Decimated in ground war, ISIS remains cyber threat
Military officials in Iraq reported last week that U.S.-led coalition forces liberated Rawa, the last Iraqi city held by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
In 2014, the enemy swept across Iraq, capturing its second largest city of Mosul and advancing to the edges of the capital of Baghdad.
The U.S. began a campaign of airstrikes against the militants but it wasn’t until July of this year that Mosul was retaken.
That’s the good news.
Although routed in the ground war, ISIS remains a force on another front that can be just as destructive — cyberspace. With the Internet, ISIS has a platform for recruiting homegrown extremists and lone wolf sympathizers, gathering intelligence, spreading propaganda and communicating with other terrorist groups.
Government servers and federal institutions have already been targeted.
Last April, the pro-ISIS “United Cyber Caliphate” released a Kill List containing the names and addresses of 8,786 civilians across the U.S. and U.K., along with a video calling for lone wolf attacks against these individuals.
A month earlier, the pro-ISIS group “Tunisian Fallaga Team” hacked into the U.K’s National Health Service website, replacing Web pages with graphic photos of the war in Syria.
Recruiting “soldiers” in the cyber caliphate remains a threat.
Sayfullo Saipov, who killed eight by driving a rental truck down a bike-path in Manhattan on Halloween night, had been plotting that attack for two months, inspired by ISIS online videos.
One of Saipov’s cellphones reviewed by law enforcement contained approximately 90 videos and almost 4,000 images, many of which were ISIS propaganda, the FBI said.
A prominent Islamic reformer, Imam Mohammad Tawhidi, claims he repeatedly warned New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio about Islamic terrorist breeding centers in NYC but was continuously ignored.
“I wrote to you last year, but you did nothing. Sad,” the Imam wrote to the mayor after the Oct. 31 attack.
ISIS knows it can generate publicity by threatening worldwide figures such as Prince Harry, the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales.
After he spoke about the London Bridge terrorist attack during a visit to Singapore in June, Harry, a chopper pilot in Afghanistan, was directly taunted and threatened by ISIS.
“Why don’t you come here and fight us if you’re man enough, so that we can send you and your Apaches to hellfire, biidhnillah (Allah permitting),” a terrorist warned in an online video.
Last week, a new ISIS propaganda video threatened the Vatican and Pope Francis. In March, the Pontiff claimed the only way to defeat ISIS was by sending them love.
That peacemaking approach fell on deaf ears. In response, ISIS announced that new bloody attacks were on the way.
The latest video begins by showing a line of men and boys with assault rifles and an ISIS flag in Marawi, Philippines. A church is seen in flames, ISIS fighters are seen stamping on busts of Jesus and ripping pictures of the Pope in half as the narrator warns that soon ‘we will be in Rome.’
The narrator also warns the U.S., stating: ‘America does not liberate — it can only obliterate.’
With the holidays upon us, malls will be crowded and streets bustling. The vigilance of all Americans is paramount and that’s especially true for big city mayors like Bill de Blasio since his population center remains in the cross hairs of terrorists.
By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com
