Or at least that was it until White's personal information was published.

This is what White told MMA Fighting which seemed to draw the ire of Anonymous: "The way this whole thing has gone down, them hacking our site is the best thing they ever could have done for us. Because what that does is, now, you look like terrorists and now a lot of people who were afraid of you now hate you. Is this bill (SOPA) perfect? No. No bill is perfect. I think this thing started off with the right idea. Stealing is stealing.

You can read the entire Twitter debate here.