Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Cyberwarfare

US Military’s Cyber Force Reluctant to Cut Internet in Syria

The US military is wary of cutting Internet connections to Islamic State strongholds such as Raqa in Syria, even though the Pentagon is waging cyber-war against the jihadists, officials said Wednesday.

The US military is wary of cutting Internet connections to Islamic State strongholds such as Raqa in Syria, even though the Pentagon is waging cyber-war against the jihadists, officials said Wednesday.

Cyber Command — better known as CYBERCOM — officially started attacking the tech-savvy IS group in April, in what was the command’s most important offensive since being established in 2010.

Thomas Atkin, the acting assistant defense secretary for homeland defense and global security, said a “careful balance” needed to be struck, when asked why the military does not simply stop jihadists from accessing the Internet.

“It’s a careful balance, even in Raqa or Mosul (in Iraq), or anywhere on how we balance the rights to have access to the Internet versus the use of the Internet illegally by folks like ISIL,” Atkin told the House Armed Services Committee, using an IS acronym.

Officials said the IS group’s online use was a source of valuable intelligence, but Republican committee chairman Mac Thornberry expressed concern Atkin was arguing Raqa citizens have “some sort of inherent right” to access the Internet.

The jihadists have used their social media savvy to deliver propaganda and disseminate their vision for a so-called caliphate across parts of the Middle East.

Though Pentagon chief Ashton Carter has frequently touted CYBERCOM’s offensive against the IS group, most details remain classified.

CYBERCOM deputy leader Lieutenant General Kevin McLaughlin said the Pentagon has gained important experience fighting the IS group online.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

“It’s given us the opportunity to learn and mature and kind of plow back in lessons learned in a real circumstance that it might have taken us several years to learn,” McLaughlin told lawmakers.

According to the New York Times, CYBERCOM has placed “implants” in IS networks that let experts monitor the group’s behavior and ultimately imitate or alter commanders’ messages so they unwittingly direct fighters to areas likely to be hit by drone or plane strikes.

Another technique likely being employed is a common type of cyber attack known as a denial of service.

In a sign of the strategic importance virtual warfare now plays, lawmakers said it was time for CYBERCOM to stand up as its own combatant command — an organizational super structure normally arranged along geographic boundaries.

CYBERCOM has about 4,700 troops, but is set to expand to 6,200 in 2018.

Written By

AFP 2023

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Join the session as we discuss the challenges and best practices for cybersecurity leaders managing cloud identities.

Register

SecurityWeek’s Ransomware Resilience and Recovery Summit helps businesses to plan, prepare, and recover from a ransomware incident.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Cyberwarfare

WASHINGTON - Cyberattacks are the most serious threat facing the United States, even more so than terrorism, according to American defense experts. Almost half...

Cyberwarfare

Russian espionage group Nomadic Octopus infiltrated a Tajikistani telecoms provider to spy on 18 entities, including government officials and public service infrastructures.

Cybercrime

Patch Tuesday: Microsoft calls attention to a series of zero-day remote code execution attacks hitting its Office productivity suite.

Cyberwarfare

Several hacker groups have joined in on the Israel-Hamas war that started over the weekend after the militant group launched a major attack.

Application Security

Virtualization technology giant VMware on Tuesday shipped urgent updates to fix a trio of security problems in multiple software products, including a virtual machine...

Cyberwarfare

The war in Ukraine is the first major conflagration between two technologically advanced powers in the age of cyber. It prompts us to question...

Cybercrime

On the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, cybersecurity companies summarize the cyber operations they have seen and their impact.

Application Security

Fortinet on Monday issued an emergency patch to cover a severe vulnerability in its FortiOS SSL-VPN product, warning that hackers have already exploited the...