BEIJING: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) launched a joint online anti-terrorism exercise in China, in which competent authorities of eight SCO member states simulated a complete crackdown against online terrorist propaganda amid rising cybersecurity challenges. The exercise held in Xiamen, East China’s Fujian Province, set a scenario where an international terrorist organization spread information of terrorism, separatism and extremism through the internet, including instant chat groups and social media platforms, in SCO member states, to recruit new members, gather funds, purchase weapons and plan terror activities, which intensified terror attacks and threatened regional security, according to report published by Global Times. The exercise coordinated competent authorities of each SCO member state, who started investigating cases in their countries, gathering information on the terrorists’ organization, member identities, and their locations, before launching a concentrated capture mission and cracking down the organizations’ secret members hiding across SCO member states once for all. During the drill, cyber anti-terrorist experts sit in front of computers, deploying a variety of technical measures in eight separated “combat zones,” each for one member state. If the drill was to be real, these “combat zones” will be thousands of kilometers away, in each member state’s territories, sharing information in real-time. This is the third time such exercise has taken place. The past two editions were held in October 2015 and December 2017. Pakistan, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and India are full members of SCO.