Al Qaeda is turning its attention
partially away from bombings and other forms of killing to focus on what one al
Qaeda oeprate calls an “electronic jihad” against the United States. The
operative suggests that attacking America should happen on the computer network
level where aviation security and other breaches are more readily available.
In a video released online the
operative calls on ”covert mujahidin” to launch cyber attacks against the
U.S. networks of both government and critical infrastructure. Among the groups
attack points are the countries various electrical grids.
While the video was captured by FBI
agents last year it was only just released this week by the Senate Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
In a statement Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman wrote:
“This is the clearest evidence we’ve
seen that al Qaeda and other terrorist groups want to attack the cyber systems
of our critical infrastructure.”
In the meantime officials have long
warned that cyber attack is a real threat to the United States as terrorist
operatives close the gap on their capabilities to attack via electronic means.
In many cases US operatives believe al Qaeda and other terrorist based agencies
will simply hire renowned hackers to handle their dirty work.
Al Qaeda is not the only group
looking to attack America through cyber attacks, various reports have suggested
that Iran is also looking at cyberspace attacks as a means to strike first
against the United States.
Highlighting the importance of
stopping cyber attacks Joe
Lieberman notes:
“Congress needs to act now to
protect the American public from a possible devastating attack on our electric
grid, water delivery systems, or financial networks. As numerous, bipartisan
national security experts have said, minimum cyber security standards for those
networks are necessary to protect our national and economic security. That is
why the Senate needs to act on our bipartisan Cyber Security Act that requires
minimum security performance requirements for key critical infrastructure cyber
networks.”
Since October 2011 the Department of
Homeland Security received more than 50,000 reports of cyber intrusions or attempted
intrusions, that number is up from 10,000 reports in the prior year.
Are you worried about an Al Qaeda
led cyber jihad?
Source: http://www.inquisitr.com
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