The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has publicly identified and sanctioned three individuals linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on January 30. Mu’min Al-Mawji Mahmud Salim and Sarah Jamal Muhammad Al-Sayyid, both Egyptian nationals, are the masterminds behind the formation of the Electronic Horizons Foundation (EHF), which presents itself as a benign organization offering cybersecurity assistance and training to help members of ISIS elude surveillance by law enforcement institutions online.
Moreover, the OFAC’s official press release elucidates that Al-Mawji is also responsible for establishing an ISIS-affiliated media outlet to produce and disseminate propaganda. He additionally performed IT duties for ISIS leaders, sharing his proficiency in cryptocurrencies by authoring a tutorial on the EHF’s website detailing how to use them to make donations to the organization.
Meanwhile, Al-Sayyid joined forces with Al-Mawji to advance EHF’s cryptocurrency and logistical operations. She recruited ISIS members to join the foundation and sought web servers to host ISIS platforms, all in a bid to sustain and advance the terrorist group’s online presence.
In addition to the Egyptian nationals, a third ISIS affiliate acknowledged and reviled by OFAC, Faruk Guzel, hails from Turkey. He is suspected to have facilitated ISIS’s financial transactions, receiving monetary contributions from ISIS supporters and channeling them to members located in Syria.
According to Padraic O’Reilly, the founder and chief innovation officer at CyberSaint, the convergence of cyber and physical operations has become more prevalent in modern warfare. While ISIS’s actions online pale in comparison to its physical acts of terror, the group has managed to create disturbances in the digital realm.
O’Reilly noted, “ISIS generally hacks for propagandistic purposes. They have defaced websites, hacked Twitter, and had some success posting messages on French and Swedish media outlets.” However, ISIS’s online activities have noticeably diminished since peaking in the mid-2010s, with interventions from the US and other governments further impeding the group’s online connectivity.
OFAC’s actions, in line with previous measures taken by the US and other international authorities, are poised to slow down ISIS’s online outreach. While this marks a significant disruption, O’Reilly points out that ISIS will likely look for new channels to continue their activities, making it an ongoing challenge to monitor and mitigate the group’s online presence. Hence, while the tools and interventions are effective, the continual evolution of the online landscape necessitates constant vigilance and adaptability from law enforcement and regulatory agencies.