Hard Power: ISIS/Al-Qaeda ‘Dirty Bomb’
It is no secret that over the last 18 years, one of the primary foreign policy interests of the US government has been to combat global terrorism, particularly Islamic extremism in the Middle East. Since the September 11 attacks, extremism has mostly manifested itself in the form of bombings and shootings from those affiliated with the likes of ISIS or others. Nevertheless, with the extreme surge in cyber power even within the last two decades, sophisticated hackers and programmers affiliated with Islamic terror organizations have been threatening their targets with less physically destructive, but far sneakier tactics.
In the case of ISIS and al-Qaeda specifically, likelihood of cyberattacks are far less due to these organizations’ tendency to operate at their very limits. Despite this, if they were to acquire the means of performing a cyberattack on the level of Russia or North Korea, the results could be catastrophic. One particular fear is that one or both of these organizations could shut down the US power grid and have millions potentially lose power. Another is that a radioactive explosive device triggered by cyber power, known as a ‘dirty bomb’, could be built or is being built. Either way, it seems like the US and the UN may have to shift priorities. This hybrid warfare, or the combination of both cyber and physical destruction, is something that the US and other allies are currently unprepared for. This, as Lt.-Gen Vincent Stewart explains, is part of what keeps him up at night.
The fact that there is this potential for attack that is going relatively unnoticed by other aspects of US defense is troubling. It also signals the potential for the US to put more effort into gaining more cyber expertise rather than pure engineering or combat expertise as the US military currently has a surplus of. Either way, two organizations that want to enforce their strict religious doctrine upon the world through methods of violence, and now more unorthodox methods, need to be closely monitored. And because they at this point are operating on their last legs, they could be particularly dangerous because they have less to lose. These cyberthreats, combining negotiation and use of aggression, need to be addressed on all fronts.
In the case of ISIS and al-Qaeda specifically, likelihood of cyberattacks are far less due to these organizations’ tendency to operate at their very limits. Despite this, if they were to acquire the means of performing a cyberattack on the level of Russia or North Korea, the results could be catastrophic. One particular fear is that one or both of these organizations could shut down the US power grid and have millions potentially lose power. Another is that a radioactive explosive device triggered by cyber power, known as a ‘dirty bomb’, could be built or is being built. Either way, it seems like the US and the UN may have to shift priorities. This hybrid warfare, or the combination of both cyber and physical destruction, is something that the US and other allies are currently unprepared for. This, as Lt.-Gen Vincent Stewart explains, is part of what keeps him up at night.
The fact that there is this potential for attack that is going relatively unnoticed by other aspects of US defense is troubling. It also signals the potential for the US to put more effort into gaining more cyber expertise rather than pure engineering or combat expertise as the US military currently has a surplus of. Either way, two organizations that want to enforce their strict religious doctrine upon the world through methods of violence, and now more unorthodox methods, need to be closely monitored. And because they at this point are operating on their last legs, they could be particularly dangerous because they have less to lose. These cyberthreats, combining negotiation and use of aggression, need to be addressed on all fronts.
Source:
Doffman, Zak. “New Cyber Warning: ISIS Or Al-Qaeda Could Attack Using 'Dirty Bomb'.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 13 Sept. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2019/09/13/cyber-dirty-bomb-terrorist-threat-is-real-warns-us-cyber-general/.
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