A pro-ISIS hacker group released a “Kill List” that targets 43 people related to the U.S. State Department. The group calls themselves the “United Cyber Caliphate” and is a conglomerate of three pro-ISIS hacking groups, including the well-known Cyber Caliphate Army.
[revad1]
The targets named on the list are all related to the State Department in some way. Employees of the Department of Homeland Security and the Departments of Defense, Energy, Commerce and Health and Human Services were all represented on the list. U.S. embassies in Santiago and Kathmandu as well as the Department of the Navy in Gulfport, Mississippi were targeted as well.
The “kill list” was recovered from online messaging services monitored by U.S. cyber-security experts. The list was released page by page on individual photoshopped images. Each image identified a potential victim with information that is readily available to the public along with the phrase “Wanted to be killed” written in English, Arabic, Spanish, Russian and French. The images also foolishly boasted the hacking group’s name and Logo for U.S. Embassies which made them easily identifiable.
The group’s intentions are clear. They released the following statement:
USA—You are our primary goal. Your system failed to Tackling [sic] our attacks. Now we will Crush you again.
However, security officials in the U.S. are not at elevated levels of concern. The information released about the state department employees is readily available to the public and didn’t require hacking skills to acquire. Cyber-Security experts in the U.S. will continue to monitor the terrorist groups channels of communication for additional info on their future plans but will not take action based on the recently acquired information.
Do you believe the cyber capabilities of ISIS pose a threat to the U.S.? Sound off in the comment section!
