Technologies Used by ISIS The Terrorist Organizations

Terrorist organizations and terrorists are exploiting social media and the internet resources for the purpose of committing terrorist activities and for the facilitation of wide-ranging terrorist activities including radicalization, incitement, training, recruitment, communications, information gathering, planning, financing, and preparation (United Nations, n.d). Technology has quickly become a fundamental component of the modern day society. Technology governs itself therefore making it possible for terrorists to utilize it for the purpose of advancing their terrorism. Modern terrorism has become unpredictable and instantaneous thanks to technology.

Technology has made it possible for terrorists to target large audiences and bring terror right into the home (InfoSec, 2018). Cyberspace is a technological environment that has no boundaries hence making it a place where terrorists can locate resources, disseminate propaganda information and launch attacks in any corner of the world. 5 main technological types and/or tools Used by ISIS for Information Sharing and Intelligence Gathering Social Media: Modern terrorism has chosen social media as a useful resource. The online social platforms make communication within terrorist groups possible.

Terrorists use social media for recruitment, propaganda sharing, psychological warfare, mobilization, information gathering, data mining etc. (InfoSec, 2018). Most terrorist attacks are choreographed meticulously for the purpose of attracting electronic media and international press. The objective of terrorism is to target the population watching and using media resources and not just the killing of victims. The strategists of ISIS employ social media as an important resource for mobilization. ISIS has managed to mobilize approx. 40,000 foreigners from around the world with enticing messages encouraging them to join them (Ward, 2018).

Increased access to the internet in the Middle East and Africa has given ISIS a broader pool of support gained through social networks. It is the duty of analysts and policy makers to comprehend the intentions of terrorist organizations in their use of Information communication technologies (Ward, 2018). The internet offers convenience due to its accessibility and affordability. Broader social media reach (platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, YouTube, and Instagram etc.) in the global space has allowed ISIS to easily share information and gather intelligence.

Encryption: Encryption of communication through messaging applications and electronic devices has become a growing phenomenon today. ISIS and other terrorist organizations have exploited the encryption technology to make it possible for them to communicate securely and thereafter store destructive information (Graham, 2016). Any legislative effort aimed at empowering enforcement agencies with ability to listen to private communication may never bear any fruits. The encryption of information is a new phenomenon commonly referred to as going dark (Graham, 2016). End to end encryption codes have given rise to unbreakable secure communication.

Although this encryption is hard to break the intelligence services have been able to exploit avenues of retrieving encrypted communication. Recently the FBI employed the services of professional hackers to crack the iPhone of the San Bernardino terrorist (Nakashima, 2016). This said though, technology companies are making it harder and harder to crack end to end encryption as an effort to guarantee communication privacy to the users of their technology and devices.

This has given terrorist groups like ISIS an opportunity to exploit these devices and applications for secure information storage and communication. Artificial Intelligence: Machine learning technologies have become quite accessible. There is no limit to the capabilities and imagination of terrorist organizations in their attempt to explore artificial intelligence. The same way terrorists have adapted to cyberspace, internet use, encryption, and social media it is the same way that will start using artificial intelligence.

Just as terrorists are adapting gorilla techniques like crashing vehicles into unsuspecting people, the same way they are willing to exploit artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is likely to boost criminal activities including kidnapping, extortion, training, radicalization through automated social engineering bouts (Gartenstein-Ross, 2018). Chatbots can be used in future to boost radicalization online the same way they were used to shape Brexit in United Kingdom.

Drones: Recently in Denmark some arrests were made concerning two suspects who had attempted to violate the anti-terror regulations in Denmark that prohibit purchase of drones for the purpose of aiding terror (The Cipher Brief, 2018). The suspects were in the processing of purchasing the drones in order to send them to ISIS. Such actions point to the use of drones as weapons of terror. The Houthi rebels in Yemen employed unmanned aerial drones to launch an attack on the air defenses of Saudi Arabia (The Cipher Brief, 2018).

Hezbollah is known to use drones to fight ISIS in Syria. It is absolutely possible for drones to be used by insurgent groups for surveillance, reconnaissance, intelligence gathering and other terrorist missions. Turkish rebels were used in January 2018 to carry out swarming attacks against Russian Bases inside Syria (The Cipher Brief, 2018). Hacking What intelligence officers feared most appears to be coming to pass. Junaid Hussein, A British Pakistani lived his life online and learned how to become an expert hacker (Carlin, 2018).

His hacking missions would occasion a tech savvy terrorism mission that would extend the reach of the ISIS terror group beyond their physical location (Carlin, 2018). In 2015, he conducted a dangerous cyber plot from Syria successfully recruiting a Kosovo hacker who was a Computer science student in Malaysia. The duos mission was to attack the American servicemen inside the U.S. (Carlin, 2018). This is just one example demonstrating the acuteness of the threat of cyberspace terrorism globally.

Three unethical or immoral ways ISIS uses technology to attempt to attack or defeat the United States or its allies · Information hacks · Drones · Eavesdropping Terrorist organizations groups are using modern digital communication networks and hidden fusion centers to advance their collaborative efforts, provide resources, information, and terror expertise with an objective of maximizing their abilities to advance their terrorism mission and outwit the investigative authorities.

The terrorist groups like ISIS have utilized solid secure fusion centers to gather information and to forge a united front globally without being physically present at their hideouts. The Information sharing environment is often encrypted with end to end secure technology hence making it very difficult for security agencies to detect their activities online. Some terrorists have employed their hacking credentials and radio tools to listen in or eavesdrop on communication between security agencies. This way they are able to detect any potential threats to their terrorist missions.

Drones, information hacks, eavesdropping on police communication and other unorthodox surveillance activities have been used by terrorists to counter the efforts of security forces. ISIS has been known to use threats, murder, kidnapping, population control, resource control to prevailing over Syria and Iraq. They send threats to targeted populations through social media, through text messages, IED attacks, bombing, anonymous calls etc. This way ISIS succeeds in sending terror to the local communities who oblige by paying taxes to them for their own security.

In order to overcome the threat of terrorism the U.S. security agencies may have to bleach the rights to privacy in order to get into the communication networks of suspect organizations if only to foil potential attacks on the American people. By hacking into the ISIS fusion centers and eavesdropping on their digital, radio, and apps communication it is likely to decode what they might be planning. As.