ISIS is very good at using the internet for its propaganda. It broadcasts videos of its actions, hacks into foreign networks, and its people outside the area it controls communicate via the internet. SPIEGEL ONLINE conducted an investigation that shows that European companies provide the terrorist organization with internet access via satellite dishes.
You may have wondered how ISIS to provide internet access in areas where war is raging and telecommunications infrastructure is almost non-existent. According to an investigation presented by the German magazine Spiegel, European companies are behind the provision of internet access to ISIS. As Spiegel notes, these companies do it quite consciously via satellite. In fact, the magazine claims to have documents at its disposal, which prove that as easily as they provide internet access, they can also easily cut it off.
The report explains that to gain access to the internet, members of the Islamic State buy materials from the Hatay region of Turkey, which is near the border with Syria. They install them and have internet.
According to the magazine, thousands of dishes have been installed in the area, allowing users to access the Internet via satellite. There has been a huge increase in the “satellite Internet” business in recent years. Instead of the usual fixed-line cable connection, all that is needed is a satellite dish with a transmitting and receiving antenna and a modem. The result is top-speed Internet access, with download speeds of 22 megabits per second and upload speeds of 6 megabits. Satellite equipment currently costs around $500, and for a small Internet connection, an additional $500 per semester.
At the end of the chain are large European distribution companies (European satellite operators), such as the French Eutelsat, the British Avanti Communications and the Luxembourgish SES.
Spiegel contacted France's Eutelsat, which responded that it cannot control how its terminals are used and that it has no contact with the customers who use them.
The process is as follows: Distribution companies buy satellite services from these large companies and resell them to other companies or individuals. They also sometimes cooperate with other giants in the sector, such as the German Sat Internet Services, which is based in the German city of Neustadt am Rübenberge. Representatives of the Luxembourg-based company SES officially responded to the Spiegel report, saying that they sell their services to large distributors and are not aware of any users in areas of Syria controlled by ISIS. SES told Spiegel that if it learns of this, it will immediately cut off services and access.
But according to Spiegel, when companies install satellite dishes and give the green light for internet installation, users must provide their exact location via GPS in order for the setup to take place. If incorrect location information is provided, then users cannot access the internet or have a very poor image, as evidenced by documents in Spiegel's possession.
In fact, the data available to the German magazine proves that GPS data from 2014 and 2015 clearly shows that satellite dishes are located in the places and cities under ISIS control.
Most of these dishes are found in Aleppo, Syria, in the ISIS capital Raqqa, in the cities of Al-Bab, Deir al-Zor and along the Euphrates River in Iraq, as well as in the city of Mosul, which the jihadists have captured.
