How ISIS ‘remote controls’ Westminster-style lone wolf attacks on the West by guiding fanatics step-by-step
ISIS has developed a form of "remote control" to direct and encourage so-called lone wolf attacks on the West, it is claimed.
Their instruction is carried almost entirely via encrypted social media, making their connections to attacks extremely difficult to detect.
It is not yet clear if that was the case in yesterday's London terror attack, in which a madman drove a car into pedestrians then stabbed a cop before being shot to death.
Reports suggest much of the jihadis' communication is done via the Telegram app, the social media network of choice for jihadis ever since Twitter and Facebook cracked down on the group's presence on their networks.
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reported ISIS has changed its strategy in the past year, switching from encouraging supporters to join its self-proclaimed Caliphate and instead asking them to launch attacks within their home countries.
This was noticeable in an ISIS audio statement released in May, 2016, calling on supporters to make Ramadan "a month of calamity everywhere for the non-believers".
Seamus Hughes, from George Washington University, described the handlers as "quarterbacking" the attacks.
He said: "They're from there, so they can essentially tell someone, 'O.K., go 10 yards and go this way'."
In an article for , counter-terror analyst Dr David Gartenstein-Ross refers to these organisers as "virtual planners".
He adds: "This is a model that ISIL (ISIS) is likely to replicate in the near future."
He wrote that ISIS handlers would sacrifice a lot of command and control over the attacks due to the loose communication.
But it does expand their reach - to almost any country on the planet.
Scotland Yard has said the Westminster attacker, Khalid Masood, 52, acted alone. Experts suggest it may emerge he had loose connections with terrorist groups.
His attack yesterday - condemned by Theresa May as "sick and depraved"; - killed three people, including hero PC Keith Palmer.
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