Police have carried out a cyber attack on a global scale against online propaganda outlets of the Islamic State extremist group, Belgian prosecutors say Monday.
The operation began as part of a Belgian judicial probe of Amaq, the media agency of the banned jihadist group, and involved international officers from Europol.
Federal prosecution spokesman Eric van der Sypt confirms the operation to AFP but he could not give a detailed breakdown of sites and accounts targeted.
“We’ve knocked them down for the moment,” he says. “But we’re not naive. A first cyberattack in 2018 didn’t stop them from bouncing back.”
Officers plan to reveal more about the operation at a news conference later in the day at Europol’s HQ in the neighboring Netherlands, he said.
Belgian agents were involved in a wave of cyberattacks against Amaq last year, but the spokesman admitted they had been surprised by how quick the sources returned.
In March 2016 the Belgian capital Brussels was hit in a double suicide attack claimed by the Islamic State that left 32 people dead.
— AFP
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Monday, November 25, 2019
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
