• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Tech

ISIS Has a New Weapon: A Smartphone App

By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 10, 2015, 11:51 AM ET

The Islamic State, better known as ISIS or ISIL, has a smartphone app.

The hacking collective Ghost Security Group discovered this month that ISIS has been distributing an application that provides propaganda-laced news and videos. The Android-based app is essentially a news portal, run by the Amaq News Agency, a group believed to be tied to ISIS. According to a tweet this week from Michael S. Smith, principal at Kronos Advisory, a defense contractor that works as an intermediary between Ghost Security Group and the U.S. government, the app features news and videos showing executions and battlefield victories. He says it’s designed to “streamline access” to the militant group’s “propaganda.”

Images of the app posted to Twitter by Smith show that it’s called “Amaq Agency.” When users start it up, the app displays a scrolling news feed and icons to play videos. For added convenience, the app includes the ability to change font size and has options for users to have the feed automatically check for new posts. It can even be automatically updated whenever the app’s developers send out new versions of the program.

Ghost Security Group is a hacking collective similar to Anonymous that focuses its efforts solely upon counter-terrorism. The group claims to have “terminated over 100,000 extremist social media accounts” used by militant groups to recruit members and send threats. Ghost Security Group discovered the app after infiltrating a channel run by ISIS on the encrypted messaging service Telegram.

The finding puts a finer point on the sophisticated digital strategy ISIS is using to communicate with both current and prospective members. Indeed, the group has started countless social media accounts, uses messaging applications like Telegram to communicate, and has employed video sites to share its propaganda.

The international community has placed more emphasis on ISIS online activities in recent weeks in the wake of attacks attributed to the organization. Last month’s tragic Paris attacks prompted another hacking collective, Anonymous, to focus its efforts on disrupting ISIS online. After ISIS claimed responsibility for the San Bernardino attack—a claim first reported by Amaq News Agency—lawmakers quickly responded with calls for Silicon Valley to do more to fight ISIS.

“Technology’s often called the great disrupter, and it has been in work and communications, so much else,” Democratic Presidential nominee hopeful Hillary Clinton said in a speech at the Brookings Institution on Sunday. “But we need to put the great disrupters to work in disrupting ISIS and stopping them from having this open platform for communicating with their dedicated fighters and their wannabes, like the people in San Bernardino.”

Her comments were in step with those made by President Barack Obama in a Sunday address to the nation on terrorism. The President said that while the Internet “erases the distance between countries,” it also provides a platform for “terrorists to poison the minds of people.” He called on technology companies to limit how terrorists use their services as a safeguard against such influence.

Republican Presidential nominee hopeful Donald Trump took things a bit further earlier this week, calling on Microsoft (GOOG) co-founder Bill Gates to “close that Internet up in some way.”

Finding a solution, however, may prove difficult.

The discovery of the smartphone app shows that ISIS can use technology in other ways to work outside the prying eyes of government and companies alike. According to Ghost Security Group, the app isn’t available as a download in a marketplace like the Google Play store. Instead, a link to the download is shared between ISIS members through Telegram and other encrypted communication. Users can then download the app to an Android device.

It’s unknown how many people have downloaded the app to their devices.

For more on ISIS and its use of technology, check out the following Fortune video:

Sign up for Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter about the business of technology.

About the Author
By Don Reisinger
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Elon Musk arrives at the courthouse during his trial against OpenAI
CryptoElon Musk
Elon Musk likes Bitcoin—but he just told a jury most crypto coins are scams
By Jack KubinecApril 30, 2026
39 minutes ago
Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., at the Norges Bank Investment Management annual investment conference in Oslo, Norway, on Tuesday, April 28, 2026.
EconomyJamie Dimon
For years, the risk Jamie Dimon was most concerned about was geopolitics. His answer has shifted
By Eleanor PringleApril 30, 2026
1 hour ago
google
InvestingMarkets
Google shares hit all-time high on blowout earnings, market cap doubles to $4.4 trillion in just a year
By Michael Liedtke and The Associated PressApril 30, 2026
2 hours ago
AWS
Big TechMarkets
Amazon’s cloud sales are growing the most in 15 quarters. Investors sent the stock down on AI capex fears
By Anne D'Innocenzio and The Associated PressApril 30, 2026
2 hours ago
AstraZeneca CFO Aradhana Sarin
BankingCFO Daily
How AstraZeneca’s 17,000 AI-certified employees are helping it reach a ‘stretch goal’ of $80 billion in revenue
By Sheryl EstradaApril 30, 2026
4 hours ago
agentic
CommentaryAI agents
Why your data infrastructure — not your AI model — will determine whether Agentic AI scales
By Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Stephen Henriques, Catherine Dai and Zander JeinthanuttkanontApril 30, 2026
4 hours ago

Most Popular

Apple cofounder Ronald Wayne—whose stake would be worth up to $400 billion had he not sold it in 1976—says that at 91, he has no regrets
Success
Apple cofounder Ronald Wayne—whose stake would be worth up to $400 billion had he not sold it in 1976—says that at 91, he has no regrets
By Preston ForeApril 27, 2026
3 days ago
Jamie Dimon gets candid about national debt: ‘There will be a bond crisis, and then we’ll have to deal with it’
Economy
Jamie Dimon gets candid about national debt: ‘There will be a bond crisis, and then we’ll have to deal with it’
By Eleanor PringleApril 29, 2026
1 day ago
‘They left me no choice’: Powell isn’t going anywhere—blocking Trump from another Fed appointee
Banking
‘They left me no choice’: Powell isn’t going anywhere—blocking Trump from another Fed appointee
By Eva RoytburgApril 29, 2026
21 hours ago
‘The cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees’: Nvidia executive says right now AI is more expensive than paying human workers
AI
‘The cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees’: Nvidia executive says right now AI is more expensive than paying human workers
By Sasha RogelbergApril 28, 2026
2 days ago
Google Cloud revenue is now 18% of Alphabet's business. Is this the beginning of the end of Google's search identity?
Big Tech
Google Cloud revenue is now 18% of Alphabet's business. Is this the beginning of the end of Google's search identity?
By Alexei OreskovicApril 29, 2026
15 hours ago
‘Take the money and run’: Johns Hopkins economist Steve Hanke on why the UAE quit OPEC
Energy
‘Take the money and run’: Johns Hopkins economist Steve Hanke on why the UAE quit OPEC
By Shawn TullyApril 29, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.