Cyber Evolution of Terrorist Groups

Many real-world crimes have long been replicated in cyberspace. Terrorism and extremism are no different. Today’s terrorist groups exploit the advantages the Internet has to offer. Just like everything else, crime, terrorism, violence, and even war have transformed into cyberspace: online radicalization becomes as significant as face-to-face radicalization, violent groups emerge on online platforms, and states use hacker groups to attack their enemies. In such a context, cyberterrorism is becoming a national security concern.

ISIS is one of the examples of terrorist groups that utilize the Internet and communication platforms to extend its influence. The group operates websites, online journals, and social media profiles to disseminate terrorist ideology. ISIS also uses the Internet for fundraising and recruitment. Such online appeals support the group’s objectives in the physical world, as they simultaneously move forward and engage in digital battles with adversaries. In one such case Ardit Ferizi, a hacker, was arrested for his involvement in a hacking incident related to ISIS in 2015. He was charged with obtaining personally identifiable information of U.S. military members and giving that information to an ISIS recruiter. The so-called United Cyber Caliphate, ISIS’s cyber division, launches operations to support the group’s objectives.  ISIS recruits hackers by making the group appear attractive to interested, adventurous youth. They reach out to young hackers and offer them a role in their digital and “distorted” jihad.

In the world of increased border controls and military and law enforcement capabilities, terrorists may have a better chance of penetrating cyber borders instead of physical ones. Violent extremists are facing continuous international counterterrorism efforts and losing ground in the physical world. Cyber-attacks are enticing to terrorist organizations because they can be perpetrated from anywhere in the world and with relatively fewer resources. DHS’s October 2020 national threat assessment report listed cyber threats from nation-states or non-state actors as one of the seven major threats to the Homeland. A large-scale cyber-attack could result in extensive damage to the economy and possible physical harm. The recent Colonial pipeline hack is just one example of the potential harm that can be caused by a cyberattack.

The current cyber threat landscape suggests that state-backed hacker groups are more of an imminent threat than terrorist organizations. State-sponsored hacker groups are more likely to have the resources and capabilities to infiltrate protected computer systems and inflict considerable harm. However, it should be noted that developing cyber-attack capabilities and initiating destructive attacks take a long time. Discovering vulnerabilities and gaining unauthorized access is time and resource intensive. Terrorist groups are now in the preparation phase and learning how to adapt and evolve to this changing environment. If their activities are not disrupted, they will reach such a capacity sooner or later.

There is an ongoing paradigm shift in national defense. In addition to traditional battlegrounds, land, sea and air, there is now another arena, cyberspace. Governments use hacker groups as proxy armies against their adversaries. They hide behind the anonymity cyberspace provides. The relative success of cybercrime syndicates and state-linked hacker groups has encouraged terrorist groups to invest more in cyberspace.

Cybersecurity is a never-ending battle. We need to always stay one step ahead of malicious actors to protect national security. Be it a nation-state, terrorist organization, or hacktivist group, the attack vectors are similar. Reassessing risk management strategies, building partnerships with the public sector, and implementing a holistic approach to cybersecurity are some good practices to deal with ever-increasing cyber threats. To deal with cyberterrorism, disrupting cyberterrorist networks and their capacity improvement efforts needs to be on the to-do list of the government.

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Orion Policy Institute (OPI) is an independent, non-profit, tax-exempt think tank focusing on a broad range of issues at the local, national, and global levels. OPI does not take institutional policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions represented herein should be understood to be solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of OPI.