Not content with making extensive use of social media in its propaganda battle, Islamic State may be seeking to expose cyber rivals who oppose the jihadi group.

Cyber-security group the Citizen Lab has released a report that finds a possible link between Isis and a digital attack on a Syrian citizen media organisation that has repeatedly criticised the fighters.

Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently (RSS) has exposed human rights abuses by Isis forces who are occupying the northern Syrian city and have declared it their capital. RSS has also sought to counter the suggestion that citizens of Raqqa have welcomed the presence of Isis.

Last month RSS’s supporters were sent emails from a Gmail address that contained a link to an image of supposed air strikes by US forces against Isis strongholds. Clicking on the link introduces malware to the user’s computer that sends details of the IP address and system each time it restarts.

That information has been enough to allow Isis to locate RSS supporters. “The group has been targeted for kidnappings, house raids, and at least one alleged targeted killing. At the time of writing, Isis is allegedly holding several citizen journalists in Raqqa,” according to the Citizen Lab report.

‘Entry costs for malware attacks are low’

“Though we are unable to conclusively attribute the attack to Isis or its supporters, a link to Isis is plausible. The malware used in the attack differs substantially from campaigns linked to the Syrian regime, and the attack is focused against a group that is an active target of Isis forces,” the report’s authors, John Scott-Railton and Seth Hardy, write.

Citizen Lab said it had published the report to draw attention to a new threat posed by Isis to its opponents. It says the digital attacks could also target “ideological or military adversaries abroad”.

“The entry costs for engaging in malware attacks in a conflict like the Syrian civil war are low, and made lower by the fact that the rule of law is non-existent for large parts of the country. In still other parts (under regime control), malware attacks appear to be state sanctioned,” it adds.

The head of the City of London police last month said banks must do more to protect themselves against attacks on their networks by Islamic fundamentalists.

Commissioner Adrian Leppard told a security conference in New York that “there could be a very serious impact to the financial institutions of the world through a cyber-attack and I think it’s a very strong likelihood that it will happen one day in the future, which is why we’ve got to push back and take action now before it happens.”



In September US National Security Agency director, Michael Rogers, said the US needed to be more vigilant about digital attacks from terrorist groups such as Isis.

However, Craig Guiliano, a former Department of Defense counter-terrorism official, told Time.com that Isis “could be a potential threat in the future, but we’re not there yet”.

• Inside Raqqa, capital of Islamic State

