ISIS hackers set sights on symbols of state, including critical Australian infrastructure

ISIS hackers set sights on symbols of state, including critical Australian infrastructure

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POWER stations, air traffic control towers, city water supplies and banks are potential targets of a “cyber caliphate” terror attack, intelligence agencies warn.
A top-level security briefing obtained by The Courier-Mail warns tech-savvy terrorists are already engaging in basic acts of sabotage but could advance to targeting “symbols of state authority” and critical Australian infrastructure.

“Terrorists will continue to be attracted to targets that offer high symbolic value and the greatest potential for generating mass casualties, economic damage, media attention and public anxiety,’’ the briefing revealed.

It warned that cyber sabotage could be carried out in conjunction with more “traditional tactics”.

“Terrorists will probably continue to favour traditional tactics, such as explosives and armed attackers, due to the wider media coverage and psychological impact these tactics generate,” it said.
“An act of cyber sabotage could be used to assist or enable an attack using these tactics, however we assess that a lack of current technical capability makes this unlikely in the short term.”

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It warned that the “acquisition of already available tools and malware, or collaboration with non-aligned groups, could lead to increased cyber capability within extremist circles”.

The briefing emphasised that terrorists were already “engaged in rudimentary acts of cyber sabotage”, including “acts designed to deny, degrade, disrupt or destroy information and/or linked systems and hardware”.

Attacks on Brisbane’s air traffic control system could cause chaos, especially if done in
Attacks on Brisbane’s air traffic control system could cause chaos, especially if done in conjunction with traditional terror tactics.
While the briefing doesn’t specify what infrastructure could be attacked, the US Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection revealed the banking industry, military installations, power plants, air traffic control centres and water systems were potential targets of cyber terrorists.
Western intelligence agencies are also on alert against ISIS’s so-called “Hacking Division’’, which recently posted personal details online about more than 100 US military personnel and encouraged supporters to kill the soldiers.

ISIS sympathisers have carried out cyber-terror attacks against hundreds of companies and groups around the world, including some in Queensland.

It is understood the pro-­jihadi “hacktivists’’ have direct ties to ISIS strongholds in the Middle East.

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