Indian Defence Review

ISIS Cyber Philosophy

Use online social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Tumblr as communication on social media is fundamentally different from the internet which is hierarchical in nature and based on fixed sites and closed forums.

Innovative use of cyber domain in such a manner that it transforms ISIS from yet another Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organisation into a global brand name. In doing so, develop such cyber tools and applications which allow ISIS to attract and manipulate minds of potential recruits by remote control through the use of social media for Islamic jihad activities.

Exploit cyber capabilities to enhance its image as a powerful and unstoppable force, much beyond the actual number of fighters that are at its disposal thereby overwhelming the opposition with awe and shock.

Raise foreign fighters and “Lone Wolf” Terrorists through social media to conduct physical and cyber attacks independently or on cue.

Polarise Western society into Muslim believers and non-believers thereby creating a sharp divide of suspicion and hatred. This would enable mushrooming of Muslim ghettos Wolverine in nature and substance, in many European cities such as Paris, where law enforcement agencies dread to enter.

ISIS Cyber Strategy

Use social media to manipulate online networks such as the ‘Dawn of Glad Tidings’ application thereby generating high volume activity which serves as a force multiplier. Projecting a much larger picture than the organisation’s true dimensions and thereby creating an effective medium of psychological warfare.

Combine the high noise levels in social media with images and video clips of atrocities thereby creating a deterring and frightening effect, debilitating the morale of the adversaries of the ISIS. For example, prior to the ISIS takeover of Mosul wherein ISIS fighters defeated Iraqi soldiers armed with American weapons and equipment defending Mosul, at a ratio of 1:15.

Use of the social media as a marketing tool, and for this purpose, implement a strategy tailored to individual target groups.

Encourage and facilitate travel of jihadi recruits to the ISIS state for military operations. To this end, an e-book titled Hijrah (migration/journey, in Arabic) to the Islamic State has been published which details how to reach the Caliphate territories and what the prospective traveller should pack.

Develop a Cybernetic mechanism to raise “Lone Wolf” voluntary terrorists in perpetuity across the globe while living as normal citizens. Thereafter, to conduct physical and cyber attacks guided or on cue or independently. Various estimates put the figure of “Lone Wolves” currently to more than 20,000, of whom some 4,000 are Western volunteers.

ISIS Cyber Tactics

As part of its efforts to influence the Middle East and global public opinion and brand itself, the ISIS disseminates propaganda materials using a well-designed online English magazine called Dabiq and produces high quality movies that are disseminated on YouTube, Twitter and various websites affiliated with the organisation.

The ISIS makes extensive use of Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram and according to senior American officials, operatives and supporters of the organization produce up to 90,000 tweets every day2. A recent extensive study found that ISIS supporters operate at least 46,000 independent Twitter accounts, with 200-500 of these accounts active all day. The ISIS has developed an application for mobile devices called “Dawn of Glad Tidings” which enabled its supporters to follow the organisation’s activities in real time. Downloading the application allowed the ISIS to take temporary control of the Twitter account of the said user and publish messages in his/her name. In this way, the ISIS managed to generate a significant volume of activity on Twitter and exploited the accounts of the application users to raise the online profile of the organisation in a coordinated campaign.

Launch of digital ghazwa (attacks/raid in Arabic) e.g. cyber attacks on US Central Command and 19,000 French websites after attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris. The ISIS had begun a psychological social media campaign nearly a year before the conquest of Mosul “in order to show how brutally they kill people and even take their children and kill them mercilessly”. The ISIS “sews” different marketing suits, depending on the target audience, male or female, Muslim or Western, and communicates with a global audience using social media. It generates activity on social media to raise “Lone Wolves” spread across the globe for Wolverine jihadi activities. For instance, the terrorist attacks in Sydney, Paris and Copenhagen were perpetrated by individuals who were influenced by the ISIS and used its flag but were not formally affiliated with the organisation.

Inspire the Muslims in the West that even if they cannot immigrate to the territory of the Islamic State and join its ranks, perpetrating terrorist attacks and attacking Western symbols in their countries constitutes a worthy alternative and has ISIS official sanction. A clear example of this is the case of Mehdi Masroor Biswas, an Indian hi-tech executive who operated the popular Twitter account @ShamiWitness with more than 17,000 followers.

Undertake kidnapping for ransom and execution. Kidnapping generated $25 million for the ISIS last year. Horrendously brutal execution of kidnapped victims for propaganda effect through display of barbaric power viz Western journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley among others.3 Also, undertaking smuggling of rare artefacts recovered from captured territories is another method of raising funds for operations.

ISIS Cyber Jihad Looming Trends

It is cheaper and easier to mount a cyber-attack than to defend against one. But the dangers posed by ISIS may be more acute because of its embrace of modern technology, mastery of the difficult art of online propaganda and its appeal to young, computer-literate foreigners including known hackers.

Hacking attacks on our basic infrastructure may seem the stuff of sci-fi nightmare, interconnected cities held hostage by an evil genius. But it is already a reality, security expert Marc Goodman argues in his book “Future Crimes”, where he details a string of such attacks. A Brazilian power station shuttered by mafia hackers after their demands for protection money were not met, a Polish tram derailed by a bored teenager and in Australia, the sluice gates of a sewage station opened to pour waste over fields and parks – all masterminded by people behind screens.

The ISIS cyber Caliphate sleuths have mastered and demonstrated the art of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) in real time. “Lone Wolves” with insider access skilled at manipulating Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA) will make the scenario painted by Marc Goodman come alive. Lone Wolves masquerading as Syrian refugees or as normal citizens are like delivery vehicles in the form of human Trojans. These human Trojans could do cybernetic intrusions, have proximity or insider access and manipulate SCADA of critical infrastructure to wreak havoc in cities worldwide without even firing a single shot.

Databases on internet provide tips on how to exploit everything from Air Traffic Control, power plants to wind turbines. These are searchable by country, company or device, providing detailed how-to and greatly lowering the technical bar and knowledge for any ISIS-inspired individual to launch attacks on critical infrastructures.

The ISIS coffers from loot, ransoms and smuggling are fast depleting. They are looking for funds through online frauds and siphoning of black money stashed away in tax havens. There is a template for using online robbery to fund real-world attacks. Mobile phone fraud funded the 2004 Madrid train bombings and the terrorist group that attacked Mumbai in 2008 got $2 million from a gang of hackers in the Philippines, routed through intermediaries in the Gulf. The black money can be extremely hard to trace, once it has been skimmed from bank accounts, phones or other online transactions. Even for supporters based outside ISIS territory, the risks are remote. The ISIS beheadings have become an object of awful fascination for Internet users – eschewed by broadcast news networks but eagerly viewed by millions in cyberspace4 thereby increasing ISIS’ online popularity.

ISIS Containment and Neutralisation

In order to contend with the challenge of cyber jihad, different countries opt for one of two principal approaches: a technological battle against the online presence of ISIS, and the use of social media to disseminate counter propaganda.

To contain the impact of ISIS online, it is necessary to block online access: close their Twitter and Facebook accounts, block users affiliated with them and thereby deny ISIS the online outreach. Even in dictatorial regimes, total denial of cyber space is not feasible. Even if censorship on social media is enforced, censorship takes place only after the contents have been uploaded onto the various websites and social media accounts and in many cases their removal occurs after hundreds of thousands of people have already viewed them. Therefore, this measure has an important but limited effect. Moreover, for every account that is closed, a number of new accounts are immediately opened in its place, so that it is impossible to completely prevent users from using social media for purposes of terrorism over time unlike forums and websites, which can be easily closed and disabled.

Another approach seeks to exploit cyber activity against the ISIS, with the aim of influencing potential supporters of the organisations who are exposed to its content on social media. A prominent example of this approach is the US State Department’s social media campaign, “ThinkAgainTurnAway.” The campaign’s content includes images of ISIS atrocities and testimonies of operatives who were active in the organisation and were disillusioned by its extremism and brutal activities. The campaign thus attempts to counter the narrative that ISIS and other organisations promote online and by that, turn social media against them.

There is an effort made by Ghost Security Group, a hacking collective similar to Anonymous that focuses its efforts solely upon counter-terrorism. The group claims to have “terminated over 100,000 extremist social media accounts” used by militant groups to recruit members and send threats.5 An anonymous group has launched the NO2ISIS campaign. In the days to come, intensive social, cultural and religious belief profiling would need to be adopted by all countries to identify, deter or neutralise any “Lone Wolf”, human Trojan or sleeper cell cyber threat.

Conclusion

It is clear that the extensive and potent use that ISIS makes of cyberspace requires a widespread and targeted confrontation with the challenge, comprising an ideological response to its messages and a struggle to reduce its massive outreach. Timely action by all states would prevent formation of Islamic inspired ghettos or un-administrable spaces in cities or cyber ghettos in cyber space. Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull’s stern warning, “Leave our country if our values are unpalatable” may be a role model for other countries to follow.

Will the collective efforts of the world foil the ISIS cyber jihad pandemic? Only time will tell. Till then, the Wolverine Spectre looms large in the neighbourhood.

Notes

1. Nick Gutteridge, 17 Dec 2015, http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/627486/Islamic-State-ISIS-jihadis-hackers-cyber-war-US-Britain-president-hopeful-John-McAfee.
2. Eric Schmitt, “U.S. Intensifies Effort to Blunt ISIS’ Message,” New York Times, February 16, 2015.
3. 07 Jan 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34312450
4. Jarno Limnell, 03 Jan 2016, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-propaganda-war-front-line-cyberspace-1465459
5. Don Reisinger, 26 December 2015, http://fortune.com/2015/12/10/isis-smartphone-app/