Tech

Thank You For Calling ISIS Customer Service, How May We Help You?

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Steve Ambrose Contributor
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One of the most well-known terrorist groups is taking a few pointers from Amazon and Chick-fil-A on the art of providing great customer service.

Islamic State is creating a Jihadi help desk that operates 24 hours a day, in order to “help its foot soldiers spread its message worldwide, recruit followers and launch more attacks on foreign soil,” NBC News reported Nov. 16. (RELATED: ISIS Executes Dozens Of Its Own Militants Who Fled Kurdish Advance)

Aaron F. Brantly, an analyst at the Combating Terrorism Center (a research organization at West Point), told NBC News the Jihadi service representatives “answer questions from the technically mundane to the technically savvy to elevate the entire jihadi community to engage in global terror.” (VIDEO: Democratic Rep. Blasts Obama: ‘I Don’t Think We Have This Long-Term Strategy’ To Defeat ISIS)

Terrorism analysts with the Army said that five or six senior ISIS operatives—considered to be technical experts—run the help desk service. The militant representatives are not simply self-taught experts either. They have formal education in information technology at the collegiate or graduate level. (RELATED: Here’s What DC Is Doing To Prepare For A Potential ISIS Attack)

The representatives are there to assist militants in hiding from intelligence agencies by primarily teaching the terrorists to use encryption, a secure form of digital communication. (RELATED: ISIS Now Spreading Ideology On Dark Web)

However, the help desk is not just a responsive service—they are also proactive.

They stay up-to-date with new security software and encryption techniques. Then the group creates “how-to” manuals and tutorials for the jihadis on utilizing or circumventing the technologies. According to NBC News, the help desk is training both new and experienced militants in digital operational security.

Twitter, the secure messaging service Telegram, YouTube, and Facebook are common social media tools ISIS uses to spread its message. (RELATED: Iran Cracks Down On Encryption, Arresting Administrators Of Secure Messaging App)

“[ISIS posts] YouTube Videos, going step by step over how to use these technologies,” Brantly said to NBC News. “Imagine you have a problem and need to solve it and go to YouTube; they have essentially established the same mechanism [for terrorism].”

ISIS recently claimed responsibility for the attacks in Paris Nov. 13 that left over 120 dead and hundreds injured. The attacks have reignited a debate, both domestically and internationally, about the use and pervasiveness of encryption.

The agents in law enforcement and intelligence communities bemoan the spread of encryption because it makes the act of gathering information from threatening actors incredibly difficult. (RELATED: Comey ‘With Tears’ Begs Congress For FBI Access To Americans’ Cellphones)

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