ISIS a terrorist group equivalent to Al-Qaeda’s stature is all set to launch Cyber Attacks on Western Countries via Cyber Caliphate. Speaking to the Senate on the issue, US National Security officials said that the prime target of the Caliphate will be the United States, followed by the UK and other countries in Europe.
Sen Ron Johnson of GOP (Grand Old Party or the Republican Party) disclosed the issue to the media and added that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have already started plotting an action plan which might turn into a reality antime this month .
In a video released a few hours ago on the internet by Caliphate Cyber Group, the Electronics Ghosts of the Caliphate has threatened the United States against a massive cyber war on governments and armies around the world starting tomorrow. And the first target of the Pro-ISIS group will be the United States.
“The Sunni Muslim extremist group has been building its operations against western countries over the past two years and has claimed or been linked to at least 12 attacks against western interests since January”, said Lora Shiao, Director of Intelligence, National Counter Terrorism Center.
Lora added that ISIS is gaining success in leveraging digital platforms to recruit and spread terrorist propaganda. They are hacking government websites these days and have succeeded minimally in defacing some of them. They have put ‘hit lists’ of personally identifiable information on Westerners but could be meant to primarily intimidate.
Although US Military has succeeded in eliminating physical caliphate of ISIS, it couldn’t stop the terrorist organizations from operating smartly via the internet. It may be due to the highly encrypted communication being used by these terror organizations or due to the number of patriots existing outside Syria.
As soon as ISIS lost its territory, it became more reliant on virtual connections which may now lead to attacks on the critical infrastructure of developed nations.
Nikki Floris, the Deputy Assistant Director for Counter-Terrorism at the FBI predicts that ISIS is on a vengeance spree. And it can take the help of state-funded actors from North Korea to launch cyberattacks on the United States.
She, however, said that under the leadership of Donald Trump, United States is well versed in protecting its digital assets against any kind of Cyber Threats propelled by individuals, groups or country.
Note- Caliphate is an Islamic State ruled by a successor to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad who owns/has absolute power.
