The Islamic State would pass through European satellites to connect to the Web – Le Figaro

Investigation Spiegel says many ISPs Satellite Internet, the French Eutelsat, are used by the Islamic State. . Information that is difficult to verify for companies

This is not a mystery: the organization of the Islamic State makes use of the Internet to massively disseminate their messages and communicate with its supporters around the world. Its use is so advanced, that we forget that it is not supposed to have access to the Web as easily, especially in Syria, where most of the telecom equipment were destroyed.

A survey of Spiegel (English) showed that access was provided, perhaps unwittingly, by European companies specializing in satellite internet. Among them, Eutelsat French, the British or the Luxembourgers Avanti SES.

To connect to the satellites of these providers, you have to buy a specific and costly antenna. According to the German magazine, members of the Islamic state or the intermediaries provide to Turkey in towns near the border with Syria as Antakya. Two vendors located in the city of Antakya, say they have “2,500 customers in Syria”, without giving further details on the identity of those clients.

Among the satellite business and the end customer, so there are many Intermediates: distributors such as Sat Internet Services, quoted by the Spiegel , dealers at the border, and possible intermediaries who provide the antennas to the members of the Islamic State.

The French Eutelsat affirms with the Spiegel and other media have no business with Syrian sellers. But the company also said that it is impossible to know if the connection facilities to its satellites are used for illicit purposes or not. For its part, SES, the Luxembourg company, said he had no information on users of their network in Syrian-controlled areas the Islamic State.

However, the Spiegel indicates that most of the time, the Internet satellite providers can know approximately the location of a patch antenna. When users configure their Internet access, they are supposed to give their GPS coordinates, in order to benefit a good network. Spiegel reveals that many parables are located in Aleppo, a city where the Islamic State is present, but also in Raqqa, the capital de facto of the organization .

However, cut the connections of the Islamic State is not that simple for ISPs. Indeed, in areas controlled by the organization, there are also civilians who use satellite internet to account for their situation. It is also possible, argues the magazine, that companies are fully aware of the use that the organization because of their network, but they do leave while informing European intelligence agencies.

Internet service providers are not the only companies whose products and services are found in the hands of the Islamic state. In propaganda videos of the organization, we see that many Toyota vehicles were hijacked. Most come from sales made in Iraq, but also flights to Australia.