Cyber Caliphate (ISIL)

Since its inception, cybercrime has taken numerous forms, including cyberbullying and online identity theft. One new but dangerous aspect of cybercrime is the advent of cyber terrorism, which the U.S. In an effort to raise public awareness of the new risks of cyberspace, social scientists coined the phrase cyber-terrorism by combining the words “cyber” and “terrorist” to raise global awareness of the new threat to international space. Later, the phrase was officially used by the United States Armed Forces to describe “premeditated, politically motivated attacks by sub-national groups, clandestine operatives, or people against information and computer systems.” computer programs and data that result in violence against non-combatant agents” (Janczewski, & Colarik, 2008, p.xiii). From this definition, it is apparent that cyberterrorism is a form cyber crime that bears similar characteristic to the normal terror activities but with a bigger orientation towards playing with people’s minds in the hope of instilling fear and public unrest. In the current dispensation, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has been on the offensive characteristically defining itself as a cyber caliphate. The threat that this group carries may be even lethal than bomb attacks since it can be remotely done over time increasing anxiety in society that may eventually cause a revolution of the people against their own government. The US is at a time we can call crossroads, and dealing with the terror activities carried out through the cyberspace may be a bigger challenge than dealing with the war against weapons of mass destruction.

The Background of ISIL

ISIL, also known as ISIS is a radical Islamist group that morphed from the defunct Al-Qaida. The group is said to have been in existence since 2004 with very close ties to Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda. Apart from ISI and ISIL, there is a third name; Daesh, which is deemed to be the official name of the group though ISIS has denied it giving ultimatums that anyone that uses it has to face the wrath of the group’s fundamentalist laws (Greene & Thompson, 2016). The core aim of ISIL has been to establish an independent Islamic state in the Middle East free from interference from the western world and Israel (Greene & Thompson, 2016). It aims at achieving this goal by promoting terror activities around the globe using both armed conflict and cyber threats. Up to date, the group has continued to advance its fundamentalist motives destabilizing governments in the Middle East and beyond.

One problem that has been cited in the identification of ISIL is that within it there are splinter groups that follow characteristically varied ideals. For instance, Khorasan is an AlQaeda linked ISIL group that has for long been planning to attack the US (Pelley, 2008, para.9-11) there is . ISIL wants to be recognized as the Islamic State. However, there is no government around the world that is ready to condone the skewed view of Islam that ISIL is propagating (Greene & Thompson, 2016). While the group contents that it is pursuing a common goal for the good of the people, Muslims within the Middle East are puzzled by the group’s definition of Islam. There is general displeasure with the group’s operations given the armed conflict that has been witnessed since the onset of the Arab revolution that has never come to an end. All along, the US has been an interested party, and therefore, has become a target for ISIL as far as its terrorist activities are concerned.

Today, the world is struggling with ISIL as they advance their religious motivated crisis in several parts of the globe including Syria, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen. The war on the ground is despicable, but on the other hand, the scenarios created by the cyber caliphate are a bigger threat to the security of the US and its allies such as Israel and South Korea. At the moment, homeland defense is doing everything possible to ensure that ISIL does not have the ability to infiltrate into the US cyberspace, and as the threat increases, the US homeland defense aims at completely disarming the group.

The Capacity of ISIL in the Middle East and Globally

The capacity of ISIL in the Middle East cannot be underestimated. Unlike Al Qaeda, ISIL has proved to be offensive and brutal in its approach to establish a caliphate. In addition, the group has shown diligence in creating a territorial command that is hard to break. ISIL has put in place governing structures that stabilize its presence in a territory after achieving a conquest (Greene & Thompson, 2016). The group shuns democracy, and it has a bureaucratic system that limits the power of the people.

Apart from its strong government structure, ISIS controls land and oil, which are the two resources that define political power in the Middle East. Countries like Iraq and Iran are known for their huge oil producing capacity, and whoever controls the oil resource has the power to control everything else. With a large territory between Iraq and Syria, ISIS declared a caliphate in the year 2014 (Greene & Thompson, 2016); a country under the rule of an Islamic leader and strict Sharia law. According to media reports, the oil resource in the region where ISIS has established its control is sold in a shadow market and brings approximately $3 million every day.

Despite its concerted effort to control parts of Iraq and Syria, the group has faced tough opposition from the governments of Syria and Iraq, and in 2016 lost a part of its territory to Iraqi forces. This may be mistaken for a signal that the group is losing its control in the Middle East. Outside its territorial base in Syria and Iraq, ISIL has continued to inspire terror activities all around the world, with over 2000 people killed in such attacks commissioned in over 20 countries around the globe (Greene & Thompson, 2016). With such a huge territorial control and global outreach, ISIS can be said to be the new face of terrorism and its structures will be hard to destroy due to their widespread presence.

The Threat that ISIL Poses to the US’ Homeland Security Today

Hacking into Government Systems is Possible

In recent times, the debate on the potential threats of cyber terrorism pursued by organizations such as ISIL has really caught public interest. One of the threats of cyber terrorism is the hacking of government, civilian and military computer systems to steal important information and use it for unscrupulous deals (Weimann, 2006). A good example of an alleged successful hacking is the 2016 elections where it was argued that the Russians broke into the electoral systems and altered the presidential results (Gardner & Charles, 2016). With hackers having the potential to alter government information, then citizens have everything to worry about. Today, cyber terrorism remains to be the most attractive option for terrorist groups because of its easy operation. All that one needs is a computer system with internet and they have the whole world to engage. Terrorists value cyber terrorism due to its value of anonymity, its ability to cause psychological distress, and media appeal and therefore leverage on it where they may have it difficult to access the actual masses (Weimann, 2006).

ISIL is not alone in the Propagation of Terror

Many people may think that ISIL is not a big threat to the US homeland security, but what they may not be in a position to describe is the extent of the country’s safety from possible attack by ISIL. One major problem that the US faces today is the possible outcome of its dalliance with international allies that are prone to conflict. In a maiden speech at the UN General Assembly in 2017, the US president Donald Trump asked to completely destroy North Korea due to its nuclear enrichment programs (Blake, 2017). DPRK is one of the dissident nations around the globe that do not subscribe to the political and military ideology of the US; and with the imminent invasion of North Korea by the US, then a possible conflict may ensue. The conflict is likely to bring about hegemonic rivalry in the region while also attracting other interested parties to the conflict. If such a crisis emerges, then one would expect that ISIL may side with the DPRK and the other dissidents in trying to fight back the US.

The US is Prepared, but its Own Citizens are Part of ISIS

Away from the nuclear war debate, cyber crime also presents a bigger problem to the US Department of Homeland Security in that it has now infiltrated the cyberspace. In a live interview with Scott Pelley, CBS News, James Comey, the FBI Director said that the cyber caliphate led by ISIS is now the new threat to Homeland security. He noted that there are brilliant US citizens that have joined ISIS and have been very instrumental in propagating cyber terrorism in the world today. James Comey reiterated that ISIS is keen on attacking the US due to its visibility, but their real time of attack cannot be told. However, James Comey categorically stated that the group may be a threat, but he said the following words to assure the citizenry confidence whenever they are handling their day to day activities: “We are better organized, better systems, better equipment, smarter deployment. We are better in every way that you’d want us to be since 9/11” (Pelley, 2014, para.17). In essence, whenever the terrorism debate is rekindled every US citizen recalls 9/11. The fear is great, and any assurance that systems are in place to protect the US citizen comes with great relief.

The other threat of US citizens being part of the group is that the individuals have US passports and may get into the country without being known. Comey stated that he knows a dozen of them, but the constitution gives him o power to prevent them from getting into the US. It is possible to argue that the entry of the said US born ISIL members into the US adds no value to their work if at all their work is just to cause terror on the net. That would be a fallacy since cyber crime is just a complementary way of maintains the relevance of ISIS.

The Corporeal Effects go beyond the Individuals into the Public Specter

According to Janczewski and Colarik (2008), there is a close relationship between cyber and corporeal conflicts. Janczewski and Colarik (2008) cites a number of correlations. First, the authors claim that after a physical attack cyber terrorism follows (p.xiv). This should be anticipated since when the US is attacked, cyber terrorists will work to ensure that the casualties, and their families and even the nation at large are totally annihilated from the losses. Janczewski and Colarik (2008) give examples of the downing of the US plane in China and the Pakistan/Indian conflict as situations where cyber terrorism took toll on the nation. Secondly, cyber terrorists ”attack targets representing high publicity value” (Janczewski and Colarik, 2008). By this it means that the cyber terrorists will do everything possible to ensure that the large multinational corporations in the economy receive scathing attacks aimed at draining their energy in trying to recover their brand image. But why and how do cyber terrorists attack?

Increasing Public Fear and Anxiety

Cyber terrorists attack because of three main reasons. First, they do so to create fear and anxiety in their target society (Janczewski and Colarik, 2008). For instance, an internet communicated threat to attack a night club can be devastating on both the business community and the citizens in general. The recent increase in acts of terrorism marked by internet sensationalization of the issues at hand has been witnessed whenever gun violence is committed in the US. The citizens have got very little faith in the current systems, and therefore, any threat on the internet will produce the desired effects by terror groups. According to Weimann (2006), fear in the cyberspace has been created and maintained by political, economic and psychological forces. Weimann (2006) also notes that in the present times, most US citizens have the fear of random violent victimization. The fear of random victimizations is further exacerbated by the fear of computer technology. The existence of cyber fears has been

The Threat of ISIL to the Stability of the Middle East

The threat posed by ISIL in the Middle East is probably different from that to the US in two principal ways. First, ISIL has its base in the Middle East where it has the power to hound people physically. Secondly, cyber terrorism is a complementary option to physical forms of terrorism, which is not quite helpful in an environment where internet access is restricted due to prolonged armed conflict.

According to Byman (2016), ”The Islamic State has long sought to increase its power by consolidating and expanding its quasi-state in Syria and Iraq.” Primarily, that is the objective of the group in the Middle East- nothing more than establishing a caliphate that will support its aggression against the US and its allies. With the increased insurgence and the ardent need to control the Middle East countries of Syria and Iraq, ISIL has created instability in the region and is still working hard to destabilize all the governments in the region. The effects of the insurgence on the economies of Middle East countries cannot be underestimated. The price of crude oil per barrel has continued to plummet, with a number of bourses experiencing dropping price (Greiner, 2014). The future can only be said to be bleak as far as ISIL continues to pursue its goals.

The Role Played by Homeland Defense to Ward off ISIL

In 2016 February, US citizens ranked cyber terrorism as the number three threat in the country (McCarthy, 2016). Cyber terrorism came behind internal terrorism and the development of nuclear weapons by Iran. Therefore, it means that the war against the cyber caliphate has secondary importance to the Department of Homeland Defense and can be achieved with primary methods of intervention. Strictly speaking, the threat is real, but the Department of Homeland Defense has all the capacity to arrest the situation since it has air-grapped the systems of the CIA and FBI since 9/11 (Weimann, 2006). Thus, to save the country from possible cyberterrorist activities, the government through its Department fo Homeland Defense can work on a program of expanding protection to the main corporate and other important cyberspaces. The following three strategies can act as follow-up activities beyond installing protection in the airspace.

Improving communication

To properly analyze and combat cyber terrorism, communication must be held as key gateway. Therefore, Agencies within the Federal government must work in tandem to ensure that they clearly understand the motives and strategies used by cyber terrorists to afflict their victims (Maldonado, 2016). For instance, a closer working of the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI will definitely help combat the threat of cyber terrorism since through the FBI, the Department of Homeland Defense will be in a position to gain better understanding of the issues that surround cyber terrorism.

Statutory Mechanisms

Through statue, the government can be able to alleviate the problems caused by cyber terrorism by putting in place a legal framework aimed at totally annihilating terrorists. For instance, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, protecting Cyber Networks Act and the Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act have pulled everyone on board in the fight against cyberterrorism (Maldonado, 2016). Key among the assimilated players is the private sector that has been given a proactive role in keeping the cyberspace clean.

Creating awareness through Training and Education

One practical way of dealing with the goon of cybersecurity is to empower the people to deal with it. With a powerful alliance between the government and the people, cyber terrorism may not be a big threat to national security (Maldonado, 2016).

Policing the Cyberspace

Perhaps one of the best strategies that can be used to protect the US citizens against cyber terrorism is to police the cyberspace. According to Awan & Blakemore (2016, p.180), ”the modus operandi of the modern terrorist reveals increasing levels of sophistication which is making terrorists a formidable threat.” Therefore, to deal with this group, the Federal government and its security departments must ensure that there is a mechanism for dealing with the threat of cybercrime.

Future Possibilities that Homeland Defense can employ in Dealing with ISIL

It is difficult to clearly explain the future preparedness of the US in dealing with ISIL within the cyberspace. However, the generalized approach would be to have structures and laws in place that allow for flexibility in the way security forces operate. However, in fighting cybeterrorism, the department of Homeland Security can use the following three-step guide. First they have to work on a mechanism to prevent the US cyberspace from random attacks. Second, there must be incident management procedures put in place. Third, consequence management must be contemplated.

In the first case, the Department of Homeland Defense must design a system that protects the whole US cyberspace from external attack. The system should be so robust that experts without its architectural design will fail to decipher its coding. A proposal for this is the Advanced Research projects Agency Network (ARPARNET) which is currently being used but the DoD. Even though such a system will be put in place, effort must be done to update it all the time since terrorists learn the technology and use it to harm the users of the defense methods.

The second step which involves incident management will require the detection of intrusion and working towards curbing it. However, it must be noted that detecting intrusion can be a daunting exercise. That is why most hacking incidences are discovered long after the hacker has accomplished their mission. To succeed in creating an attack free cyberspace, intrusion must be prevented at all cost by erecting barriers such as firewalls and VPNs. With several lines of defense, computer systems in the country will be safe for all US citizens and cyber terrorism will cease to be a big factor.

Lastly, dealing with the consequences of cyber terrorism is useful since it provides another chance for the national security agencies to be counted as useful. Under this, the Department of Homeland Defense will be responsible for recovery and response. Recovery is useful since it has the effect of indemnifying users. On the other hand, response is needed to warn the terrorists that the DoD views homeland security is crucial.

Recommendations to Homeland Security

With the growing concern about the threats that ISIL poses to the US, the following recommendations are likely to help alleviate the fear of cyber-terrorism.

The US has a large population that works to fund the government through the payment of taxes. Therefore, the government should look into ensuring that the citizenry gets the basic right of being protected from external aggression. This can be done by increasing the budget to the DoD

One of the strategies to beat cyber-terrorists is to stay ahead of them in the game. Thus, the Department of Homeland Defense must train individuals that will foster the development of new technologies that can detect and ward of cyber terrorists before they cause damage. Just like it is in the physical war, the group that uses sophisticated technology wins almost all the time. The same applies to the cyberspace wars, where future winners will be those that can beat the systems of the other players.

The Department of Homeland Defense must strive to create and make cordial relationships with other federal agencies and even agencies from other governments around the globe.

Summary

Cyber terrorism is a product of cybercrime and it is primarily geared towards causing fear and anxiety in a society where social life is revered. ISIL, otherwise known as ISIS has been on the offensive, trying to infiltrate the US cyberspace and cause havoc. ISIL being a muslin resurgent, has been propagating cybercrime with the hope of gaining more power against the US as it has done on the middle East. With a caliphate established between Iraq and Syria, ISIS is ready to engage the world in a cyber war that has no cause. The impact of ISIL in the Middle East is notable, and it can be seen in the dropping prices of crude oil and the plummeting prices on the stocks exchange. In the US, ISIL poses a variety of threats to the national security, ranging from hacking into government systems to raising global interest in the war against terror an nuclear weapons. To solve this problem, the US can police the cyberspace among other methods. As we head into the future, it must be noted that ISIL will also be advancing its technologies. This means that the Department of Homeland Security through the powers granted by the Federal government must put in place technologies that are hard to copy and compromise from the external, and also train individuals that can be upgrading the security platform on a regular basis.

References

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