Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS or ISIL) may have channeled funds used to set up Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris by using Bitcoin according to a group monitoring the organization.
The report comes from the Ghost Security Group, an offshoot of Anonymous who describes themselves as a counterterrorism network that combats extremism on the digital front lines of today utilizing the internet and social media as a weapon and has been attacking thousands of ISIS social media accounts and public websites since early this year.
An unnamed spokesman for the group told NewsBTC in an interview that they had detected several indications of an impending attack prior to Friday’s multiple terrorists strikes across Paris, and in currently in the process of presenting that information to Government officials.
On the broader issue of how ISIS funds its operations, the anonymous spokesman explained that “the Islamic State [uses] cryptocurrencies as a form of income to fund their ongoing operations and we have managed to uncover several Bitcoin addresses used by them. One of the accounts we analyzed was found to contain 3 million U.S. dollars worth of Bitcoins.”
Most of these operations occur out of sight, with the spokesman saying that “most of the Bitcoin funding sites utilized by the Islamic State are on the deep web and we have managed to uncover several and successfully shut them down in order to limit the funding extremists receive through the use of cryptocurrencies.”
When asked if there is any evidence that ISIS are using cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin to raise money, and whether they have bitcoin farms for mining, the spokesman replied:
Most of the evidence we have seen thus far indicates that Bitcoin is their prime form of cryptocurrency. It is currently unknown if they have the capability to mine Bitcoin, but they do receive donations on a regular basis.
Noble cause
Although probably frowned upon by global law enforcement, the Ghost Security Group is undertaking a noble cause in taking the online battle to people who believe that killing innocent men, women and children is a day out in the park in the name of Mohamed.
Every hand willing to take up the good fight is an extra hand in the fight against Islamic terrorism and should be welcomed.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Ghost Security Group you can visit their website here, and if you should happen to stumble across a terrorist supporting website or social media page you can report them to ReportOnlineTerrorism.com here.
Image credit: ISIS
Duncan Riley
Duncan is a co-founder of VC funded media company B5Media and founder of news site The Inquisitr, and was a senior writer at TechCrunch in its earlier days.
Tips? Press releases? Intersting startup? email: [email protected] or contact Duncan on Twitter @duncanriley
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