The question is, is this the training video for the ISIS Paris attackers communications training?
In a slick ISIS training video intercepted by Global Risk Awareness, a London based Cyber Intelligence Company; the instructor shows his audience how to setup untraceable Internet communications accounts.
However as the video progresses explaining how to setup hidden accounts, the URL on screen for the account verification is a “.be” URL. All internet addresses have a domain name that says where the address is registered. “.com” is the top level domain and is global but different countries have their own indicators like “.co.uk” for the UK and “.be” for Belgium.
What is likely is that the individual who made this training video is based in Belgium and that is why the URL on the sign up process for this Internet Communications channel had a “.be” ending.
Speaking to Vasco Amador, Managing Director of Global Risk Awareness, told Security News Desk, “This training video was posted on a hidden site 2 days ago, when we got it we immediately passed the details to the authorities. It is possible that it was used to train a terrorist cell in how to communicate securely before then being exposed to the wider extremist network through their closed networks”
James Abernethy, a former British Intelligence officer said to us, “I have examined the whole of the video and whilst large parts of it are generic, there is one element where in logging in to an account the “.com” URL automatically changes to the use of a “.be” URL would strongly suggest that the person signing up to this account was in Belgium. Given the timing of this video’s release, it is distinctly possible that it was used as part of the preparation package for the terrorists who carried out the horrific attacks in Paris.”
The video goes through a complete sequence giving a step by step, screen shot by screen shot guide to stetting up an untraceable communications account. ISIS Cyber capability has been attributed to the Cyber Caliphate and it has been reported in the Daily Mail that it is run by Junaid Hussain originally from Birmingham in the UK.
The Cyber Caliphate has been fighting a war dodging national agencies from several countries trying to close their accounts down. In a recent twist, after the Paris atrocities, Anonymous, the hactivist group, released the names of 9,200 Twitter accounts they said were affiliated with ISIS. It’s the latest salvo in an online war between the two groups, in which Anonymous’ many unnamed users have taken down ISIS-linked websites, social media accounts and even outed the group’s alleged technical experts to the public and authorities.
ISIS are increasingly Cyber aware and they have published an extensive list of encrypted messaging services, email providers, and GPS blockers have in a 34-page handbook written for jihadis published on Scribd by Yahoo.
It gives advice to jihadis like not to use Instagram because Facebook owns it and to avoid apps that are hosted on the internet. Vasco Amador said, “The levels of cyber awareness with the extremists is very high and makes it very difficult, but not impossible to intercept their messages.”
