Researchers from the Institute of Strategic Dialogue (ISD)have discovered a huge collection of content on the internet belonging to the self-proclaimed Islamic State.
It is a collection of propaganda content, with more than 90,000 entries and has approximately 10,000 visitors per month.
Its purpose is to promote extremist content online and despite the efforts of authorities, both in America and the United Kingdom, it is difficult to tackle, since the data is stored in many different places.
The footage includes details of terrorist attacks, including those at the Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017, in London on July 7, 2005, and in the US on September 11, 2001.
“You can find everything you need to know to plan and carry out an attack,” said ISD deputy director Moustafa Ayad, who discovered the file.
“Things that teach you how to be a better terrorist, essentially.”
ISD named the collection Caliphate Cache.
As the researchers discovered, the data is distributed by a decentralized system rather than a single server. Anyone is able to share the content online, via servers based in different locations.
One of the methods used by the Islamic State to spread its content is hijacking the accounts of famous individuals. One such case was the hacking of a Justin Bieber fan's account, which was used to display material from the Caliphate Cache collection.
In addition to terrorist acts, the material also includes the Islamic State's philosophy on lifestyle. The people who seem to be most interested in the content are from Arab countries and mainly between the ages of 18 and 24.
As ISD discovered, the Caliphate Cache is not the only collection of extremist content circulating online.
Authorities are trying to identify and take down terrorism-related content, but it is an ever-growing danger that is flooding the internet.
