By NATE DERRENBACHER

This week, another vehicular terror attack occurred in New York City, killing eight people. The suspect, identified as an Uzbekistan native, claimed allegiance to ISIS, the Islamic terrorist group that has lost some of its reign over the past few months.

Following any major attack in which people are intentionally killed, ISIS almost always claims responsibility, whether the attacker was really acting on behalf of ISIS or not. But the terror attack that occurred on Oct. 31 may have been different.

Law enforcement and investigators are claiming that they have found hundreds of pictures and material linked to ISIS on the suspect’s cellphone. This comes after ISIS released statements encouraging its supporters to carry out local attacks such as this one.

So, why are these types of attacks on the rise? Well, in short, the increased accessibility to ISIS and other terror inciting materials on the internet and mass media. People can now see and interact with terror inciting materials on a more regular basis and, as a result, can sometimes become desensitized to the to the scale of these horrific attacks.

The media have been covering this story with constant updates since ever since the initial reports of the attacks. Some news outlets continue to share images of the suspect, while others share pictures of the truck in which he carried out the attack and maps of where the attack happened.

This is not a story that is going away any time soon. Unfortunately, news outlets have had to continue to cover stories such as these, including a mass shooting in Las Vegas last month and the multiple vehicular attacks that have been carried out in London.

The accessibility to mass media has bridged the gap of reach for terrorist organizations, and as a result, the frequency of attacks has been on a steady rise.