A Montana mother who used to be a former supreme court judge has opened up about how she became an online terrorist hunter by going undercover in jihadi chat rooms.

Shannen Rossmiller, 48, helped to bring down several US citizens who were trying to plan terror attacks or give information to al Qaeda with her cyber-sleuthing skills.

The mother-of-three told CNN's Declassified series this month that her life hasn't been the same ever since she took it upon herself to start posing as a terrorist online a decade ago.

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Montana mom Shannen Rossmiller, 48, has helped to bring down several US citizens who were trying to plan terror attacks or give information to al Qaeda with her cyber-sleuthing skills

Rossmiller, who was working as a judge in Conrad, Montana at the time, said she started investigating after 9/11 because she was curious about the terrorists responsible for the attacks.

She said before she chose a law career she was interested in behavior profiling.

'I initially wanted to understand how 9/11 could have happened and what kind of people would ever do this,' Rossmiller told CNN.

She signed up for online Arabic classes so she could understand what jihadis were saying in various online chat rooms.

Rossmiller went on to create dozens of online personas to be part of her fake network of jihadis.

Her main profile was a terrorist named Abu Zeida from Balochistan, Pakistan. She would use Zeida to order her other personas around.

Her plan worked and she started getting a following from would-be terrorists who were eager to be part of any future al Qaeda plots or be of assistance.

Rossmiller (pictured in 2006) said her life hasn't been the same ever since she took it upon herself to start posing as a terrorist online a decade ago

She helped bring down National Guardsman Ryan G. Anderson in 2004 (left) and Michael Curtis Reynolds in 2006 (right)

Rossmiller, who ended up publishing a book 'The Unexpected Patriot' in 2011 about her cyber-sleuthing, was chatting to the would-be terrorists while her children were at school.

Her first break was National Guardsman Ryan G Anderson who ended up being convicted of trying to provide information to the the terrorist network.

He had signed onto extremist chat rooms and tried to offer Rossmiller information on US military capabilities and weaponry.

She took the information to her local FBI field office but they initially tried to dismiss her.

'I finally got mad and slapped down my supreme court credentials and said I'm dead serious,' Rossmiller said.

She had tried to keep true identity secret from the public, but her name was released as part of Anderson's trial in 2004.

She had tried to keep true identity secret from the public, but her name was released as part of Anderson's trial in 2004. She is pictured above being escorted to her car after testifying

Rossmiller said her once quiet life as a judge, mother and wife was over.

She went on to keep working as an intelligence asset regularly until 2011 and was able to pinpoint other credible threats to security.

In 2006, Rossmiller also helped to bring down Michael Curtis Reynolds who was trying to with al Qaeda in a potential terror plot to blow up pipelines in Alaska and Pennsylvania and a refinery in New Jersey.

Rossmiller says she still works with the government and helps with investigations to this day.

'I can't talk specifically about the work that I'm doing, but I can spot pedophiles like nothing,' she said.

'I came along at a time where it was new territory that hadn't really been broken yet. Now there are sufficiently trained intelligence officials doing these kinds of things.'