Weeks before Islamic State militant Abdelhamid Abaaoud led the Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris, French authorities thought he was holed up in northern Syria. Western Intelligence agencies pursuing Abaaoud had tracked him there using cell-phone location data and other electronic footprints. The Paris attacks, which killed 130 people, showed how badly they were fooled. Abaaoud had slipped past the dragnet and entered the city unnoticed. ...
Social media and digital technology have helped turn ISIS terrorists into a group described by the media as " real professionals . " As well as unconventional tactics adopted from al - Qaeda , such as staying off - grid and releasing limited information among jihadists , radicalised members of ISIS have used Facebook , encrypted messages on WhatsApp , and disposable mobile phones as their networks of communication , having banned the use of GPS in 2014 to avoid detection by Western forces . " They are a different breed of terrorist , ” said mark Wainwright , the founder of Europol .