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Facebook's friend suggestions helped connect extremists
When you think of internet giants fighting terrorism online, there's a good chance you think of them banning accounts and deleting posts. However, their friend suggestions may prove to be just as problematic. Researchers have shared a report to the Telegraph revealing that Facebook's "suggested friends" feature has been connecting Islamic extremists on a routine basis. While some instances are almost expected (contacting one extremist brings up connections to others), some of the suggestions surface purely by accident: reading an article about an extremist uprising in the Philippines led to recommendations for "dozens" of local extremists.
Hacker faces 20 years in prison for helping ISIS
The US just broke new ground in its bid to fight pro-terrorist hackers. A judge has sentenced Kosovo citizen Ardit Ferizi to 20 years in prison for hacking a US company in order to collect information about 1,300 government and military personnel and help ISIS create a hit list. It's the country's first conviction for terrorism-related hacking, according to Assistant Attorney General John Carlin. Ferizi pleaded guilty on June 15th, roughly 8 months after Malaysian police arrested him on the US' behalf.
Twitter and YouTube wouldn't delete an extremist cleric's posts (update: gone)
Internet giants have been increasingly willing to take down extremist content, but their previous reluctance is coming back to haunt them. The UK recently convicted radical cleric Anjem Choudary (and co-defendant Mohammed Rahman) of rallying support for ISIS, and court documents have revealed that neither Twitter nor YouTube agreed to take down key content. Twitter hasn't deleted his account, for example, despite British law enforcement's claims that it violates Twitter policies on promoting terrorism -- even after he was arrested in September 2014. It pulled Rahman's, but not in sync with an official request.
Twitter was quick to pull extremist tweets following Nice attack
Twitter's response to online extremism has changed a lot in the past few years. Observers at observer groups like the Counter Extremism Project report that the social network was exceptionally speedy in removing pro-extremist accounts and tweets in the hours following the truck attack in Nice, France on July 14th. It moved with "swiftness we have not seen before," CEP says. Twitter hasn't commented on the specific actions, but it's apparent that the company is serious about its ban on terrorism.
ISIS' Twitter traffic reportedly dropped 45 percent in 2 years
If you ask the US government, the efforts to stifle ISIS' online propaganda are paying off. The White House reports that the extremist group's Twitter traffic has dropped 45 percent in the past 2 years, owing to both attempts to keep accounts offline and a surge of countering messages. To some extent, it was just a matter of getting up to speed. Officials admit that they made mistakes early on in fighting ISIS' online messaging (such as producing a lot of opposing statements in Engilsh), but they say they've both made more relevant content and done a better job of coordinating internet campaigns with its military strategy.
The military is taking cyber warfare a lot more seriously
Following the rather embarrassing revelation that the Pentagon has no idea who'd be in charge in the event of a cyber attack comes word that the military is stepping up its cyber warfare game. So much so that cyber is joining the ranks of other combatant commands like those dedicated to specific regions (Pacific, Europe, Africa, Middle East) and those focusing on spec-ops, transportation and nuclear forces, according to Defense One. Currently, cyber warfare sits as a "sub-unified command" under the U.S. Strategic Command and this move would apparently make the group faster and aid in more successful missions.
ISIS help desk tells jihadis how to hide from authorities
The encrypted messaging service Telegram blocked 78 ISIS channels in 2015, but new ones just keep popping up. As detailed in a report provided to The Hill, the group has evolved an expanded technical "help desk" that can provide instructions to jihadists on how to escape the surveillance of Western authorities. It's operated by a group of ISIS members collectively called the Electronic Horizon Foundation (EHF), which was launched on January 30th. As of the beginning of this week, its Telegram channel had 2,200 members, although it hasn't posted much yet.
US prosecutes man who hacked identities to help ISIS
Extremism and terrorism are complex things in the internet era, and US federal prosecutors are learning this first hand. The Justice Department recently charged Kosovo citizen Ardit Ferizi with leading a hacking team that swiped the personal data of US military staffers in order to help Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) supporters kill as many as 1,000 Americans. That campaign hasn't panned out, as you might have guessed, but it makes the consequences of a typical data breach look timid by comparison.
Virginia teen gets 11 years for ISIS support on Twitter
17-year-old Ali Shukri Amin from Virginia will spend the next 11 years and 4 months in a federal penitentiary for his role in running the powerful pro-ISIS Twitter account, @Amreekiwitness. This account collected and disseminated ISIS propaganda to more than 4,000 followers and shared instructions for using Bitcoin to secretly fund the terrorist organization. Amin also admitted to helping one of the account's followers to travel to Syria and join the group. That follower has since been arrested and is facing federal prosecution as well on a conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism charge.
FBI: Retweeting terrorist organizations could get you arrested
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's least likely informant isn't a shadowy figure in a parking garage or an anonymous phone call -- it's a fast-paced social network with a short attention span: Twitter. According to FBI Director James Comey, the social network has proved to be an invaluable source of evidence against supporters of terrorism. An account that's constantly retweeting content from ISIS or ISIL could be a sign of criminal activity. That said, context still matters.
Europol pledges to take down ISIL's social media accounts within two hours
Europol has announced that it's setting up a taskforce just to deal with Islamic State's social media accounts. In an interview with The Guardian, director Rob Wainwright pledged that officers would be trying to take down each account within two hours of being discovered. ISIL is believed to control upwards of 50,000 Twitter accounts, and uses that site, as well as Facebook and YouTube, to recruit new followers. In addition, the group uses social media to spread propaganda and issue death threats -- such as the one against Twitter's leadership, including co-founder Jack Dorsey.
The USAF found and flattened an ISIL base because of selfies
According to Air Force Gen. Hawk Carlisle, a USAF intelligence team with the 361st ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) Group in Hurlburt Field, FL, uncovered a meaty piece of intel during their routine sweeps of Islamic State-related social media accounts. Apparently someone took a selfie outside of a headquarters building and posted it online. Guess what happened next (you read the headline, right?).
