A MESSAGING system thought to have been used by Liberal party heavyweights to secretly discuss the party’s leadership woes has become Islamic State’s communications tool of choice.

The hi-tech application, known as Wickr, is the latest in the long list of tools the death cult is using to lure Australian jihadis to join their bloody campaign.

Created in 2012, Wickr promises to “leave no trace” of conversations and allows users to “send and receive top-secret messages, pictures, video, audio files and documents.”

Users leave no metadata trace by setting a timer for when they want their communication files destroyed. The length can vary anywhere from ten minutes to six days.

It is far more sophisticated than existing messaging apps, including Viber and WhatsApp.

A Twitter account linked to an alleged IS fighter encourages would-be jihadis to contact him on Wickr as a means to circumvent state security at home and in Turkey.

“I am purely here to help those sincere ones that want to make the journey,” the recruiter and fighter’s tweet said.

Computer security experts say the technology is sophisticated and still largely unknown. “These types of applications are getting increasingly good at keeping communications private,” said software architect and IT security expert Troy Hunt.

“The challenge for authorities is to find out how to get the information.”

There are an estimated 92 Australians currently fighting with IS and another 20 have reportedly died.

A recent controversial law was passed by the federal government as a means to control this

growing problem and allows security agencies to access two years of an individual’s metadata.

The architect of that bill, Communication Minister Malcolm Turnbull, was one of several MP’s believed to have been using the application as a means to keep conversations over the Liberal Party leadership confidential.

Mr Turnbull has previously admitted he uses the secret messaging app, as he does not consider SMS technology secure.

In the past two years, IS has become increasingly tech savvy, from hacking the United States’ Central Command Twitter account, to teaching people how to use virtual private networks and the deep internet for pro-IS conversations.

Clarke Jones, a terrorism and radicalisation expert from the Australian National University, said Wickr is the ideal setup device for the terror group.

“I think it’s the initial point of contact … and once you start establishing other contacts, or direct contacts, someone will open a door for you and you can go through it.”