Q18 · UPSC Civil Services Mains 2015 · GS III · 12 marks · 4 min read

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Religious indoctrination via social media has resulted in Indian youth joining the ISIS. What is ISIS and its mission? How can ISIS be dangerous to the internal security of our country.

Topic: Cyber Security and Money Laundering. Syllabus: Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security; money-laundering and its prevention. Same official PYQ from year-wise 2015 and Cyber Security and Money Laundering.

Revision summary

ISIS is a jihadist group that seized land in Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate in 2014. Its mission is a border-breaking Islamic State, harsh rule, and global recruitment and attacks. India’s risk is online radicalisation, small modules, lone wolves, communal polarisation, and returnees. Social media replaced the old physical pipeline for many youth. Counter it with intelligence, fair law, deradicalisation, and refusal to communalise the whole response.

Model answer

Flow diagram

flowchart TD
  IS[ISIS caliphate brand] --> M[Mission state terror recruit]
  SM[Social media] --> Y[Indian youth indoctrination]
  Y --> C[Travel cells lone wolf]
  C --> INT[Internal security hit]
  POL[Intel law deradicalise] --> INT

Conclusion

  • Intelligence fusion on travel, money, and channels; fast legal process that still stands in court.
  • Community policing and credible deradicalisation, especially for the young who were groomed online.
  • Platform liability for terror content, with encryption policy that does not blind all investigation.
  • Do not answer ISIS with collective blame on a community; that is the recruitment gift the group wants.

ISIS is a jihadist project that claimed a caliphate and a world mission of rule, terror, and recruitment. For India the danger is less an army crossing a border than inspired youth, small cells, communal aftershocks, and returnees. Social media is the conveyor. The reply is precise intelligence, law, and community work — not a war on a whole faith.

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More from this topic

Q19 · UPSC Mains 2022 · GS III · 15 marks

What are the different elements of cyber security ? Keeping in view the challenges in cyber security, examine the extent to which India has successfully developed a comprehensive National Cyber Security Strategy.

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Cyber security elements are confidentiality, integrity, availability, authentication, human process, supply chain, and legal institutions. India’s notified document is the National Cyber Security Policy 2013. A National Cyber Security Strategy was discussed around 2020; a complete public successor was not firmly in force as a single comprehensive charter by 2022. Operational bodies include CERT-In, NCIIPC and I4C, plus sector regulators. Gaps remain in MSME/hospital security, skills, supply chain and fragmented law.

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Cross-border cyber operations can stall critical infrastructure, rob finance, and steal state data without a kinetic raid. Attribution problems let states and proxies hide behind criminal malware. CERT-In, NCIIPC, Defence Cyber Agency, sector CERTs, and the IT Act are the Indian defensive core. Segmentation, backups, vendor control, and phishing defence are the practical layer. Resilience and international CERT cooperation matter more than a claim of perfect security.

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