The Mirror says that this is because the UK sold the IP addresses to the Saudis — thus the Islamic State sympathizers are in Saudi Arabia, not in Britain. Not that Britain lacks for Islamic State sympathizers.
“Hackers trace ISIS Twitter accounts back to internet addresses linked to Department of Work and Pensions,” by Jasper Hamill, Mirror, December 14, 2015:
Hackers have claimed that a number of Islamic State supporters’ social media accounts are being run from internet addresses linked to the Department of Work and Pensions.
A group of four young computer experts who call themselves VandaSec have unearthed evidence indicating that at least three ISIS-supporting accounts can be traced back to the DWP’s London offices.
Every computer and mobile phone logs onto the internet using an IP address, which is a type of identification number.
The hacking collective showed Mirror Online details of the IP addresses used by a trio of separate digital jihadis to access Twitter accounts, which were then used to carry out online recruitment and propaganda campaigns.
At first glance, the IP addresses seem to be based in Saudi Arabia, but upon further inspection using specialist tools they appeared to link back to the DWP.
“Don’t you think that’s strange?” one of the hackers asked Mirror Online. “We traced these accounts back to London, the home of the British intelligence services.”
VandaSec’s work has sparked wild rumours suggesting someone inside the DWP is running ISIS-supporting accounts, or they were created by intelligence services as a honeypot to trap wannabe jihadis.
However, when Mirror Online traced the IP addresses obtained by VandaSec, we found they actually pointed to a series of unpublicised transactions between Britain and Saudi Arabia.
We learned that the British government sold on a large number of IP addresses to two Saudi Arabian firms.
After the sale completed in October of this year, they were used by extremists to spread their message of hate.
Jamie Turner, an expert from a firm called PCA Predict, discovered a record of the sale of IP addresses, and found a large number were transferred to Saudi Arabia in October of this year.
He told us it was likely the IP addresses could still be traced back to the DWP because records of the addresses had not yet been fully updated.
The Cabinet Office has now admitted to selling the IP addresses on to Saudi Telecom and the Saudi-based Mobile Telecommunications Company earlier this year as part of a wider drive to get rid of a large number of the DWP’s IP addresses.
It said the British government can have no control over how these addresses are used after the sale.
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A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “The government owns millions of unused IP addresses which we are selling to get a good return for hardworking taxpayers.
“We have sold a number of these addresses to telecoms companies both in the UK and internationally to allow their customers to connect to the internet.
“We think carefully about which companies we sell addresses to, but how their customers use this internet connection is beyond our control.”…

gravenimage says
ISIS Twitter accounts traced to UK Department of Works and Pensions
………………………..
Well, that’s *just terrifying*.
It is also utterly insane. Whether this is Jihadists working in the British government or else wherever the UK authorities have sold these accounts to–why couldn’t Saudi Arabia set up their own Twitter accounts? It’s not difficult to do–this is suicidal madness.
mortimer says
ISIS is the son of Saudi Arabia. One big jihadist family.
Nan says
We need candidates like Donald Trump to clean this up. I say give Donald 4 years as POTUS
Thinker says
Absolutely. Well said
Don McKellar says
What a shock.
pdxnag says
Well, I have always thought that sets of IP addresses were associated with specific countries. At least this is how I have treated it when blocking pests for my local website stuff, like perhaps blocking 212.*.*.*
A UK based web IP sold to Saudi Arabia would still be a UK based web IP.
Funny, this reminds of the CItizens United case — corporate political speech is protected even for U.S. based corporations owned and/or controlled in whole or in part by foreign sovereign funds like those of Saudi Arabia.
Babs says
Not surprising. Muslims are DWP’s main claimants.
DeMolay says
Haha. Ain’t that the truth.
Wiki leaks showed us the burden on welfare of Muslims. Hugely disproportionate to any other group.
Annak says
What a surprise ? NOT. I read somewhere of an English man warning when he applied for a job at the British Home Office ten years ago, nearly all officials there and applicants were Muslims.
He didn’t get the job…..
Andrew H. says
The free world is way overdue in turning Riyadh into a Dusseldorf of 1945.
JP MCNELLIE says
Dresden-I believe, but this would be far, far too good for the perfidious Wahabi overdressed Kingdom!
Angemon says
UNCLE VLADDI says
Britain ALWAYS sympathizes with muslims!
Check THIS out!
Saudi millionaire acquitted of rape charge after claiming he tripped and fell on teen
ONLY IN FORMERLY GREAT BRITAIN…
https://vladdi.wordpress.com/2015/12/16/saudi-millionaire-acquitted-of-rape-charge-after-claiming-he-tripped-and-fell-on-teen/
UNCLE VLADDI says
How completely pathetic must a country’s government be to have to sell off their own IP addresses?!
I mean really, how much did they get for them? 20 bob or so, at most, in TOTAL?!