ISIS members have developed a mobile app for its communications

Ghost Security Group has reportedly discovered an Android mobile application used by members of the ISIS organization for secure communications.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, the Ghost Security Group has reportedly discovered an Android mobile app used by members of the ISIS organization.

The Ghost Security Group is the notorious group of cyber experts in counter-terrorism networks that is involved in a series of initiatives against the ISIS radical group online.

In July, the group has supported US law enforcement and Intelligence agencies in thwarting ISIS terror plots in New York and Tunisia.

The Android app discovered by the experts is spread through hidden channels in popular messaging apps like Telegram. The ISIS members have developed the app as an alternative communication channel, the mobile application is reportedly used to spread propaganda and share information on the operations of the group.

“They want to create a broadcast capability that is more secure than just leveraging Twitter and Facebook,” Ghost Security Group chief operating officer Michael Smith II told the Christian Science Monitor. “Increasingly what you will see is the focus on developing means to control the distribution of their materials on a global scale.”

The discovery made by the Ghost Security Group demonstrates the cyber capabilities of the group, abilities that were discussed in the past by prominent experts, including the F-Secure Chief Research Officer Mikko Hypponen.

The popular expert said he worries about cyber extremists that could penetrate critical infrastructure and cause serious damages. The expert explained that the ISIS is probably the first group of terrorist that has hacking capabilities to manage a major attack against a government infrastructure, and the situation is getting worse because this group is gaining greater awareness of the effectiveness of an offensive launched by the cyberspace.

“The Islamic State is the first extremist group that has a credible offensive cyber capability,” said F-Secure Chief Research Officer Hyppönenspeaking last week at the Wall Street Journal’s WSJDLive conference in Laguna Beach, Calif. “Clearly, this situation isn’t getting better. It’s getting worse.”

In this period the US Congress is discussing the role of encryption in commercial products and services, and their potential abuse made by radical groups.

Intelligence agencies and law enforcement bodies worldwide claim that terrorists have exploited encryption implemented in commercial communications platform to arrange terrorist attacks, including the one that hit Paris on November, 13.

In August, a US security consultancy discovered another app dubbed Nasher developed by the member of the ISIS. Also in that case, the Android app was spread through unofficial channels. Users were required to download a special code shared among jihadist online communities and install the app on their device manually.

Islamic State uses the app – which it calls Nasher – to catalogue written reports, radio news and video files.

At the time of writing, the landing page for the app’s APK (Android application package) file had been viewed over 7,500 times although there’s no telling how many downloads have been made.

 

[adrotate banner=”9″]

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – ISIS, terrorism, mobile app)

[adrotate banner=”13″]

Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.

Recent Posts

Cisco addressed high-severity flaws in IOS and IOS XE software

Cisco addressed multiple vulnerabilities in IOS and IOS XE software that can be exploited to…

13 hours ago

Google: China dominates government exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities in 2023

Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) and Mandiant reported a surge in the number of actively…

19 hours ago

Google addressed 2 Chrome zero-days demonstrated at Pwn2Own 2024

Google addressed two zero-day vulnerabilities in the Chrome web browser that have been demonstrated during…

1 day ago

INC Ransom stole 3TB of data from the National Health Service (NHS) of Scotland

The INC Ransom extortion group hacked the National Health Service (NHS) of Scotland and is threatening…

1 day ago

CISA adds Microsoft SharePoint bug disclosed at Pwn2Own to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) adds a Microsoft SharePoint vulnerability disclosed at the…

2 days ago

The DDR Advantage: Real-Time Data Defense

This is the advantage of Data Detection and Response (DDR) for organizations aiming to build…

2 days ago

This website uses cookies.