| article by Aliénor De Steur | like this article? check out our event: Digital Diplomacy |
Terrorism is an act of violence done to inspire terror and to intimidate a population or a government, in order to influence or manipulate them. It can take a lot of forms: despite being an ocean away terrorists are learning how to inspire fear from behind their computer screen. Messages, and the spread of information across the world, are instantaneous. Organizations like the Islamic “State” of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) understand this and use it to their benefit. It is internet-terrorism: a new and rising form of terror in the digital age. What methods do they use to create this pixelated fear? They use social media and hack Western media or government agencies.
On the Internet, it is easy to find gruesome videos of beheadings or other kind of cruel treatment. The worldwide web is full of horrible images. The purpose of such imagery is to provoke shock in the viewer, to provoke fear. The “success” of a terrorist attack is not measured by the number of death, but by the level of fear it creates and by how it propels the group into the media spotlight. In this sense, a video of a Jordanian pilot burning, which created a scandal on Internet, is a “success”.
On the Internet, it is easy to find gruesome videos of beheadings or other kind of cruel treatment. The worldwide web is full of horrible images. The purpose of such imagery is to provoke shock in the viewer, to provoke fear. The “success” of a terrorist attack is not measured by the number of death, but by the level of fear it creates and by how it propels the group into the media spotlight. In this sense, a video of a Jordanian pilot burning, which created a scandal on Internet, is a “success”.
In the arena of Internet terrorism, ISIS has grasped the concept to a particularly horrendous degree. Each new post and publication pushes the boundaries of horror and disgust. When you think about it, this technique is quite effective: the costs are low (considering it is the killing of few hostages in their own territory, rather than a complex act in a foreign country) and the gains are high (for instance, the video of James Foley’s beheading was viewed thousands of times just in the first hours of its posting). They count on the morbid curiosity of people, the free and fast circulation of information on the internet and a free press that seems obsessed with reporting on their crimes (at least when the targets have Western connections). Social media is a perfect channel: information goes around the globe and it moves fast.
Another type of internet terrorism, which is quite frequent, is the hacking of Western organizations: for instance, TV5 Monde (a French channel), The New York Times, and even the Twitter account of the U.S. Central Command.
Another type of internet terrorism, which is quite frequent, is the hacking of Western organizations: for instance, TV5 Monde (a French channel), The New York Times, and even the Twitter account of the U.S. Central Command.
The attacks are sometimes large, like a dark week last January in France when 19 000 websites were hacked by Islamist extremist groups. Other times, the attacks have dangerous ramifications for specific individuals, like the release of personal information on 100 U.S. military personnel. All these acts are part of the cyber-terrorism threat: they induce fear from behind their screen to us in front of ours. By attacking big media and government agencies, they are demonstrating how powerful they are and that no one is safe, not even across the ocean. They also highlight the incapacity of our government to deal with the threat and to protect its own. By casting doubt they create fear while also furthering their own image – a success on two fronts.
The most sophisticated cyber terrorist is ISIS. While Al-Qaeda used the Internet to pass its message, there is a big difference between a 45 minute video with Osama Bin Laden talking non-stop and a short professional video showcasing how jihadists are “cool” or a gruesomely directed short video of a beheading. ISIS have become cyber-terrorist pros. For instance, they tweeted 40 000 times on the day they took the city of Mosul. Despite all its efforts, Twitter is unable to keep up with them: every time they close an account, a new one is created. ISIS is estimated to have around 27 000 accounts still working and publishing propaganda. And these are actively followed: they have 1000 followers in average, which is higher than the ordinary rate for “normal” Twitter accounts. These techniques allow them to have more visibility and to appear more powerful: they are everywhere we look, everywhere we click.
So why don’t social media organizations shut these accounts down? Well, they try. Considering the amount of information each site receives every hour of the day, it is quite hard to know what is what. Imagine: Google has 300 hours of video uploaded every minutes… it is impossible to control. Even when videos are reported, it takes up to one hour to take it down: plenty of time for it to be saved or shared somewhere else. Couldn’t they just use an automated detection system like YouTube does to detect copyright songs? Well, Google explains that this wouldn’t be possible in the case of hostage’s videos: it would also block all news sites using a part of it and block all counter-propaganda attempts. The cyber-war with terrorists is doomed to be a long and complex. In the realm of anonymous speech and hidden websites, it is hard to fight a skilled enemy.
The most sophisticated cyber terrorist is ISIS. While Al-Qaeda used the Internet to pass its message, there is a big difference between a 45 minute video with Osama Bin Laden talking non-stop and a short professional video showcasing how jihadists are “cool” or a gruesomely directed short video of a beheading. ISIS have become cyber-terrorist pros. For instance, they tweeted 40 000 times on the day they took the city of Mosul. Despite all its efforts, Twitter is unable to keep up with them: every time they close an account, a new one is created. ISIS is estimated to have around 27 000 accounts still working and publishing propaganda. And these are actively followed: they have 1000 followers in average, which is higher than the ordinary rate for “normal” Twitter accounts. These techniques allow them to have more visibility and to appear more powerful: they are everywhere we look, everywhere we click.
So why don’t social media organizations shut these accounts down? Well, they try. Considering the amount of information each site receives every hour of the day, it is quite hard to know what is what. Imagine: Google has 300 hours of video uploaded every minutes… it is impossible to control. Even when videos are reported, it takes up to one hour to take it down: plenty of time for it to be saved or shared somewhere else. Couldn’t they just use an automated detection system like YouTube does to detect copyright songs? Well, Google explains that this wouldn’t be possible in the case of hostage’s videos: it would also block all news sites using a part of it and block all counter-propaganda attempts. The cyber-war with terrorists is doomed to be a long and complex. In the realm of anonymous speech and hidden websites, it is hard to fight a skilled enemy.
Aliénor De Steur is a first year M.A. student in International Affairs at Carleton University, where she is specialised in Intelligence and National Security. Intrigued by how things are done around the world, she also studied political science for a year in Munich, Germany. Always interested by international relations, her favorite topic of research are cooperation in the domain of security and international interventions. Here is how to join her via Twitter: @AlienorDS
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