ISIS Releases Twitter Manual For Militants, Tells Them How To Avoid Detection From NSA
ISIS has taken a media savvy approach in its quest to take over the Middle East, and that reportedly includes instructions to members on how to properly tweet about their Islamist conquests without being caught.
The militant group released a training guide telling members how to tweet without giving away important information about the user or their location to the NSA.
ISIS has actively used Twitter to spread propaganda about its campaign in Iraq and Syria, with militants releasing information about their battles and spreading pictures of areas they have taken over.
But the Islamist group is now worried that these members may be giving away key information about their positions, which the United States and other coalition groups could be using to pinpoint airstrkes.
“A number of security blinds have appeared that have benefited the enemy and have helped expose the identities of some brothers or identify some sites used by the mujahideen with ease,” says the training manual, which was obtained by the International Business Times.
The ISIS guide went on to explain which type of data could be mined for information, saying that enemies can expose “data that could turn your hair grey.”
“We know this issue is not only tied to pictures, but to PDF files, word files and video files,” it added.
While ISIS has taken a keen eye to its social media use, the group is also expanding its military capabilities. ISIS has reportedly been using former Iraqi military members to teach militants how to fly aircraft captured during the group’s conquest of Iraq.
But ISIS is also facing growing opposition. The United States and a handful of other nations have been conducting strategic air strikes that have allowed Iraqi and Kurdish forces to make gains. Recently Kurdish fighters were able to stop an advance on Kobane, a city on the border with Turkey.