... as we use web to sabotage IS plots

BRITAIN launched a major cyber attack against Islamic State terrorists, the chief of GCHQ revealed yesterday.

Former MI5 officer Jeremy Fleming said the covert operation by UK spies and troops hindered the group’s ability to co- ordinate attacks and spread the propaganda that inspires them.

He revealed the attack on IS from 3,000 miles away at the eavesdropping agency’s Cheltenham base was the first time Britain has systematically degraded an adversary’s online efforts in a military campaign.

IS has now lost most of the territory it held in Iraq and Syria but Mr Fleming also warned there was intelligence pointing to the terrorist group trying to find new ‘ungoverned spaces’ to base its operations.

Former defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon previously revealed UK troops were carrying out cyber offensives against IS but no details about the scale were known. Mr Fleming told a cyber security conference in Manchester that the exact methods were ‘too sensitive to talk about’ in detail but confirmed the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ ‘conducted a major offensive cyber campaign against Daesh [IS]’.

The terror group has used online video and social media to target potential sympathisers, including those in Britain. Mr Fleming said: ‘In 2017 there were times when Daesh found it almost impossible to spread their hate online, to use their normal channels, or spread their rhetoric, or trust their publications.’

Mr Fleming also hinted similar techniques could be used against Russia in future as Britain invests in its ‘cyber tool kit’ to stay ahead, saying: ‘It worked against Daesh and it can work against other national security challenges too.’