Cyber Wars - ISIS attack on US Websites

Cyberwar is the act of hacking into information system of another country based on political reasons and ideologies. The purpose could be to steal information(espionage), bring down an information system( and also control systems) or destroy an entire network system. Another kind of motivation for cyberwar could be to spread propaganda or psychological warfare. The later is what ISIS seeks to achieve in their recent attacks on vulnerable US websites.

Most popular cases of cyber war involves when a group sponsored or coordinated by a nation state attacks the industrial control systems of another nation connected over the internet. such ICS include power plants, water supply, transport. The aim is to bring down such control systems and make is non functional. Another form could be an attempt to steal information such as trade secrets, classified documents etc from another nation state. However the ISIS attack is quite different from the above cases.

From early March, 2015 Hacker groups loyal to ISIS began defacement of websites belonging to US agencies and establishment. The homepage is replaced with a black ISIS flag and an Arabic propaganda recording playing in the background. Some of the organizations affected include Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, a Goodwill centre in St. Louis and many others

ISIS can easily be achieved this by ip scanning websites located in US and other western ally countries belonging to areas of their interest, identify the ones with known vulnerability. The homepage of such websites will be defaced by exploiting various weakness within the website.

By achieving this feat, ISIS (or hacker groups loyal to ISIS) spreads their propaganda message and also the popularity of ISIS will continue spreading across the globe. This can also serve as a tool for ISIS in bringing more young followers to their brand of Islam.