by Christopher W. Holton
We are glad to see the hacker community taking aim at the Islamic State, but we can’t help but suggest that it is quite possible to overstate the effectiveness of their efforts.
The article linked below suggests that some in the hacking community want to attempt to disrupt Islamic State operations and others want to monitor them and report intelligence to authorities.
It is unfortunate that this was even discussed publicly because the Islamic State has a worldwide network that uses social media and the internet as a convenience, not out of necessity. Once they know they are being monitored and attacked online, they can resort to old methods of communication. Moreover, to the extent that some hackers are not familiar with counter surveillance techniques, the Islamic State can also use methods to disguise their communications online. Even if they are discovered, it may not be easy to decipher the actual messages.
We wish the hackers luck in their campaign, but don’t believe that you can ultimately defeat 1,000-year old doctrine and 7.62 X 39 rounds, RPGs and IEDs in cyberspace.
Terror Trends Bulletin 