‘Jihadi’ hackers hijacking UK Twitter accounts to spread Islamic State propaganda
HACKERS have taken over dozens of UK-based Twitter accounts and used them to share Islamic State propaganda.
Posts include video previously found on IS propaganda sites, and pro-IS messages such as "Victory for Religion of God" and "Islamic State enemies hate Islamic State because it enforces the law of God".
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The online "jihadis" appeared to target inactive accounts.
Once compromised, hacked profiles would be used to pump out hundreds of tweets at a bot-like rate.
Alongside the Islamic State hashtag, the tweets included neutral hashtags that were currently trending in Saudi Arabia.
This included hashtags related to favourite colours and movies, allowing the tweets to reach a wide audience.
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The names and locations on several of the accounts were changed to names and locations associated with IS.
While many of the accounts identified by social media analysis agency Storyful were subsequently suspended, many more hacked accounts sharing IS propaganda cropped up in their wake.
Oliver Edis, from Barnsley, discovered his account had been hacked and used in this way after being alerted by friends.
While he rarely used the account, he worried employers searching his name might discover the pro-IS tweets.
"I work for a bank and they do social media checks," Edis told The Sun.
"I need to get it taken down before that happens, so that’s an issue."
But removing the tweets turned into an ordeal for Edis. He had forgotten the password for the account and the hackers had changed the recovery email, meaning he was unable to reset the password.
Unable to get in contact with Twitter directly, Edis created a new Twitter account and spent days using the automated report function to flag the pro-IS content to Twitter in the hope of getting his old account taken down.
But he was frustrated to find that the account continued to fire out hundreds pro-IS tweets.
"My account is literally promoting terrroism right now and I have no way of reporting it," he said.
A spokesperson for Twitter declined to comment on individual accounts "for privacy and security reasons".
UN Security Council's quarterly report on ISIS
In its July 2019 report, the UN Security Council said ISIS is "much stronger than Al-Qaida in terms of finances, media profile and current combat experience and terrorist expertise, and remains the more immediate threat to global security."
It warned that the issue of "foreign terrorist fighters, returnees, relocators and detainees in the conflict zone have become more urgent since the fall of Baghuz.
"Many member states are concerned about the security and humanitarian challenges of the post- 'caliphate' phase."
The UN's update adds that while militarily defeated, ISIS "still has large number of fighters and other supporters in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic, and is able to operate freely in many locations and mount regular attacks to show its potency."
In regards to foreign terrorist fighters, "up to 30,000 of those who travelled to the so-called caliphate may still be alive... some will become leaders or radicalisers, including in prisons if they are successfully prosecuted.
"[Wives and children] such as those as al-Hawl [camp] may come to pose a threat if they are not dealt with appropriately."
Edis’s original Twitter account, as well as the one he created to report the hacking, were permanently suspected shortly after The Sun contacted Twitter.
The Twitter spokesperson said that accounts violating its terrorism and violent extremism policies would be permanently suspended.
"Violent extremists and terrorist organisations have no place on Twitter, and threatening or promoting terrorism is against our rules," Twitter’s spokesperson continued.
"Twitter has been at the forefront of responding to the evolving challenge of violent extremists and terrorist organisations online, and we have been recognised by third parties and academics for our work in this space."
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This month we revealed how kids as young as two are praising ISIS in chilling footage from Shamima Begum's refugee camp in Syria.
The notorious al-Hawl refugee camp has grown in size in recent months due to the collapse of ISIS with millions trying to flee the area.
It had been home to Shamima Begum, 19, the ISIS bride who fled from Britain to join the terror group, who is now living in the al-Roj camp.
Begum had fled the death cult as coalition forces closed in on its last stronghold in Baghuz, northern Syria.
Do you think social networks need to do more to crack down on terrorist propaganda? Let us know in the comments.
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