Stepping up their online propaganda war, proponents of the Islamic State have now come up with guidelines for followers to thwart attempts by foreign intelligence agencies to track them down.
Launched about a week ago and circulated through Twitter, the four-page guidelines suggest employing a tool initially developed by the United States Naval Research Laboratory in the mid-1990s.
“Use TOR [acronym for The Onion Router]. Even if you are in IS territory, use TOR so as to not reveal your IP address and thus, location as the ‘kuffar’ coalition can use this information for military means,” says the IS release titled “Collation of social media tips & hints to help muwahideen & new users” created on website justpaste.in.
Those outside the IS territory “must understand that their accounts can be followed and tracked by security agencies in order to arrest them and other muwahideen they interact with online…”
Ensuring anonymity
TOR was launched in 2002 and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory released the Onion Routing code under a free licence two years later. The free software works on a large network of volunteer-operated servers. It is said to be a safer way of ensuring anonymity on the Internet, and facilitates access to blocked sites, hides user IP address and encrypts contents.
The IS guidelines warn that even TOR — maintained by a U.S.-based non-profit organisation — is not foolproof and that more precautions need to be taken to ensure anonymity.
The document also warns IS followers against falling prey to online honey-traps.
The document instructs IS members not to use smart phones to receive Twitter notifications, as frequent beeps might alert family members. “Remember, family members have informed on other family members when they think they are radicalised…”
Sensitive information that could be used strategically or militarily during or after IS operations should not be tweeted, it says.
“Remember…the more followers your account has, the bigger target you become in terms of security agencies,” it says, instructing Twitter users to help members of the community, whose accounts are suspended, to re-establish links. “You may not realise, but through this simple action you are frustrating the kuffar very much.”
Do not use WhatsApp or Skype to contact muwahideen, cautions the document, recommending a “better” app. It also asks users to view videos online through a virtual private network, access Internet via proxy IP servers, encrypt contents on electronic devices and use access passwords.
Stating that it is futile to censor IS members on the Internet, it issues a warning to social media administrators: “Our tech-heads own social media. However, please keep trying to shut us down, because we know how much time, effort and money you use to try and harm us.”
