Tweets posted by a group aligning itself with ISIL showed supposedly classified military maps which many have since debunked as being readily accessible. But the hackers – calling themselves CyberCaliphate – also released the personal information of several retired generals, including home addresses and private e-mails.
“American soldiers, we are coming. Watch your back. ISIS,” one tweet read. It was followed by the release of a 52-page spreadsheet containing the personal information.
Sleeper Bounties
What, if anything, was the purpose of releasing this information? Many experts say: just to show that they could.
Posting the spreadsheet has the dual effect of showing that ISIL – or at least an ISIL affiliated group – has the technical ability to both gain access to that information and to release that data through the very host said data was stole from.
CyberCaliphate’s message: If the U.S. wants to underestimate ISIL’s digital capabilities, not so fast.
But others believe the spreadsheet could be part of a more nefarious goal. That while one audience for the tweets was certainly the U.S. government, another potential audience were sleeper agents within the United States.
“With the growing threat of sleeper cells and homegrown terrorists, these kinds of communications are not only a threat but also a target list,” Representative Michael Turner, chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, told Bloomberg.
Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Pentagon was weighing similar concerns.
“I am concerned because whenever those things are publicized, they could be fodder not only for the organized guys but also for the lone wolves,” he told Bloomberg.
On one level, breaking into relatively insecure accounts like Twitter and YouTube is unimpressive. A fairly basic feat in the complex world of computer hacking, and a far cry from the skills necessary to breach the secure depths of Central Command’s servers.
But on another level, the increasingly commonplace use of social media, and the sheer amount of personal information detailed on sites like Facebook and Twitter, means these hacks present a new kind of danger for military personnel.
“As a psychological warfare weapon, it introduces a new element that warriors have never had to contend with in the past,” Bruce Huffman, director of security studies at Georgetown University told Bloomberg. “There is a whole new class of military people who will have to live like Hollywood stars do, and have their personal information scrubbed from the Internet.”
Terrorist hit lists are nothing new. A May issue of “Inspire,” the English-language magazine published by al-Qaida, published a “Wanted Dead or Alive” poster which featured the editor of Charlie Hebdo magazine, who was one of the 12 killed during the Paris attack. Two other cartoonists on that list, Kurt Westergaard and Lars Vilks, have each survived a handful of assassination attempts.
The list also featured Salman Rushdie, whose novel, “The Satanic Verses,” placed him under strict house arrest for several years after a fatwa was placed on his head by Ayatollah Khomeini.
In 2011, al-Qaida posted a hit list on jihadi websites that included a vast range of media figures. Everyone from PBS anchor Charlie Rose to Fox News anchor Brian Kilmeade was mentioned among the 179 names.
In June of 2011, a video posted online by al-Qaida leader Adam Gadahn called for American Muslims to carry out deadly one-man shootings.
“What are you waiting for?” Gadahn aks.
Whatever CyberCaliphate’s intentions with the spreadsheet, be it a mere sign of technological might, a call-to-arms for fellow extremists, or a combination of the two, the Pentagon isn’t taking a chance.
