The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, shortly known as ISIL, is all set to shift its focus to cyber warfare due to the battlefield loss with American troops in Iraq. Yes, the terrorist group along with a few other anti-social elements of Israel has decided to launch cyber attacks on the critical infrastructure of America. The reason, it wants to take vengeance on the American troops for making its terror organization almost lifeless in the said country.
Some sources from UK’s cyber spying center GCHQ predict that ISIL has reached out for help from few hacking groups prevailing on the dark web and seems to have got a positive response from those launching cyber attacks on behalf of state-sponsored actors.
Thus, in coming days, the critical infrastructure such as power plants of United States will surely be vulnerable to cyber-vandalism.
Britain based GCHQ’s cyber defense wing National Cyber Security Center (NSCS) has already shared the above said intelligence with NSA and FBI and has also passed on the information to the 45th President of United States, Donald Trump via White House.
In the last couple of years, Dark Web has become a source for all sorts of cybercriminals, as those interested can hire hackers to launch cyber attacks on public and private companies and can also rent hackers to spread malware like ransomware and crypto mining software.
Cybersecurity Insiders has learned that some committed extremists available on Dark Web have the ability to accelerate their efforts by recruiting knowledgeable insiders from reputable firms to launch cyber attacks. Thus, a well-placed insider, also known as Insider Threat can go a long way in simplifying the work of cyber crooks by offering them a favorable environment to launch or become victim to destructive cyber attacks.
The deeds of Rajib Karim, a former IT worker of British Airways, can prove as the best example to prove Insider Threat. An inquiry taken up by the law enforcement in 2011 discovered that Karim was working for a terror group and was about to bring down the airline’s systems to cause international chaos eventually leading to human Loss. However, by God’s grace, he was caught red-handed in time by the police of Interpol and was sentenced to 30 years of jail in 2012 for helping terror groups with an airplane blueprint to support their intention to blow it up in the air.
Later in 2012, the Interpol discovered that ISIL was found recruiting members like Karim since 2011 as there were interested in cementing their place in the cyber world more than in physical territories( as there lost most of the battles to American troops).
Hope, the government of United States has taken a note of the issue and has put in all necessary steps to tackle any such situation.
