21st century’s modern era of Internet age has changed the concept of war as Global cyber-intelligence agencies struggling 24x7 to fight all kinds of latest techniques adopted by tech-savvy terrorists. Terrorism itself migrated from the era of physical confrontation to internet platforms where thousands are being brain-washed, trained, armed and pushed for terrorism across different corners of world.

It seems surprising but a ferocious terrorist entity like ISIS doesn’t exist physically worldwide other than tiny pockets of Iraq, Afghanistan, few middle-eastern small towns where more dusty roads exist than the modern amenities like Internet.

So question arises how ISIS kind of terrorist organizations attracting misguided Muslim youths across the world ?

From Bangladesh, Middle East to Europe to USA - mass brainwashing by terror groups are being done via Facebook, Skype video chats, instant Social Media interactions transforming thousands of sick minds into hardened  terrorists with the allure of martyrdom & heavenly abode with 72 virgins.

"What's really puzzling is the background of these Dhaka attackers,they were normal, regular guys who hung out at cafes, played sports, had Facebook pages."  said Faiz Sobhan of the Dhaka-based think tank Bangladesh Enterprise Institute after the ghastly Dhaka attack where 20 innocents were butchered by 1^st time killers.

Bangladesh is in the grips of a battle "between two terrorist groups as to who can kill more.They're competing with each other in a game of deadly one-upmanship." says Sajjan Gohel, International Security Director of the Asia Pacific Foundation.

Two local groups, Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Ansarullah Bangla Team have pledged allegiance to ISIS and al Qaeda respectively.

Terrorism propagation via Internet

Internet advantages have not gone unnoticed by terrorist organizations, no matter what their political orientation. Islamists and Marxists, nationalists and separatists, racists and anarchists: all find the Internet alluring.

Today, almost all active terrorist organizations (which number more than forty) maintain websites, and many maintain more than one website and use several different languages.

As the following illustrative list shows, these organizations and groups come from all corners of the globe. (This geographical categorization, it should be noted, reveals the geographical diversity but obscures the fact that many groups are truly transnational, and even transregional, in character.)

• From the Middle East, ISIS, Hamas (the Islamic Resistance Movement), the Lebanese Hezbollah (Party of God), the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah Tanzim, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Kahane Lives movement, the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI—Mujahedin-e Khalq), the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), and the Turkish-based Popular Democratic Liberation Front Party (DHKP/C) and Great East Islamic Raiders Front (IBDA-C).

• From Europe, the Basque ETA movement, Armata Corsa (the Corsican Army), and the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

• From Latin America, Peru’s Tupak-Amaru (MRTA) and Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso), the Colombian National Liberation Army (ELN-Colombia), and the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC).

• From Asia, al Qaeda, the Japanese Supreme Truth (Aum Shinrikyo), Ansar al Islam (Supporters of Islam) in Iraq, the Japanese Red Army (JRA), Hizb-ul Mujehideen in Kashmir, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Philippines, the Pakistan-based Lashkare-Taiba, and the rebel movement in Chechnya. Bangladesh’s Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

Internet has significantly expanded the opportunities for terrorists to secure publicity. Until the advent of the Internet, terrorists’ hopes of winning publicity for their causes and activities depended on attracting the attention of television, radio, or the print media.

These traditional media have “selection thresholds” (multistage processes of editorial selection) that terrorists often cannot reach. No such thresholds, of course, exist on the terrorists’ own websites.

The fact that many terrorists now have direct control over the content of their message offers further opportunities to shape how they are perceived by different target audiences and to manipulate their own image and the image of their enemies.

Most terrorist sites do not celebrate their violent activities. Instead, regardless of the terrorists’ agendas, motives, and location, most sites emphasize two issues: the restrictions placed on freedom of expression and the plight of comrades who are now political prisoners. These issues resonate powerfully with their own supporters and are also calculated to elicit sympathy from Western audiences that cherish freedom of expression and frown on measures to silence political opposition. Enemy publics, too, may be targets for these complaints insofar as the terrorists, by emphasizing the antidemocratic nature of the steps taken against them, try to create feelings of unease and shame among their foes. The terrorists’ protest at being muzzled, it may be noted, is particularly well suited to the Internet, which for many users is the symbol of free, unfettered, and uncensored communication.

Internet can be used not only to solicit donations from sympathizers but also to recruit and mobilize supporters to play a more active role in support of terrorist activities or causes. In addition to seeking converts by using the full panoply of website technologies (audio, digital video, etc.) to enhance the presentation of their message, terrorist organizations capture information about the users who browse their websites. Users who seem most interested in the organization’s cause or well suited to carrying out its work are then contacted. Recruiters may also use more interactive Internet technology to roam online chat rooms and cybercafes, looking for receptive members of the public, particularly young people. Electronic bulletin boards and user nets (issue-specific chat rooms and bulletins) can also serve as vehicles for reaching out to potential recruits.

More typically, however, terrorist organizations go looking for recruits rather than waiting for them to present themselves. The SITE Institute, a Washington, D.C.–based terrorism research group that monitors al Qaeda’s Internet communications, has provided chilling details of a high-tech recruitment drive launched in 2003 to recruit fighters to travel to Iraq and attack U.S. and coalition forces there. Potential recruits are bombarded with religious decrees and anti-American propaganda, provided with training manuals on how to be a terrorist, and—as they are led through a maze of secret chat rooms—given specific instructions on how to make the journey to Iraq. In one particularly graphic exchange in a secret al Qaeda chat room in early September 2003 an unknown Islamic fanatic, with the user name “Redemption Is Close,” writes, “Brothers, how do I go to Iraq for Jihad? Are there any army camps and is there someone who commands there?” Four days later he gets a reply from “Merciless Terrorist.” “Dear Brother, the road is wide open for you—there are many groups, go look for someone you trust, join him, he will be the protector of the Iraqi regions and with the help of Allah you will become one of the 8 Potential recruits are bombarded with religious decrees and anti-American propaganda, provided with training manuals on how to be a terrorist, and . . . given specific instructions on how to make the journey to Iraq. Recruiters . . . roam online chat rooms and cybercafes, looking for receptive members of the public, particularly young people. Mujahidin.” “Redemption Is Close” then presses for more specific information on how he can wage jihad in Iraq. “Merciless Terrorist” sends him a propaganda video and instructs him to download software called Pal Talk, which enables users to speak to each other on the Internet without fear of being monitored.

Ronald Dick, assistant director of the FBI and head of the United States National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), told reporters that the hijackers of 9/11 had used the Internet, and “used it well.” Since 9/11, terrorists have only sharpened their Internet skills and increased their web presence. Today, terrorists of very different ideological persuasions—Islamist, Marxist, nationalist, separatist, racist—have learned many of the same lessons about how to make the most of the Internet. The great virtues of the Internet—ease of access, lack of regulation, vast potential audiences, fast flow of information, and so forth—have been turned to the advantage of groups committed to terrorizing societies to achieve their goals.

I worked nearly 2 decades on Network Communications, Internet Security, Cyber Crimes, also provided services to New York City’s Dept of IT & Telcom, NYPD ( NY Police Dept), NY DOC ( NY Dept of Corrections), Designed USA's one of largest Jail's IP camera network, Riker Island’s IP camera Network to monitor over 13000 inmates (most are dreaded criminals), so my interactions with crimes and law enforcements drive the point that anywhere in world physical security entities need to work with Internet communication/Security experts  to contain the crimes.

Based on classification, location and usage pattern of social media by these terror groups, easily terror-training matrials,sites can be blocked. Many countries like China, Russia, Israel  blocked various social media sites, users for various geographic regions to contain spread of violence, jihadi terrorism. Most of the advanced countries realized the importance of cyber-war against terrorists.

But when I look at Indian establishments from State Police to even  IB and Central agencies, still their intelligence gathering & actions are mostly traditional with very little importance on stopping cyber terrorism (spread of terrorism) by various terrorist groups. Most of the Indian Police heads (senior IPS officials) either know little or nothing about latest Cyber-war technologies on terrorism. Also I haven’t seen a technical expert heading any State or Central Intelligence agency’s policies & operations like in west.

Every State Police, Central agency need to create dedicated wings for fighting Cyber-War on terrorism. Security agencies should hire experts to lead these technical wars against massive growth of terrorism.

India needs to move faster into new era of cyber-intelligence based war on terrorism rather than the tradition style of intelligence gathering and counter-actions. Massive spread of terrorism via Internet remains a major concern for many countries and regions across the world.

( With inputs from SITE Intelligence Institute, Washington D.C, FBI, CIA, USIP  US based think tank on Global Terrorism)

Writer working as a Vice President in a leading USA Bank on Network communicatoons, Internet Security. A Network Communications & Security Engineering Architect based in New York with 20+ yrs experience in Internetworking, Network Security and previously worked at General Electric, Cisco Systems, Bank of New York, Merrill Lynch, NYC Govt DoITT,  NEC , Hewlett Packard.