How to know if your child wooed by IS

Kuala Lumpur: If a loved one suddenly grows uncharacteristically glued to his smartphone, it could mean he is being groomed by the Islamic State (IS) terror group hunting for new blood, the sister of one Malaysian recruit has warned.According to Singapore's The Straits Times, a 31-year-old Malaysian woman identified only as Sofie pinpointed the smartphone obsession as a tell-tale sign of her younger sister Yusophin's recruitment.

"If you see a loved one suddenly become obsessed with their smartphones, be very careful. They will start living with their smartphones, keeping it away from you... that's a sign they are being recruited," she told the Singaporean paper.

"My sister suddenly became obsessed with her smartphone," she was quoted saying, referring to her only sibling who went off last September from Kuala Lumpur to Syria to join IS.

"I urge parents to monitor your children's smartphones. Don't be afraid to report to the police if you see any drastic changes," she was also quoted saying. "It could help save you from losing a loved one."

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She disagreed that potential IS recruits are lured while glued to their computers, noting that her 28-year-old sister had communicated with the militant group through chats on Facebook and Twitter using her smartphone.

Smartphones are well-designed to handle social media tools and online browsing.

Local counter-terrorism officer Datuk Ayub Khan Mydin Pitchay told The Straits Times that IS was using at least seven websites and blogs in the Malay language in their recruitment drive of Malaysians and Indonesians.

The Straits Times said these websites carry stories of IS victories and depicts its "martyrs" as heroes.

Ayub noted that the Internet servers hosting these websites are based in the US (three websites, two blogs), while Germany and Britain host one website each.

Instead of attempting to shut down these websites, Ayub said the local police instead carries out lectures nationwide on the danger of IS to counter the ideology.

"We have not made any request to foreign governments to shut them down… because there is not much we can do as these IP servers are outside of the country.

"And even if you shut them down, they will pop up again in another place. We need to counter their ideology, not just shut them down," he said.

On May 25, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi reportedly said the police are doubling efforts to monitor social media sites for possible terrorist activities as an estimated 75 per cent of new IS supporters are recruited online.

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The Home Minister told Parliament that it is necessary for the police to maintain strict monitoring of online activity as a large proportion of social media users are below 40 years of age and fit into the target group of IS recruiters.

As of May 25, Malaysian police have detained 107 individuals on suspicion of having IS links.

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