US Military Hackers Join Online Anti-Terror War, Drop 'Cyberbombs' on Daesh

The intelligence-oriented National Security Agency (NSA) has been carrying out cyberattacks against Daesh for years. But so far, the military's hacking branch Cyber Command had not conducted any kind of digital offensive. However this is changing, according to the New York Times.

US President Barack Obama is willing to use against Daesh the same kind of military-engineered hacking tools Washington employed in the past against, for instance, Iran's nuclear facilities.

The move has been confirmed in public declarations by Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and his deputy Robert O. Work.

"We are dropping cyberbombs… We have never done that before," Work said in a recent statement. 

The main target of the new strategy would be Daesh's recruiting capabilities. Just the mere knowledge that their data and communications are not secure — despite the widespread use of encrypted messaging systems — could lead potential foreign fighters to stop engaging with the terrorist group's recruiters. 

Beyond that, it seems like Cyber Command is able to spy on Daesh commanders' communications and to even directly manipulate them.

In this way, the US military could tamper with and change the messages Daesh militants are exchanging, in order to spread misleading information, or lure them to areas where they might be more easily attacked by drones or US allies.

The same tools are also being used to stop electronic payments, thus disrupting Daesh's funding procedures.

Maybe the main takeaway from the newly-announced campaign is that the US military has finally admitted that it is able and ready to create as well as wield hacking technologies against its enemies.

So far, even the well-known cyberattack against Iran's centrifuges had never been confirmed by the US military.