WASHINGTON– The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has allegedly lost another important operative, but this one may have held the key to ISIL’s future.
In addition to ISIL leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi鈥檚 plans for a global caliphate, Junaid Hussain, also known as Abu Hussain al-Britani, was working on a digital version.
“He was of part of this group of people building a cyber caliphate,鈥� said Robin Simcox, research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society in London.
Hussain, allegedly killed in a U.S. strike outside on ISIL鈥檚 stronghold in Raqqa, Syria, is believed to be the second top ISIL figure killed in less than 10 days.
Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali, also known as Haji Mutazz and Abu Muslim al-Turkmani, the second in command of the terrorist group ISIL, was聽killed in a U.S. military air strike聽on Aug. 18, according to the National Security Council.
Hussain, 21, to some observers, was the mastermind of 鈥渢he Islamic State Hacking Division,鈥� which was blamed for an embarrassing hack of U.S. federal government, military and state computer networks. The group released the names, emails and passwords of almost 1,500 personnel from the Air Force, Marines, FBI, State Department and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
“Junaid Hussain was considered to be vital in hacking passwords for Central Command Twitter and YouTube accounts and then posting pro-Islamic state messages on them,鈥� said Simcox. While the hack was awkward for the military, Pentagon officials downplayed it by saying the information released was old and likely not usable.
Getting into Centcom鈥檚 social media accounts was not Hussain’s聽first high-profile hacking exploit. At age 18, he spent six months in a U.K. prison for hacking into and publishing former British Prime Minister Tony Blair鈥檚 address book.
“The fact that somebody like Junaid Hussain and his associates are able to carry out cyber attacks against the most powerful country聽on the earth enables the Islamic State to reach beyond inspiring terrorist attacks in the West or carrying out terrorist attacks in the region. It provides it with an extra component for its threat,鈥� said Simcox.
Simcox said he believes the attempt to build a so-called 鈥渃yber caliphate鈥� is an effort to put ISIL on par with nation-states. 鈥淲e associate China as a severe threat to cyber security, but what Junaid Hussain did was provide ISIL a dog in that fight as well.鈥�
Not only was Hussain believed to be instrumental in the architecture of an execution of ISIL鈥檚 social media messaging, but he was also allegedly intimately involved in recruiting and outreach.
“He was also thought to possibly be in touch with the Garland, Texas shooters,鈥� said Simcox.
According to the 鈥淎uthorities allege Hussein radicalized and directly encouraged Elton Simpson to carry out the May 3, 2015 attack with Nadir Soofi on a draw-Mohammad contest in Garland, Texas. Investigators are uncertain how much of a role Hussain played in the attack, but believe he may have had foreknowledge.鈥�
The Obama administration has pledged to 鈥渄egrade and destroy鈥� the Islamic State, which continues to thrive in Iraq and Syria, but Iraq鈥檚 top diplomat in the U.S. said wiping out ISIL鈥檚 social media presence and eliminating its cyber capabilities is just as important as capturing and killing operatives involved in physical operations.
鈥淪ocial media has a much more adverse impact than actual front wars because it鈥檚 wider, borderless and certainly it talks to the hearts and the minds of the people, and that鈥檚 dangerous,鈥澛燣ukman Faily, Iraq鈥檚 ambassador to the U.S., told 海角精品黑料.
鈥淭he world is in a race against time. Stopping and terminating ISIL鈥檚聽 social media and messaging platforms, and putting out anti-terrorism messages, needs to take place faster than they can put out their negative messages,鈥� said Faily.
But finding ISIL on the Web or so-called 鈥渄ark web鈥� is easier said than done.聽 “Our job is to find needles in a nationwide haystack, needles that are increasingly invisible to us because of end-to-end encryption,” FBI Director James Comey told Congress recently.
Because of encryption, ISIL has been able, through Hussain鈥檚 exploits, to reach out to recruits enticing them to plan and launch attacks around the world.
Simcox said Hussain is out of the picture, 鈥渂ut there鈥檒l be others willing to step in to take his place.鈥�
ISIL鈥檚 mastery of modern technology, current pop-culture trends and manipulation of Islam as a part of its lore, is of great concern to the U.S. State Department, which issued a new travel warning Thursday afternoon.
鈥淚ndividuals who demonstrate an interest in groups opposing ISIL, including on social media, could open themselves to being targeted by ISIL itself if those individuals travel to Syria,鈥� said the warning.
The message also pointed out, 鈥淥ur ability to provide consular assistance to individuals who are injured or kidnapped, or to the families of individuals who die as a result of taking part in the conflict is extremely limited.鈥�
