ISIS, Al Qaeda To Launch Cyber Attacks To Set Up Digital Caliphate

Extremist groups in the Middle East are reportedly preparing to launch a massive cyber attack against the United States. According to a Fox News report, leaders of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and Al Qaeda are stepping up efforts to seek a digital caliphate. One of the jihadist leaders had allegedly hacked the Gmail account of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

ISIS militants have openly bragged on the Internet that it was only a matter of time before they can get away with disrupting the U.S. financial and infrastructure system. ISIS, an extremist group claiming to have established a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, is publicly announcing its plans of a caliphate in the Internet. Reports said it will be secured by encryption software the jihadists developed.

Middle East Media Research Institute executive director Steve Stalinsky, said the terrorist groups have been investing in various encryption technologies including software developed by their own team of hackers. Stalinsky, whose Washington-based organisation tracks the activities of jihadists, said Islamic militants continue to experiment in hacking secure systems. He believes it will only be a matter of time before the activities of their cyber army becomes a daily routine.

Recent reports have accused ISIS of using social media to reach a wider audience to recruit new members. The alleged targets of the group's cyber attacks include government agencies, transport systems, banks and energy companies.

British hacker Abu Hussain Al Britani, also known as Junaid Hussein, was identified as the leader of the planned attacks. Al Britani had left his Birmingham hometown to travel to Syria to join ISIS. According to intelligence sources, he is one of the active recruiters of new members for the terror group.

Al Britani spent six months in jail in 2012 for hacking into the personal email account of Mr Blair and his family. The British hacker posted private details online. Intelligence officials in the U.S. and the UK have identified the hacker as a possible suspect for the beheadings of American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

The rise of ISIS to prominence and notoriety has overshadowed the influence of Al Qaeda in the Middle East. In an effort to reaffirm its power, Al Qaeda has announced last week that it was expanding in the Indian Subcontinent.