Social media and digital technology have helped turn ISIS terrorists into a group regarded by the authorities as "real professionals." As well as using techniques 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 Abaaoud, the director of Europol.
Social media and digital technology have helped turn ISIS terrorists into a group regarded by the authorities as "real professionals." As well as using techniques 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 Rob Wainwright, the director of Europol.