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The Dead Drops of Online Terrorism

Summary:

With the proliferation, spread, and impact of violent extremist and terrorist content on the Internet and social media, governments, and security agencies have increased their countermeasures online. In response, terrorists and violent extremists have similarly altered their behavior by changing tactics and migrating to new platforms.

One of the more sophisticated ways extremists and terrorists are using online communication to avoid detection is the use of virtual dead drops in the form of anonymous sharing portals. Anonymous sharing portals have no-login requirement and, thus, provide anonymity and allow for sharing links of which content is to be collected, shared, and mass-distributed.