Dormant twitter accounts hacked to promote jihad

ISIS supporters are hacking into people’s dormant Twitter accounts to hijack them and promote jihad and celebrate recently-killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The hacking has been uncovered by Eric Feinberg, founder of the Global Intellectual Property Enforcement Center, who suggests that ISIS supporters are circumventing email and identity checks by taking over accounts that range from individuals’ in the UK and across the world to a local cricket club in Australia.

The posts predominantly celebrate the terrorist group’s killings, battles and individual jihadists as well as Al-Baghdadi, often posted against a backdrop of ISIS iconography on flags or posters.

Feinberg said: “This is a hacking of dormant accounts to spread propaganda via hashtagging ‘dog whistle’ words like #Afghanistan #Iraq and # alBaghdadi in Arabic. It’s hidden in plain sight. They are using existing accounts as Twitter has a system that requires certain details like an email address to open an account. They don’t need to provide those details.

“They are using it to radicalise and recruit, taking their inspiration from the death of al Baghdadi. It’s a badge of honour to incite. What concerns me is that I can find this but the companies don’t seem to be taking a proactive enough stance against it. There needs to be more technological analysis by the companies. It needs to be prevented from happening in the first place.”