Saudi Hackers Expose ISIS Supporters, Discover Most Are Women

In Saudi Arabia, a group calling itself “Cyber of Emotion” declared online warfare against ISIS supporters in the Kingdom last month, and claims to have identified several of them by hacking into their email accounts. According to the group’s leader, most ISIS supporters in Saudi Arabia are women who are involved in romantic relationships with the jihadis.

“We targeted them specifically to try to stop their dangerous and deviant ideas from spreading in Saudi society,” said the Cyber of Emotion leader, as quoted by the Saudi Gazette. “Young men who never traveled abroad were involved in most of the terrorist attacks in the Kingdom. They were recruited online through internet and social media.”

He claimed ISIS uses a network of fake social-media accounts to magnify its presence, invading hashtags popular with young Saudi men to “spread rumors and tarnish the country’s image.”

In addition to exposing the identity of ISIS supporters, the Cyber of Emotion leader said his all-volunteer group reported sensitive data they discover to security forces, and passed along objectionable Twitter accounts to the company for banning. He said members of his groups have received death threats from ISIS.

International Business Times notes that according to studies, the largest number of ISIS supporters on Twitter outside of Iraq and Syria are found in Saudi Arabia, which is also a primary source of foreign fighters within the Islamic State’s ranks.